It Was Meagre Day, And
She Had Made Her Provision Accordingly.
She even hinted some
dissatisfaction at having heretics in her house:
But, as I was
not disposed to eat stinking fish, with ragouts of eggs and
onions, I insisted upon a leg of mutton, and a brace of fine
partridges, which I found in the larder. Next day, when we set
out in the morning from Luc, it blew a north-westerly wind so
extremely cold and biting, that even a flannel wrapper could not
keep me tolerably warm in the coach. Whether the cold had put our
coachman in a bad humour, or he had some other cause of
resentment against himself, I know not; but we had not gone above
a quarter of a mile, when he drove the carriage full against the
corner of a garden wall, and broke the axle-tree, so that we were
obliged to return to the inn on foot, and wait a whole day, until
a new piece could be made and adjusted. The wind that blew, is
called Maestral, in the Provencial dialect, and indeed is the
severest that ever I felt. At this inn, we met with a young
French officer who had been a prisoner in England, and spoke our
language pretty well. He told me, that such a wind did not blow
above twice or three times in a winter, and was never of long
continuance, that in general, the weather was very mild and
agreeable during the winter months; that living was very cheap in
this part of Provence, which afforded great plenty of game.
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