you should have
seen the people eat there! Even those who were poorest, and who had only
their--what do you call them?--their bloaters, their tripe and onions,
their black puddings--ah, but they enjoyed those things far more than
your fashionable diners at the Savoy! Oh yes, I went everywhere. I went
to the churches, the chapels. Again the same difference struck me. In
the east, there was a sense of reality; but in the west--ah, Great
Allah! forgive me!"

"Then you would rather live in the east?"

"Yes and no, Signor Briarfield. Yes, because, in spite of poverty and
wretchedness, I saw more of what we call happiness in the East End; no,
because, although the people seemed happy, to me it was hell. The
sights, the smells, the sounds! Still, if I were given to pity, I should
pity your people who live in Mayfair, rather than those at Stepney."

"You went to the House of Commons?"

"I went everywhere."

"And you saw----?"

"The puppets--yes. It was very amusing--very."

"What amused you most?"

"The pretence at being in earnest, I think. But the machinery was too
plain to enjoy it really. They do things better at the theatres. There
the players pretend to be puppets, but convince you that they are real.
At Westminster, the players pretend they are real, but convince you that
they are puppets. After all, your House of Commons did me good."

"How?"

"It gave me a sort of faith in human nature, in the simplicity of the
people who send the actors there. It proves that the people of England
are more fools than knaves. But it amused me vastly. No, Mr. Briarfield,
your Dr. Johnson was right. If one must live in England, I should say
London is the best place in the summer; while in the winter there is no
place else."

"One wonders, what led you to this out-of-the-way place, then?"

"I wanted to be quiet. London is a maelstrom, from which I got out with
difficulty, but I did get out. Then I said, 'Let me be quiet, let me
think.' Then I met a man who had been here, and who said it was the most
beautiful place in England. Moreover, he told me a romantic story about
the lady who reigns here. And we Easterns love romance. So I came. I
have not seen the beautiful lady yet. Do you know her?"

"Yes. I know her."

"Ah, I should like to hear about her. Will you tell me what she is
like?"

"I am afraid I have not your gift of description, Signor Ricordo."

The man with the fez looked at Briarfield steadily out of his
ha