r utmost in behalf of any stranger who came recommended to us by
Thomas Newcome's good word? So Florac was straightway admitted to our
companionship. We showed him the town, and some of the modest pleasures
thereof; we introduced him to the Haunt, and astonished him by the
company which he met there. Between Brent's "Deserter" and Mark Wilder's
"Garryowen," Florac sang--

Tiens voici ma pipe, voila mon bri--quet;
Et quand la Tulipe fait le noir tra--jet
Que tu sois la seule dans le regi--ment
Avec la brule-gueule de ton cher z'a--mant;

to the delight of Tom Sarjent, who, though he only partially
comprehended the words of the song, pronounced the singer to be a rare
gentleman, full of most excellent differences. We took our Florac to the
Derby; we presented him in Fitzroy Square, whither we still occasionally
went, for Clive's and our dear Colonel's sake.

The Vicomte pronounced himself strongly in favour of the blanche
misse little Rosey Mackenzie, of whom we have lost sight for some few
chapters. Mrs. Mac he considered, my faith, to be a woman superb. He
used to kiss the tips of his own fingers, in token of his admiration for
the lovely widow; he pronounced her again more pretty than her daughter;
and paid her a thousand compliments, which she received with exceeding
good-humour. If the Vicomte gave us to understand presently that Rosey
and her mother were both in love with him, but that for all the world
he would not meddle with the happiness of his dear little Clive, nothing
unfavourable to the character or constancy of the before-mentioned
ladies must be inferred from M. de Florac's speech; his firm conviction
being, that no woman could pass many hours in his society without danger
to her subsequent peace of mind.

For some little time we had no reason to suspect that our French friend
was not particularly well furnished with the current coin of the realm.
Without making any show of wealth, he would, at first, cheerfully engage
in our little parties: his lodgings in the neighbourhood of Leicester
Square, though dingy, were such as many noble foreign exiles have
inhabited. It was not until he refused to join some pleasure-trip which
we of Lamb Court proposed, honestly confessing his poverty, that we were
made aware of the Vicomte's little temporary calamity; and, as we became
more intimate with him, he acquainted us, with great openness, with the
history of all his fortunes. He described energeti