"I Find No Fault With The House," Replied The Genoese, "It Is The
People Who Keep It Of Whom I Complain.
About an hour since, I went
down to get my breakfast, and there, in the kitchen, I found the
master and all his family:
Well, I sat down and called for
chocolate, which they brought me, but ere I could dispatch it, the
master fell to talking politics. He commenced by telling me that
he held with neither side, but he is as rank a Carlist as Carlos
Quinto: for no sooner did he find that I was of the other opinion,
than he glared at me like a wild beast. You must know, Signore,
that in the time of the old constitution I kept a coffee-house at
Seville, which was frequented by all the principal liberals, and
was, indeed, the cause of my ruin: for as I admired their
opinions, I gave my customers whatever credit they required, both
with regard to coffee and liqueurs, so that by the time the
constitution was put down and despotism re-established, I had
trusted them with all I had. It is possible that many of them
would have paid me, for I believe they harboured no evil intention;
but the persecution came, the liberals took to flight, and, as was
natural enough, thought more of providing for their own safety than
of paying me for my coffee and liqueurs; nevertheless, I am a
friend to their system, and never hesitate to say so.
Enter page number
PreviousNext
Page 245 of 809
Words from 68401 to 68654
of 222596
