MAY 327 



ander; 'Roadside Songs of Tuscany,' by the same; 'A 

 Nook in the Apennines,' by Leader Scott; 'Italian 

 Sketches,' by Mrs. Ross; 'Histoire des Medicis,' by 

 Dumas ; ' Une Annee a Florence : Impressions de Voy- 

 age,' by Dumas ; 'Italian Commonwealth, or Common- 

 wealth of Florence,' by Trollope. 



Last year, on May 26th, I left my Surrey garden for 

 three months. The account of this time I had abroad 

 and the return in August will bring my year to its 

 conclusion. 



My spring gardening was spoilt by the feeling that 

 the buds I had watched so carefully would be seen in 

 flower by others and not by myself ; and there is no 

 denying I left home with a considerable wrench. The 

 garden looked very full, but green and flowerless ; only 

 one or two large Oriental Poppies were out. I do not 

 know why, but I travelled by night to Paris, resting 

 some hours in an hotel in order to go through by the 

 Cenis train, arriving at Florence early in the evening 

 instead of in the middle of the night. I might just as 

 well have slept in Paris ; it would have cost no more 

 than the six hours' rest. I started from there to travel 

 alone, for the first time in my life. 



I did not want to feel sad or lonely, which would 

 have been foolish, as I was deliberately going to please 

 myself ; and I could not help smiling as I thought over 

 a sentence in the journal of Marie Bashkirtseff, and 

 what she says about travelling with one's family : ' Je 

 comprend qu'on soit heureux de vivre en famille, et je 

 serais malheureuse seule. On peut aller faire des achats 

 en famille, aller au Bois en famille, quelquefois au 

 Theatre. On peut tre malade en famille, faire des 

 cures en famille, enfin tout ce qui est de la vie intime et 

 des choses ne"cessaires ; mais voyager en famille ! ! ! 

 C'est comme si on prenait plaisir a valseravec sa tante. 



