82 MODERN CONSTANCY. 



proffered civilities of the kindly villagers, and visited no one 

 excepting old parson Gay, from whom he had borrowed a set 

 of fishing tackle. The worthy clergyman who had not escaped 

 a slight touch of the Mania-Americana, or lion-hunting insanity 

 which is so prevalent in the United States, was exceedingly 

 flattered by the deference of the polite stranger. He was pleased 

 to listen to his descriptions of life in foreign lands ; and though 

 the Count seemed to know little of the scenes hallowed by his- 

 toric or romantic associations, yet he could talk of pomps and 

 princes, of pageants and princesses, as glibly as a court-parrot. 

 It was wonderful to find a denizen of courts bending his 

 high thoughts down to enquire into the state of the crops, the 

 prospects of the farmer, and especially studying with so much 

 care the map of the roads and by-ways across the country. 

 It was evident that the Count was no common traveller ; he 

 did not mean to fly through the country at a rail-road pace, 

 and see nothing but the spittoons in our steamboats, or like 

 another celebrated traveller, mistake the feathery down of 

 the silver maple tree, which fills the air, at a certain season of 

 the year, for the " ptyalations" of his fellow passengers. No, 

 this enlightened nobleman meant to view the internal resources 

 of the country, and shunning the broad high-ways, it was his 

 purpose to tread the less frequented paths of inland towns 

 and villages. 



From his first appearance in the village, however, Fanny Gay 

 had been persuaded that there was some romantic mystery con- 

 nected with him. His pale and swarthy visage, his black eyes 

 and heavy brows, his tall thin figure, and above all, his wealth of 



