The Englishman alone preserved his usual phlegm, and the fair Venetian
was piqued at it.
She had pardoned him a want of gallantry towards herself, though a sin
of omission seldom met with in the gallant climate of Italy, but the
quiet coolness which he maintained in matters which so much affected
her, and the slow credence which he had given to the stories which had
filled her with alarm, were quite vexatious.
"Santa Maria!" said she to husband as they retired for the night, "what
insensible beings these English are!"
In the morning all was bustle at the inn at Terracina.
The procaccio had departed at day-break, on its route towards Rome, but
the Englishman was yet to start, and the departure of an English
equipage is always enough to keep an inn in a bustle. On this occasion
there was more than usual stir; for the Englishman having much property
about him, and having been convinced of the real danger of the road,
had applied to the police and obtained, by dint of liberal pay, an
escort of eight dragoons and twelve foot-soldiers, as far as Fondi.
Perhaps, too, there might have been a little ostentation at bottom,
from which, with great delicacy be it spoken, English travellers are
not always exempt; though to say the truth, he had nothing of it in his
manner. He moved about taciturn and reserved as usual, among the gaping
crowd in his gingerbread-colored travelling cap, with his hands in his
pockets.
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