She had a daughter, whom she had often described in the warmest terms of maternal affection: this daughter was fifteen, lively, charming, and of an amiable disposition.Madam de Larnage promised me her friendship; I had not forgotten that promise, and was curious to know how Mademoiselle de Larnage would treat her mother's bon ami.These were the subjects of my reveries from the bridge of St.
Esprit to Remoulin: I had been advised to visit the Pont-du-Gard; Idid not fail to do so.After a breakfast of excellent figs, I took a guide and went to the Pont-du-Gard.Hitherto I had seen none of the remaining monuments of Roman magnificence, and I expected to find this worthy the hands by which it was constructed; for once, the reality surpassed my expectation; this was the only time in my life it ever did so, and the Romans alone could have produced that effect.The view of this noble and sublime work struck me the more forcibly, from being in the midst of a desert, where silence and solitude render the majestic edifice more striking, and admiration more lively, for though called a bridge it is nothing more than an aqueduct.One cannot help exclaiming, what strength could have transported these enormous stones so far from any quarry? And what motive could have united the labors of so many millions of men, in a place that no one inhabited? I went through the three stories of this superb edifice.I hardly dared to put my feet on these old stones, I reverenced them so much.I remained here whole hours, in the most ravishing contemplation, and returned, pensive and thoughtful to my inn.This reverie was by no means favorable to Madam de Larnage; she had taken care to forewarn me against the girls of Montpellier, but not against the Pont-du-Gard- it is impossible to provide for every contingency.
On my arrival at Nimes, I went to see the amphitheater, which is a far more magnificent work than even the Pont-du-Gard, yet it made a much less impression on me, perhaps, because my admiration had been already exhausted on the former object; or that the situation of the latter, in the midst of a city, was less proper to excite it.The amphitheater at Verona is a vast deal smaller, and less beautiful than that at Nimes, but preserved with all possible care and neatness, by which means alone it made a much stronger and more agreeable impression on me.The French pay no regard to these things, respect no monument of antiquity; ever eager to undertake, they never finish, nor preserve anything that is already finished to their hands.
I was so much better, and had gained such an appetite by exercise, that I flopped a whole day at Pont-de-Lunel, for the sake of good entertainment and company, this being deservedly esteemed at that time the best inn in Europe; for those who kept it, knowing how to make its fortunate situation turn to advantage, took care to provide both abundance and variety.It was really curious to find in a lonely country-house, in the middle of the Campagna, a table every day furnished with sea and fresh-water fish, excellent game, and choice wines, served up with all the attention and care, which are only to be expected among the great or opulent, and all this for thirty-five sous each person: but the Pont-du-Lunel did not long remain on this footing, for the proprietor, presuming too much on its reputation, at length lost it entirely.
During this journey, I really forgot my complaints, but recollected them again on my arrival at Montpellier.My vapors were absolutely gone, but every other complaint remained, and though custom had rendered them less troublesome, they were still sufficient to make any one who had been suddenly seized with them, suppose himself attacked by some mortal disease.In effect, they were rather alarming than painful, and made the mind suffer more than the body, though it apparently threatened the latter with destruction.While my attention was called off by the vivacity of my passions, I paid no attention to my health; but as my complaints were not altogether imaginary, I thought of them seriously when the tumult had subsided.
Recollecting the salutary advice of Madam de Larnage, and the cause of my journey, I consulted the most famous practitioners, particularly Monsieur Fizes; and through superabundance of precaution boarded at a doctor's, who was an Irishman, and named Fitz-Morris.
