VOLUME I


LETTER I

_Anna Wenbourne St. Ives to Louisa Clifton_

_Wenbourne-Hill_

Here are we, my dear girl, in the very height of preparation. We begin
our journey southward at five tomorrow morning. We shall make a short
stay in London, and then proceed to Paris. Expectation is on tiptoe: my
busy fancy has pictured to itself Calais, Montreuil, Abbeville, in
short every place which the book of post roads enumerates, and some of
which the divine Sterne has rendered so famous. I expect to find
nothing but mirth, vivacity, fancy, and multitudes of people. I have
read so much of the populousness of France, the gaiety of its
inhabitants, the magnificence of its buildings, its fine climate,
fertility, numerous cities, superb roads, rich plains, and teeming
vineyards, that I already imagine myself journeying through an
enchanted land.

I have another pleasure in prospect. Pray have you heard that your
brother is soon to be at Paris, on his return from Italy?--My father
surprised me by informing me we should probably meet him in that
capital. I suspect Sir Arthur of an implication which his words perhaps
will not authorize; but he asked me, rather significantly, if I had
ever heard you talk of your brother; and in less than five minutes
wished to know whether I had any objections to marriage.