seemed to care for a leisurely stroll about the grounds, followed by
long spells of book or newspaper reading, under the shelter of tree or
sunshade.

Moreover the exiles saw little of the other inmates of the hotel,
excepting at the table d'hote dinner. M. Zola then brought his faculties
of observation into play, and after a lapse of a few days he informed me
that he was astonished at the ease and frequency with which some English
girls raised their wine-glasses to their lips. It upset all his idea of
propriety to see young ladies of eighteen tossing off their Moselle and
their champagne as to the manner born. In France the daughter who is
properly trained contents herself with water just coloured by the
addition of a little Bordeaux or Burgundy. And the contrast between this
custom and incidents which M. Zola noticed at Oatlands--and to which he
once or twice called my attention--made a deep impression on him.

The people staying at the hotel were certainly all of a good class. There
were several well-known names in the register; and knowing how much has
been written on the happy decrease of drinking habits 'in the upper
middle-class of England,' I was myself slightly surprised at what was
pointed out to me. When M. Zola discovered, too, that sundry
gentlemen--leaving wine to their wives and daughters--were addicted to
drinking whisky with their meals, he was yet more astonished, for he
claims that in France nowadays, greatly as the consumption of alcohol has
increased among the masses, it has declined almost to vanishing point
among people with any claim to culture. On this matter, however, I
reminded him that wine was often expensive in England, that beer
disagreed with many people, and that some who felt the need of a
stimulant were thus driven to whisky and water.

When the master and Desmoulin wandered down to the Thames towing-path,
they found fresh food for observation and comment among the boating
fraternity. With some gay parties were damsels whose disregard for
decorum was strongly reminiscent of Asnieres and Joinville-le-Pont; and
it was slightly embarrassing to stroll near the river in the evening,
when at every few yards one found young couples exchanging kisses in the
shadows of the trees. After all it was surprise rather than embarrassment
which the exiles experienced, for they had scarcely imagined that English
training was conducive to such public endearments.

At a later stage a bicycle was procu