wedding. He always remembered all about these people and asked how
the potatoes were doing this year and whether the grandchildren were
growing up into fine boys and girls, and he never forgot to inquire
after the son who had gone to be a waiter in New York. At Civiasco
there is a restaurant which used to be kept by a jolly old lady,
known for miles round as La Martina; we always lunched with her on
our way over the Colma to and from Varallo-Sesia. On one occasion we
were accompanied by two English ladies and, one being a teetotaller,
Butler maliciously instructed La Martina to make the sabbaglione so
that it should be forte and abbondante, and to say that the Marsala,
with which it was more than flavoured, was nothing but vinegar. La
Martina never forgot that when she looked in to see how things were
going, he was pretending to lick the dish clean. These journeys
provided the material for a book which he thought of calling "Verdi
Prati," after one of Handel's most beautiful songs; but he changed
his mind, and it appeared at the end of 1881 as 'Alps and Sanctuaries
of Piedmont and the Canton Ticino' with more than eighty
illustrations, nearly all by Butler. Charles Gogin made an etching
for the frontispiece, drew some of the pictures, and put figures into
others; half a dozen are mine. They were all redrawn in ink from
sketches made on the spot, in oil, water-colour, and pencil. There
were also many illustrations of another kind--extracts from Handel's
music, each chosen because Butler thought it suitable to the spirit
of the scene he wished to bring before the reader. The introduction
concludes with these words: "I have chosen Italy as my second
country, and would dedicate this book to her as a thank-offering for
the happiness she has afforded me."

In the spring of 1883 he began to compose music, and in 1885 we
published together an album of minuets, gavottes, and fugues. This