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ET. 28.] - TO MRS. TORREY. 161 
TO MRS. TORREY. 
Wednesday evening. . . . There is little danger of 
my being spoiled in Paris by being overpolished. In 
London one must take care to be always comme il 
faut. There I took pains to keep myself rather spruce, 
which I have continued here from the mere force of 
habit!!! But gentlemen in Paris dress anyhow ; they 
don’t pay half the attention to the matter it receives 
in England; with the ladies it is perhaps different, 
but here I scarcely ever see ladies except in the 
streets or shops and restaurants! At the houses of 
botanists I have only seen Mme. Gay, a very plain 
and good-natured Swiss lady. As to parlez-vous-ing, 
it is not such an easy matter, I assure you. You would 
laugh most heartily to see me in the botanic gallery 
of the Jardin des Plantes, endeavoring to carry on 
a conversation with Gaudichaud or Decaisne; the 
former of whom can scarcely read English, and the 
latter can speak only a dozen words. I get out, with 
no little difficulty, a few sentences of such French as 
has not been heard since the days of King Pepin, I 
am sure; and when that fails me I write in English, 
which Decaisne can read, and make him write in 
French in return, or else for short sentences speak 
very slowly and distinctly. From my ignorance of 
the language I am obliged to take great pains when I 
wish to purchase anything from the shops ; for it is 
customary to put on an additional price to English 
customers. Fortunately my complexion and the style 
of my countenance are so far French that before I 
speak I am generally taken for a native, and I some- 
times manage to make purchases without saying a 
word beyond a monosyllable. So I have to be very 
careful to avoid being cheated; but I am every day 
acquiring more knowledge and experience. 
