so large and so fine that it made my head ache. In France we have no
idea of this grandeur, this ancient majesty. After much searching we
have taken an apartment in the second story of the Hôtel de Londres,
with a balcony looking out upon the Piazza di Spagna, a handsome
drawing-room, several bedrooms, and a study. We went to B----'s
studio. He has very fair talent.


Tuesday, January 11th, 1876.

We did not go out, but the artist Kalorbinski came, and to-morrow
the lessons will begin. Monseigneur de Faloux, being unable to go
out himself, sent the Chevalier Rossy to bring us a number of
pleasant messages. I received him. I have learned a great deal about
affairs in the city.

I am very proud of receiving some one myself. It seems like a
sovereign's first decree. The Russian priest has come to call on us
too. I like the cowled monks in Rome. They are new to me, and that
pleases me.

At last I have a teacher of painting; that is something. This
evening I see everything in rose-colour, and I am already thinking
of a letter in which it will be said of A----: _Et eum dicat super
malitiosum, improbum, inhonestum, cupidum, luxuriosum, ebriosum!_
Exactly what Septimus Severus said of Albinus.

If only the winter would pass more quickly. With all my misfortunes,
I feel better in Nice, I can give myself up to despair as much as I
please. Only last Spring, there was nobody there. The best people