_June 4th._--Our long-expected and much-dreaded hot weather has never
arrived, but instead of it cold, wet weather. The French said it was
an unusually bad season; they were quite _en colère_. It was this day
quite a storm; from the quantity of rain which had fallen there was a
little canal before the door; and as the dining-room was across the
yard, we could hardly get to it in wet weather without getting our
feet wet. I never felt anything so cold as it was in France. We used
to sit shivering, wrapt up in shawls to try and keep ourselves warm.
There were no grates; the fire was lighted on the hearth between two
dogs, and we used to sit round it blowing the wood to try and make it
burn: to make matters worse there were two holes, one on each side of
the fireplace, apparently made to let the smoke into the room; these we
were obliged to stuff with paper. It was as bad in bed, and though we
had sent repeatedly, we could not get any quilts and only one cotton
blanket to each bed. There were no carpets in the rooms; only bare
stone floors, from which, besides being very cold, all the red came
off on to our gowns. We were most of us sufficiently tired of France.
I would have given anything in the world to get back to England, but
we thought there was no chance of that for a long time. Every person
was dismal: one got the rheumatism, another had a cold, another was
ill, another had chilblains, and another was melancholy; and all said
they would not grumble if they did not see other people grumble. I went
from room to room, and could get no consolation. In spite of their
spectacles and processions, there was a dulness in the streets and a
want of life in the people: everything seemed to be creeping along and
looking like oysters. The boys amused themselves with a swing; when the
soldiers were exercising they used sometimes to look in at the garden
gate to watch them. The servants were very dismal: they used often to
say how much they had been mistaken in France, and what fine stories
they would tell about it when they got back to Cumberland.