g to me a couple of months before he left
the country he congratulated himself on this fact. "We are living very
quietly; and I am now more than ever glad that I have kept myself aloof
from the 'receiving' natives always, and delivered scarcely any of my
letters of introduction. If I had, I should have seen nothing and known
less. I have observed that the English women who have married foreigners
are invariably the most audacious in the license they assume. Think of
one lady married to a royal chamberlain (not here) who said at dinner to
the master of the house at a place where I was dining--that she had
brought back his _Satirist_, but didn't think there was quite so much
'fun' in it as there used to be. I looked at the paper afterwards, and
found it crammed with such vile obscenity as positively made one's hair
stand on end."

[85] What his poor little dog suffered should not be omitted from the
troubles of the master who was so fond of him. "Timber has had every
hair upon his body cut off because of the fleas, and he looks like the
ghost of a drowned dog come out of a pond after a week or so. It is very
awful to see him slide into a room. He knows the change upon him, and is
always turning round and round to look for himself. I think he'll die of
grief." Three weeks later: "Timber's hair is growing again, so that you
can dimly perceive him to be a dog. The fleas only keep three of his
legs off the ground now, and he sometimes moves of his own accord
towards some place where they don't want to go." His improvement was
slow, but after this continuous.

[86] A characteristic message for Jerrold came in a later letter (12th
of May, 1845): "I wish you would suggest to Jerrold for me as a Caudle
subject (if he pursue that idea). 'Mr. Caudle has incidentally remarked
that the house-maid is good-looking.'"

[87] Of the dangers of the bay he had before written to me (10th of
August). "A monk was drowned here on Saturday evening. He was bathing
with two other monks, who bolted when he cried out that he was
sinking--in consequence, I suppose, of his certainty of going to
Heaven."

CHAPTER VI.

WORK IN GENOA: PALAZZO PESCHIERE.

1844.

Palace of the Fish-ponds--Mural
Paintings--Peschiere Garden--A Peal of
Chimes--Governor's Levee--_Chimes_ a Plea for
the Poor--Dickens's Choice of a Hero--Religious
Sentiment--Dialogue in a Vision--Hard at
Work--First Outline of the