compartments in such numbers, that every part of the walls was
covered either with arms or trophies.

'The master of the mansion, in bulk, dress, and general appearance,
was suited to the style of life which might be expected from what we
had seen at our entrance. He was above six feet high, strong, and
robust, though upwards of sixty years of age; he wore a leather
jerkin, and instead of having his hair powdered, and tied in a long
queue, according to the fashion of the day, he wore his own short
grey locks; his address was plain, frank, and hearty, but by no
means coarse or vulgar. He was of an ancient family, but of a
moderate fortune.' Here Edgeworth adds a long description of the
grotto and its stalactites. They returned to dine with the old
officer at his castle.

'Our dinner was in its arrangement totally unlike anything I had
seen in France, or anywhere else. It consisted of a monstrous, but
excellent, wild boar ham; this, and a large savoury pie of different
sorts of game, were the principal dishes; which, with some common
vegetables, amply satisfied our hunger. The blunt hospitality of
this rural baron was totally different from that which is to be met
with in remote parts of the country of England. It was more the
open-heartedness of a soldier than the roughness of a squire.'

During the winter of 1772 Edgeworth was busy making plans for
flour-mills to be erected on a piece of land gained from the river.
But his stay in Lyons was cut short as the news reached him in March
1773 that Mrs. Edgeworth, who had returned to England for her
confinement, had died after giving birth to a daughter. He travelled
home with his son through Burgundy and Paris, and on reaching
England arranged to meet Mr. Day at Woodstock. His friend greeted
him with the words,' Have you heard anything of Honora Sneyd ?'

Mr. Edgeworth continues: 'I assured him that I had heard nothing but
what he had told me when he was in France; that she had some disease
in her eyes, and that it was feared she would lose her sight.' I
added that I was resolved to offer her my hand, even if she had
undergone such a dreadful privation.

'"My dear friend," said he, "while virtue and honour forbade you to
think of her, I did everything in my power to separate you; but now
that you are both at liberty, I have used the utmost expedition to
reach you on your arrival in England, that I might be the first to
tell you that Honora is in perfect health and beau