The strangest part of it all was that he seemed
to have no fear. To be sure he took pains to leave his watch at home;
but with such a figure and carriage as he possessed, the absence of
jewelry could never deceive the eye for a moment as to the fact of his
being a man of wealth, and those he went among would do anything for
money. Perhaps, like me, he carried a pistol. At all events he
shunned no spot where either poverty lay hid or deviltry reigned, his
proud stern head bending to enter the lowest doors without a tremble
of the haughty lips that remained compressed as by an iron force;
except when some poor forlorn creature with flaunting head-gear, and
tremulous hands, attracted by his bearing would hastily brush against
him, when he would turn and look, perhaps speak, though what he said
I always failed to catch; after which he would hurry on as if
possessed by seven devils. The evenings of those three days were
notable also. Two of them he spent in the manner I have described;
the third he went to the Windsor House--where the Countess De Mirac
had taken rooms--going up to the ladies' entrance and actually
ringing the bell, only to start back and walk up and down on the
opposite side of the way, with his hands behind his back, and his
head bent, evidently deliberating as to whether he should or should
not carry out his original intention of entering.
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