Life of Count Rumford. 323 



The " mystery " of the movements of the Count was 

 not a very deep one. The party set out on foot, tak- 

 ing a guide with them, through fields and by-roads, and 

 after three or four hours' travel they came to what 

 seemed to the young lady an immense chateau, so large 

 that the whole of it could not be seen, and surrounded 

 by water, so as to be accessible only by a drawbridge. 

 Her father seemed to be familiar with the spot, and, 

 pulling at a cord, caused a very heavy-toned bell to 

 sound its echoes loudly, when two well-dressed men 

 appeared, with whom he had some secret whispering. 

 The consequence was that the great doors opened as if 

 by enchantment. The party were shown into elegant 

 apartments, were most hospitably entertained, and 

 yielded to urgent solicitations to pass the night within 

 its walls. Though Miss Sarah was soon impressed by 

 the fact that not a female was to be seen about the 

 establishment, and that their entertainers were all gen- 

 tlemen " of breeding," it was not till the next morn- 

 ing that she knew the establishment to be what she 

 calls a convent. 



They visited another like institution the next day. 

 The young lady relates at some length their experiences 

 in the ascent of a mountain, which they made at night 

 on account of the heat of the weather. It was a rugged 

 task for the ladies, especially for the delicately nurtured 

 and fragile Countess Nogarola. They experienced the 

 embarrassments arising from the ordinary female cos- 

 tume for such a tramp, and the Count's practical wis- 

 dom seems to have suggested to them such an approxi- 

 mation of the arrangement of their apparel to circum- 

 stances as anticipated the style of some of the more 

 independent of their sex in our times. The poor 



