Company and Solitude 101 



refreshing and soul-satisfying as the formali- 

 ties of " company" are arid and degrading. 



We had company to-day. I was asked 

 for, as if one viftim were not sufficient, 

 and, as often happens, declaring I would not 

 appear, appeared. Luckily my memory was 

 in working order, and I put it to a severe 

 test. Now, an hour after the plague had 

 ceased to trouble by its presence, the soft, 

 sibilant, loud whisperings remain. The 

 company took just fifty minutes to inform 

 me that I was looking well ; that I was 

 looking extremely well ; that I never looked 

 better. Pleasant sounds, doubtless, are such 

 words to those who are really ill, notwith- 

 standing their inapplicability ; but I am in 

 ordinary health. I was also told that the 

 weather had been unpleasant, very unpleas- 

 ant, positively disagreeable ; and, as I had 

 not been house-bound for a month, this was 

 scarcely complimentary to my powers of 

 observation. All the while, I never opened 

 my lips, unmoved by madam's black looks, 

 which I interpreted aright. The company 

 were persistent, and attacked me from an- 

 other quarter : Did I think we should have 

 pleasant weather soon? I remained silent 



