None is so fair as Florence!'
"If it were not for the heat, and having been there twice already, it would beat going to see the sun at midnight, which we shall see in Lapland, old fellow. We shall see the sun going right round the horizon, neither rising nor setting—not a bit—but going just as in the old riddle we had when we were children, 'going round and round the house, and never touching the house.' So now no more 'shirking and lurking,' but let's be off to Lapland, and if there are a few mosquitoes, we can take plenty of flea-powder to protect us; there now, I'll stand the flea-powder—a whole pound's worth," and the laugh of that excellent fellow rings in my ears still.
Here R— joined in the conversation; he had never been to Italy, and his curiosity was raised by the enthusiastic expressions of my friend M—, in regard to Florence.
"Do tell us something about that place, where you could live and love for ever," said he.
"Well, what can I tell you?" replied M—. "Florence was the capital of Tuscany, and is situated on the banks of the river Arno, and it is a most delightful place. What more do you want? There is the charming Mrs. —, and her equally charming daughter, whose house opens just as the opera closes; and once there, one never thinks of leaving till three o'clock in the morning at soonest. Then there are the Cascine, the Café Doney, and the club, and my friend G. M—y; and then the churches and the galleries, and the pietre dure, &c., &c., I did every one of them."
"Where did you go when you left Florence?"
"To Rome, naturally."
"So all you know about Tuscany and Central Italy resolves itself into the Cascine, the Café Doney, and our friend G. M—y. Did you not even visit Siena on your way to Rome?"
"No, for, being fond of the sea, I went to Rome by Civita Vecchia."
"When you were at Civita Vecchia, did it not come into your head to visit the birth-place of the Tarquins—Corneto? only a short drive from Civita Vecchia, and one of the most interesting places in Italy."