When he smiled, the skin at his temples crumpled itself
up into a nest of wicked little wrinkles. He had a plate of strawberries
on his lap, with a napkin under them to preserve the purity of his white
dressing-gown. At his right hand stood a large round table, covered with
a collection of foreign curiosities, which seemed to have been brought
together from the four quarters of the globe. Stuffed birds from Africa,
porcelain monsters from China, silver ornaments and utensils from India
and Peru, mosaic work from Italy, and bronzes from France, were all
heaped together pell-mell with the coarse deal boxes and dingy
leather cases which served to pack them for traveling. The little man
apologized, with a cheerful and simpering conceit, for his litter of
curiosities, his dressing-gown, and his delicate health; and, waving his
hand toward a chair, placed his attention, with pragmatical politeness,
at the visitor's disposal. Magdalen looked at him with a momentary
doubt whether Mrs. Lecount had not deceived her. Was this the man who
mercilessly followed the path on which his merciless father had walked
before him? She could hardly believe it. "Take a seat, Miss Garth," he
repeated, observing her hesitation, and announcing his own name in a
high, thin, fretfully-consequential voice: "I am Mr.
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