1829.] — An Adventure near Granville. 361 
murder. With this view, he had taken the opportunity of Madelon’s 
being abroad in the afternoon, to introduce his people into my bed- 
room. 
In the midst of my inquiries, the Prefect himself made his appearance 
on the scene, with another party of his gens-d’armes, in a high state of 
exultation, as it seemed, at the success of his schemes. 
« Eh bien, Monsieur! C’est un joli roman, n’est-ce pas?” was his 
first exclamation upon seeing me. 
In reply, I gave him full credit for his ingenious management ; but I 
could not help adding, that he would have spared me no little anxiety 
had he let me into the whole secret beforehand. 
“No doubt,” he said ; “ but it is generally believed at Granville that 
there is a liaison between you and Madelon.” 
« Ridiculous !” 
« Yes, indeed,” continued the Prefect; “‘ and I feared lest, in a fit of 
generosity, you should give the girl warning of her danger. In that 
case, I should have lost both my criminals.” 
“ It.seems hard though,” I replied, “ that a man cannot live quiet and 
secluded, without its being gossiped over a whole town that he is in love 
with his servant maid.” 
« Bagatelles !” said the Prefect. 
« Well, but there is not a word of truth in it, I assure you.” 
The Prefect shrugged his shoulders; and, saying that he should 
require my attendance at the police-office early in the morning, very 
politely bade me good night. G. S. 
THE LONDON MARKETS. 
. - ? 
ea asia vee of Leadenhall. 
Tue construction of useful buildings, for the mere convenience of 
society, are among the first efforts of civilization—their utility is felt 
and acknowledged, and mankind are satisfied. Time and improve- 
ment beget fastidiousness, and beauty must be united to utility —the 
“ utile and the dulce” must be commingled, before the taste of increased 
civilization will condescend to bestow its praise. Thus the convenience 
of trade pointed out the necessity for a general rendezvous of merchants 
of different commodities ; and large open spaces were left in towns and 
villages, for the congregation of agriculturists and manufacturers, where 
the productions of labour and of cultivated nature were displayed to 
purchasers. At first these places were open and unsheltered, and each 
merchant took his station, as his convenience directed him, and displayed 
his fruit, his meat, or his merchandize, in the best manner his invention 
dictated, shielding them from the evil influence of the sun and the rain, 
by awnings of cloth, or, where the climate afforded them, by the large 
leaf of the palm or the plantain. 
These shelters gradually grew into tents, which were pitched at the 
pleasure of the proprietors, as they are at present in our fairs, while, 
with venders of lesser note, the plantain and the palm were replaced 
by umbrellas of various colours, covering the baskets which formed 
their shops. 
M.M. New Series.—Vou. VII. No.40. 3A 
