THE EMPIRE AND THE REPUBLIC 259 



Thorn ville Royal in Yorkshire in similar circumstances, I 

 set out for Calais with the open mind of ' a citizen of the 

 world," with nothing English about me except my accent. 



The shortness of my stay and the comfort and ease 

 of modern travelling did not involve the preparations which 

 Colonel Thornton saw fit to carry into execution in 1801. 

 The Colonel, it may be remembered by those who have read 

 of his exploits and appreciations, took a travelling carriage, 

 six or eight couple of hounds, two valets, a gamekeeper and 

 a huntsman, a terrier and a pointer, Mrs. T.,^ as he persists 

 in calling her, her trunks, and her maid, and he was much 

 incensed with his coach-builder at having to leave behind a 

 boat and a boat-carriage, owing to these carefully designed 

 necessaries not being finished. All this was in my case 

 meagrely represented by a pair of ixiy own stirrup irons and 

 long leathers ; but I inspected my hunting Wardrobe with 

 very particular care, inspired my valet with a due sense of 

 the issues at stake, and, of course, had my hair cut by a 

 special artist. 



French stag-hunting was not new to me ; in a sense I 

 was about to renew an early and affectionate friendship. 

 My riding and hunting education began in France. When 

 I was about eight j^ears old we went to live at Fontainebleau, 

 and we lived there a great deal till the war of 1870 drove 

 us away in a hurry. We only just got through Paris. The 

 gates were closed a very few days later, and cattle were 

 being driven into the fortified enceinte and were grazing in 

 the ditches and on the slope of the glacis when we passed 



' There were several quasi-Mrs. Ts, but I fancy this one was the lady 

 who in 1800 rode a four-mile match on one of the Colonel's horses against a 

 gentleman whose name I have forgotten on York racecourse. An immense con- 

 course assembled, and great admiration was expressed at Mrs. Thornton's 

 riding and the chasteness of her bloomer costume. She made too much play 



however with her horse and was easily beaten. Poor Mr. , who probably 



could not help himself, was censured by public opinion for his lack of chivalry. 



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