me, shut it behind me, and went away. The
man behind the table was so engaged in reading the letter which I had
brought, that at first he took no notice of me; he had red hair, a kind
of half-English countenance, and was seemingly about five-and-thirty.
After a little time he laid the letter down, appeared to consider a
moment, and then opened his mouth with a strange laugh, not a loud laugh,
for I heard nothing but a kind of hissing deep down the throat; all of a
sudden, however, perceiving me, he gave a slight start, but, instantly
recovering himself, he inquired in English concerning the health of the
family, and where we lived: on my delivering him a card, he bade me
inform my master and the ladies that in the course of the day he would do
himself the honour of waiting upon them. He then arose and opened the
door for me to depart. The man was perfectly civil and courteous, but I
did not like that strange laugh of his after having read the letter. He
was as good as his word, and that same day paid us a visit. It was now
arranged that we should pass the winter in Rome--to my great annoyance,
for I wished to return to my native land, being heartily tired of
everything connected with Italy. I was not, however, without hope that
our young master would shortly arrive, when I trusted that matters, as
far as the family were concerned, would be put on a better footing. In a
few days our new acquaintance, who, it seems, was a mongrel Englishman,
had procured a house for our accommodation; it was large enough, but not
near so pleasant as that we had at Naples, which was light and airy, with
a large garden. This was a dark gloomy structure in a narrow street,
with a frowning church beside it; it was not far from the place where our
new friend lived, and its being so was probably the reason why he
selected it. It was furnished partly with articles which we bought, and
partly with those which we hired. We lived something in the same way as
at Naples; but though I did not much like Naples, I yet liked it better
than this place, which was so gloomy. Our new acquaintance made himself
as agreeable as he could, conducting the ladies to churches and convents,
and frequently passing the afternoon drinking with the governor, who was
fond of a glass of brandy and water and a cigar, as the new acquaintance
also was--no, I remember, he was fond of gin and water, and did not
smoke. I don't think he had so much influence over the yo