Page 439 of 1118

So saying, he descended with her into the kitchen, put on his hat

and cloak, and taking a cudgel in his hand, departed. As he

walked along the road, he resumed the thread of his apostrophe to

poor Renzo. "Headstrong mountaineer!"-for that Renzo was such,

had been manifest from his pronunciation, countenance, and

manners, although he vainly tried to conceal it,-"on a day like

this, when by dint of skill and prudence I had kept my hands

clean, you must come at the end of it to spoil all I have done!

Are there not inns enough in Milan, that you must come to mine!

at least, if you had been alone, I would have winked at it for

to-night, and made you understand matters to-morrow. But no; my

gentleman must come in company, and, to do the thing better, in

company with an informer."