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Article LONDON PLATITUDES. ← Page 13 of 13
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London Platitudes.
out of my melancholy by putting sundry answers in my way , which I ought to have made . As it was , the questions put , after some polite waiting , during which I sat speechless as the statue of Cato himself , were answered by others who seemed to feel the awkwardness .
Time passed , however , and I went up-stairs . I looked round for my divinity , but saw her nowhere . No matter , thought I , she may have merely disappeared for a moment . I watched and waited , expecting her to come in again ; but all was in vain . I remember trying to be agreeable , but I am sure it must have been a ghastly affair , for the people were so
civil . They were bland to them , but nobody laughed ^ at my pleasantries . I astonished one or two very honourable old ladies by an abrupt remark , and " one fair daughter and no more , " at whom in desperation I made an uncalled-for set , rose in some slight discomposure , and with a very demure face " passed over to the other side . " These failures made me ferocious .
I was conscious of looking quite the reverse of fascinating , and in the despair of my heart at it , at last I ventured a hesitating inquiry as to what had become of Miss Hufflingun . Good heavens , she had been gone these two hours , and I like a fool had been watching and trembling all the time at every opening of the door , quaking , and vainly enough expecting to see her enter .
I advanced across the room , stammered a sort of excuse to the lady of the house , and made my escape down stairs . I almost glared at my officious friend in coach-binding , and as he opened the street door , and as I felt the fresh breath of heaven come wooingly to cool my forehead , as well as the persuasion that he had seen the last of my fascinator , if he had not
gone home with her , I scarcely restrained the exclamation , Thou hast done this ! I am thus particular in these circumstances , as this was my last dinner in London . The next day I spent in packing up , and I changed a cheque into notes , silver , and gold , that I might be prepared for all exigencies . Golden words are the
best that you can exchange as a traveller .
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
London Platitudes.
out of my melancholy by putting sundry answers in my way , which I ought to have made . As it was , the questions put , after some polite waiting , during which I sat speechless as the statue of Cato himself , were answered by others who seemed to feel the awkwardness .
Time passed , however , and I went up-stairs . I looked round for my divinity , but saw her nowhere . No matter , thought I , she may have merely disappeared for a moment . I watched and waited , expecting her to come in again ; but all was in vain . I remember trying to be agreeable , but I am sure it must have been a ghastly affair , for the people were so
civil . They were bland to them , but nobody laughed ^ at my pleasantries . I astonished one or two very honourable old ladies by an abrupt remark , and " one fair daughter and no more , " at whom in desperation I made an uncalled-for set , rose in some slight discomposure , and with a very demure face " passed over to the other side . " These failures made me ferocious .
I was conscious of looking quite the reverse of fascinating , and in the despair of my heart at it , at last I ventured a hesitating inquiry as to what had become of Miss Hufflingun . Good heavens , she had been gone these two hours , and I like a fool had been watching and trembling all the time at every opening of the door , quaking , and vainly enough expecting to see her enter .
I advanced across the room , stammered a sort of excuse to the lady of the house , and made my escape down stairs . I almost glared at my officious friend in coach-binding , and as he opened the street door , and as I felt the fresh breath of heaven come wooingly to cool my forehead , as well as the persuasion that he had seen the last of my fascinator , if he had not
gone home with her , I scarcely restrained the exclamation , Thou hast done this ! I am thus particular in these circumstances , as this was my last dinner in London . The next day I spent in packing up , and I changed a cheque into notes , silver , and gold , that I might be prepared for all exigencies . Golden words are the
best that you can exchange as a traveller .