evening came Miss F- to show me a circular letter, sent by the
Archbishop of Canterbury to all the parishes in England,
authorising the ministers of those parishes to raise a
subscription for the unfortunate French clergy. She talked of
our neighbours, and very shortly and abruptly said, "So, Mrs.
Phillips, we hear you are to have Mr. Norbone and the other
French company to live with you--Pray is it so?"

I was, I confess, a little startled at this plain inquiry, but
answered as composedly as I could, setting out with informing
this bˆte personnage that Madame de Stael was going to
Switzerland to join her husband and family in a few days, and
that of all the French company none would remain but M. de
Narbonne and M. d'Arblay, for whom the captain and myself
entertained a real friendship and esteem, and whom he had begged
to make our house their own for a short time, as the impositions
they had had to support from their servants, etc., and the
failure of their remittances from abroad, had obliged them to
resolve on breaking up housekeeping.

I had scarcely said thus much when our party arrived from Paine's
hill; the young lady, though she had drunk tea, was so obliging
as to give us her company for near two hours, and made a curious
attack on M. de N., upon the first pause, in wretched French,
though we had before, all of us, talked no other language than
English:--"Je vous prie, M. Gnawbone, comment se porte la
reine?"(82)

Her pronunciation was such that I thought his understanding her
miraculous : however, he did guess her meaning, and answered,