r there
is not the least sympathy of taste between you. You do not perceive it
while he is under the charm of your presence, but your empire over him
would not hold if he were absent from you. Obstacles would fatigue him;
his soul has contracted by the grief which he has experienced, a kind of
discouragement, which must destroy the energy of his resolutions; and
you know, besides, how much the English in general are enslaved to the
manners and habits of their country."

At these words Corinne was silent and sighed. Painful reflections on the
first events of her life were retraced in her mind; but in the evening
she saw Oswald again, more her slave than ever; and all that remained in
her mind of the conversation of Prince Castel-Forte was the desire of
fixing Lord Nelville in Italy by making him enamoured of the beauties of
every kind with which that country abounds. It was with this intention
that she wrote to him the following letter. The freedom of the life
which is led in Rome excused this proceeding, and Corinne in particular,
though she might be reproached with too much openness and enthusiasm,
knew how to preserve dignity with independence, and modesty with
vivacity.

_Corinne to Lord Nelville_.
_Dec. 15th, 1794._

"I do not know, my lord, whether you will think me too confident in
myself, or whether you will do justice to the motives which may excuse
that confidence. Yesterday I heard you say that you had not yet seen
Rome, that you were neither acquainted with the masterpieces of our fine
arts, nor those ancient ruins which teach us history by imagination and
sentiment, and I have conceived the idea of presuming to offer myself as
your guide in this journey through a course of centuries.

"Without doubt, Rome could easily present a great number of scholars
whose profound erudition might be much more useful to you, but if I can
succeed in inspiring you with a love for this retreat, towards which I
have always felt myself so imperiously attracted, your own studies will
finish the rude draft which I shall have begun.

"Many foreigners come to Rome as they would go to London or to Paris, to
seek the dissipation of a great city; and if they dared confess they
were bored at Rome, I believe the greater part would confess it; but it
is equally true that here may be found a charm that never tires. Will
you pardon me, my lord, a wish that this ch