And I--what else could I then do but laugh? He laughed, and I
laughed. He roared, and I roared. He lifted up his vast legs to
view till the rays of the morning sun shone through the window on
the bright hues which he displayed; and he did not sit down to his
breakfast till he had in every fantastic attitude shown off to the
best advantage the red plush of which he had so recently become
proud.
An Antwerp private cabriolet on that day reached the yard of the
Hotel de Belle Vue at about 4 p.m., and four waiters, in a frenzy of
astonishment, saw the Reverend Augustus Horne descend from the
vehicle and seek his chamber dressed in the garments which I have
described. But I am inclined to think that he never again favoured
any of his friends with such a sight.
It was on the next evening after this that I went out to drink tea
with two maiden ladies, relatives of mine, who kept a seminary for
English girls at Brussels. The Misses Macmanus were very worthy
women, and earned their bread in an upright, painstaking manner. I
would not for worlds have passed through Brussels without paying
them this compliment. They were, however, perhaps a little dull,
and I was aware that I should not probably meet in their drawing-
room many of the fashionable inhabitants of the city.
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