1826-1827] Emma at Geneva 187 



village, which under the Holland influence you will guess 

 has had little done for it. She canters here on any cart- or 

 coach-horse she can find, and returns loaded with good 

 books and good advice as to how to proceed from the Miss 

 Inglises, who are well able to give both. She never mentions 

 her father's religious opinions, but seems so excessively 

 fond of Mm, and he of her, that I think her father and Robert 

 Hall's friend cannot but end well. 



Emnia Wedgwood to her sister Elizabeth. 



GENEVA, Thursday, 4 Jan. [1827]. 



This week has been very quiet except Monday, when 

 there was a ball at the Theatre in commemoration of the 

 restoration of the Republic, where everybody may come 

 that pays 6 fr. The whole Theatre was quite full and it 

 looked very pretty. We were to dance with whoever asked 

 us. The first man I danced with was very disagreeable and 

 vulgar, which put me rather in despair for the rest of the 

 ball; however the rest of my partners were very tidy, 

 so I liked it very well. I had the good luck to dance with 

 one or two Englishmen. I was quite surprised to see the 

 shopkeepers here look so much worse than any English 

 shopkeepers. I had much rather dance even with Mr 

 Timmis than with most of the people there. When I was 

 afraid any particularly horrid-looking man was going to 

 ask me to dance I began such a very earnest conversation 

 with Fanny that they could not interrupt me. The room 

 looked very gay from having a great many people in uni- 

 form, especially the Prince of Denmark and his three 

 governors. Sismondi was very indignant with the be- 

 haviour of some English young ladies sitting by us, who, 

 when anybody asked them to dance that they were not 

 acquainted with, looked very glum and answered, " Je ne 

 danse pas." 



I have had a music-master for more than a fortnight now. 

 He is a German and despises every music but German very 

 much. He takes great pains about playing with expres- 



