parlor. Leaving the major for my brother and his wife to entertain, I took the colonel to a remote part of the room and after some preliminary conversation, asked him the same questions that I had Colonel M.
He expressed admiration of my valor, but was so bitter in denouncing me for assuming male attire, that I was thoroughly disgusted with him.
A few days after this, I returned with my brother and family to London, and immediately on my arrival in that city wrote two letters, one to Colonel M. and the other to Colonel D., telling them who I was. Colonel M. replied, expressing great gratification at having met me, and a wish that I had made known to him that I was the heroine of whom he had such a decided admiration. Colonel D. did not reply; but his friend Major C. wrote me a letter in French, in which he endeavored to apologize for him, and expressed a wish, for his own sake, that I would return to Paris, as he was anxious to be better acquainted with a lady who had performed so many valorous exploits.
A Brief Visit to London.
We remained about fifteen days in London, stopping at the house of a friend, Mr. T., a right jolly fellow, who had resided in England for many years. Shortly after our arrival we visited Hyde Park, a very beautiful pleasure-ground, but not to be compared with the Parisian parks. This event was a source of much gratification to me, as it gave me an opportunity to see her majesty Queen Victoria, who drove by in a carriage with six horses. For this lady I always had a great admiration, esteeming her a model queen and a model mother. She was dressed with great neatness and simplicity, and there was nothing showy or ostentatious about her.
From London we went to Manchester, and I was interested in the great mills and factories, and in a grand cattle show which was in progress. With the display of fine blooded animals I was especially delighted. Notwithstanding, however, that there was so much to see and to occupy my attention, I was by this time getting homesick, and my eyes were frequently cast longingly westward. I was impatient to return to America, and my brother was equally so; and consequently, ere long, we were once more standing on the deck of a vessel homeward bound, for, after all, it was impossble for us to think* of America but as our home.
