t to record, while it is still fresh in my memory, some part of the
conversation to which I was, as I travelled along, of necessity, and
whether willingly or unwillingly, a listener. To the left of me the
corner seats were occupied by two Englishmen--would it be possible to
enter into a diligence without meeting at least two of our dear
compatriots? They were both men in the prime of life, in the full flush
of health, and apparently of wealth, who, from allusions which they
dropt, could evidently boast of being of good family, and what follows
of course--of having received an university education; and whom some one
of our northern counties probably reckoned amongst its most famous
fox-hunters. All which hindered not, but that they proved themselves to
belong to that class of English travellers who scamper about the
Continent like so many big, boisterous, presumptuous school-boys, much
to the annoyance of every one who meets them, and to the especial
vexation of their fellow-countrymen, who are not, in general, whatever
may be said to the contrary, an offensive or conceited race, and are by
no means pleased that the name of Englishmen should be made a by-word
and a term of contempt. Opposite to me sat a Frenchman, of rather formal
and grave demeanour, and dressed somewhat precisely. He was placed in a
similar position in the diligence to myself; he had, however, curled up
his leathern strap, and fastened it to the roof. Apparently he did not
think the posture to which it invited one of sufficient dignity; for
during the whole journey, and even when asleep, I observed that he
maintained a certain becomingness of posture. Beside me, to the right,
sat a little lively Frenchwoman, not very young, and opposite to her,
and consequently in front also of myself, was another lady, a person of
extreme interest, who at once riveted the eye, and set the imagination
at work. She was so young, so pale, so beautiful, so sad, and withal so
exceeding gentle in her demeanour, that an artist who wished to portray
Our Lady in her virgin purity and celestial beauty, would have been
ravished with the model. She had taken off her bonnet for the
convenience of travelling, and her dark brown hair hung curled round her
neck in the same simple fashion it must have done when she was a child.
She was dressed in mourning, and this enhanced the pallor of her
countenance; ill-health and sorrow were also evidently portrayed upon
her features; but there wa