I shall have much more to say about her
when I get further advanced with my story.
Meanwhile I have next to relate that my mistress broke up the
rest of her establishment, and, taking me and the lady's maid
with her, went to travel on the Continent.
Among other wonderful places we visited Paris, Genoa, Venice,
Florence, Rome, and Naples, staying in some of those cities for
months together. The fame of my mistress's riches followed her
wherever she went; and there were plenty of gentlemen, foreigners
as well as Englishmen, who were anxious enough to get into her
good graces and to prevail on her to marry them. Nobody
succeeded, however, in producing any very strong or lasting
impression on her; and when we came back to England, after more
than two years of absence, Mrs. Norcross was still a widow, and
showed no signs of wanting to change her condition.
We went to the house on the Yorkshire estate first; but my
mistress did not fancy some of the company round about, so we
moved again to Darrock Hall, and made excursions from time to
time in the lake district, some miles off. On one of these trips
Mrs. Norcross met with some old friends, who introduced her to a
gentleman of their party bearing the very common and very
uninteresting name of Mr. James Smith.
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