Roland not only gave free vent to his opinions, but he startled and shocked her by his contemptuous mention of some of her favourite authors.
On the whole this visit left an uncomfortable impression behind it, and Marie was convinced that it would be the last. Nevertheless, M. Roland repeated his calls, undismayed by disfiguring colds and fuming fathers; possibly, with the obliviousness of men to such sublunary trifles, he had remained in blissful ignorance of them. In May 1776, Manon wrote to her friend that on this occasion she has learned to appreciate M. Roland better. "I have been charmed by the solidity of his judgment, the interest of his conversation, and the variety of his acquirements."
In the summer of this year Roland left France for Italy, where he remained until 1778. He corresponded with Mademoiselle Phlipon during his absence, and these letters, afterwards corrected and revised by both, were published under the title Letters written from Switzerland, Italy, Sicily, and Malta in 1776, 1777, 1778. This book of Italian travel is, in Michelet's estimation, the best work on that subject produced in France during the eighteenth century.
The manuscripts of which Roland had made his young friend the depositary, and which consisted in descriptions of travel, sketches of projected works, and personal anecdotes, gave her a better opportunity of becoming acquainted with his mind than a number of personal interviews would have done. They increased her regard for Roland, and on his return from Italy, she found a genuine friend in him. Their relations towards each other were apparently purely those of friendship, and the fact of Manon classing Roland with
