He asked whence we had come; and understanding we
had been in Italy, desired to know whether the man liked France
or Italy best?
Upon his giving France the preference, he clapped
him on the shoulder, and said he was a lad of good taste. The
dutchess asked if her son spoke English well, and seemed mightily
pleased when my man assured her he did. They were much more free
and condescending with my servant than with myself; for, though
we saluted them in passing, and were even supposed to be persons
of quality, they did not open their lips, while we stood close by
them at the inn-door, till their horses were changed. They were
going to Geneva; and their equipage consisted of three coaches
and six, with five domestics a-horseback. The dutchess was a
tall, thin, raw-boned woman, with her head close shaved. This
delay obliged us to lie two posts short of Macon, at a solitary
auberge called Maison Blanche, which had nothing white about it,
but the name. The Lionnois is one of the most agreeable and best-cultivated
countries I ever beheld, diversified with hill, dale,
wood, and water, laid out in extensive corn-fields and rich
meadows, well stocked with black cattle, and adorned with a
surprising number of towns, villages, villas, and convents,
generally situated on the brows of gently swelling hills, so that
they appear to the greatest advantage. What contributes in a
great measure to the beauty of this, and the Maconnois, is the
charming pastoral Soame, which from the city of Chalons winds its
silent course so smooth and gentle, that one can scarce discern
which way its current flows.
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