ber to have
seen) in every town I have passed through; and I think the farther I go,
the more acquaintance I meet," she told her husband. At Dijon there were
no less than sixteen families of fashion. Lord Mansel had lodgings in
the house with her at Dijon, and Mrs. Whitsted, a daughter of Lord
Bathurst, resided in the same street. She met Lady Peterborough, and
just missed the Duke of Rutland, at St. Omer. At Port Beauvoisin she ran
across Lord Carlisle.

From Turin, she travelled, on the advice of Lord Carlisle, to Vienna,
which he declared was the best place in Italy in which to stay. The fact
that it was the intention of Lady Pomfret to remove from Sienna to
Vienna was the deciding factor. She liked the latter city so well that
she remained there until August of the following year (1740). It had one
great merit in Lady Mary's eyes, that it was cheap. Next to that, she
derived pleasure from the consideration with which she was treated. "I
like this place extremely, and am of opinion you would do so too: as to
cheapness, I think 'tis impossible to find any part of Europe where both
the laws and customs are so contrived purposely to avoid expenses of all
sorts; and here is a universal liberty that is certainly one of the
greatest _agrements_ in life. We have foreign ambassadors from all parts
of the world, who have all visited me. I have received visits from many
of the noble Venetian ladies; and upon the whole I am very much at my
ease here. If I was writing to Lady Sophia, I would tell her of the
comedies and operas which are every night, at very low prices; but I
believe even you will agree with me that they are ordered to be as
convenient as possible, every mortal going in a mask, and consequently
no trouble in dressing, or forms of any kind." So Lady Mary wrote to
Lady Pomfret on October 10; and a few days later she supplemented the
information in a letter to her husband:

"I find myself very well here. I am visited by the most considerable
people of the town, and all the foreign ministers, who have most of them
made great entertainments for me. I dined yesterday at the Spanish
ambassador's, who even surpassed the French in magnificence. He met me
at the hall-door, and the lady at the stair-head, to conduct me through
the long apartment; in short, they could not have shown me more honours,
if I had been an ambassadress. She desired me to think myself patrona
del casa, and offered me all the services in her power