MADRID, _November 18, 1845_.
I have been here a week or more. It is extremely cold, with occasional
rains, a climate quite like that of Paris. The only difference is that I
look out daily on mountains whose summits are hidden in snow, and that I
am living on familiar terms with several very beautiful Velasquez
paintings. Thanks to the unspeakable slowness of the people of this
country, I began only to-day to poke my nose into the manuscripts which
I came to consult. An academic deliberation was necessary to grant me
permission to examine them, and I can not say how much stratagem in
order to obtain information of their existence. After all, it seems a
very small matter, and not worth the trouble of such a long journey. I
think I shall have concluded my researches in good time, which is to
say, before the end of the month.
I find everything here wonderfully changed since my last visit. People
who were friends when I left have become mortal enemies. Many of my
former acquaintances are now great lords, and are excessively
overbearing. In short, I care less for Madrid in 1845 than in 1840.
People think aloud, and no one inconveniences himself for another. Their
frankness is most astonishing to us Frenchmen, and to me especially,
whom you have accustomed to something so different. You should make a
journey to the other side of the Pyrenees in order to learn a lesson in
veracity.
It would be impossible for you to imagine the expression of their faces
when the object of their affections fails to put in a prompt appearance
at the place of rendezvous, or the clamorous noise of their sighs, which
they have no hesitation in uttering aloud; one is so accustomed to such
scenes that there is no gossip or scandal about them. Every one knows
that he will do the same on Sunday. Is it right, or is it wrong? I ask
myself this question every day, without coming to a decision. I see
happy lovers abusing the intimacy and the confidence of their relations.
One tells what he has eaten for dinner, another describes his cold,
giving every disgusting detail. The most romantic lover of them all has
not the slightest conception of what we mean by gallantry. Lovers here
are, properly speaking, only husbands unsanctioned by the Church. They
are the drudge, the scapegoat of the legal husbands; they attend to all
of madame’s errands, and take care of her when she is ill.
It is so cold that I shall abandon my intention to go to Toledo. For the
same reason there are no bull-fights in progress. On the other hand,
there are no end of balls, which I dislike heartily. I am going, day
after to-morrow, to visit Narvaez, where I shall probably see his
Catholic Majesty. If you answer by return post, you may write to me
here; if not, to Bayonne, _poste restante_. When I am weary and bored,
that is, every day, I think that you will come, perhaps, to meet me on
my arrival, and this thought gives me new life. Notwithstanding your
fiendish coquetry and your aversion to the truth, I like you better than
all these outspoken persons here. Do not take advantage of this
confession.
Good-bye.