Years ago, I was amused, at the _Gaietés_, by a common-place scene enough of stage-temptation. _Madelon_, driven into her last intrenchments by the sophistries of the wily aristocrat, objected timidly, "_Mais, Monseigneur, j'aime mon mari._" For a moment the _Marquis_ was surprised, and seemed to reflect. Then he said, "_Tiens--tu aimes ton mari? C'est bizarre: mais--après tout--ce n'est pas defendu._" As he spoke, he smiled upon his simple vassal--evidently wavering between amusement and compassion.
With just such a smile--allowing for the exaggeration of the African physiognomy--did "Leonoro" contemplate his victim, and me, the bystander, and then sauntered slowly from the room, without uttering one word. It was a great moral lesson, and I profited by it. But, in truth, there was little to complain of; the quarters were clean and comfortable, and one got, in time, as much as any reasonable man could desire. The arrangements are on the European system, _i.e._, there are no fixed hours for meals, which are ordered from the _carte_, and no fixed charge for board. I should have remained there permanently, had it not been for one objection, which eventually overcame my aversion to change. The basement story of the house was occupied by a bar and oyster saloon; the pungent testaceous odors, mounting from those lower regions, gave the offended nostrils no respite or rest; in a few minutes, a robust appetite, albeit watered by cunning bitters, would wither, like a flower in the fume of sulphur. Half-a-dozen before dinner, have always satiated my own desire for these mollusks; before many days were over, I utterly abominated the name of the species; familiarity only made the nuisance more intolerable, and I fled at last, fairly _ostracised_. How the _habitués_ stood it was a mystery, till I recognized the fact, that there is no accident of pleasure or pain to which humanity is liable, no antecedent of rest or exertion, no untimeliness of hour or incongruity of place, which will render an apple or an oyster inopportune to an American _bourgeois_.
My first visit in Baltimore was to the British Consul, to whom I brought credentials from a member of the Washington Legation. I shall not easily forget the many courtesies, for which I have never adequately thanked Mr. Bernal: few English travelers leave Baltimore, without carrying away grateful recollections of his pleasant house in Franklin street, and without having received some kindness, social or substantial, from the fair hands which dispense its hospitalities so gently and gracefully.