Monday, December 12, 1831

 1831 December

Monday 12

8

1 10/..

Windy, but fair and finish and F 59° in my room at 8 – F 53° at 8 3/4 in the balcony, and then   and for a few minutes before, raining –

Went down at 9 10/.. – Sat reading Miss Hobart’s German Grammar till she came down at 9 1/2 – Then in 1/4 hour, breakfast, 1/2 cup cold milk and 2 cups of tea in 3/4 hour (did not hurry for not inclined for breakfast and only ate about 1/2 my usual quantity) and came upstairs at 10 3/4 –

Miss H- had mentioned her London German master – Said if she would like to have him here, I would learn German and pay half the expense – Thought he might come for a pound a day and traveling expenses paid, especially as he might sleep and breakfast in the house into the bargain – Miss H- to write and name the thing to Lady Stuart.  We might have him for a month or six weeks during the Dead time in London for about £25 each?

On coming up, found my cousin come. Half hour arranging for him then –

Looking over maps of Germany etc. till near one – if I now pick up German enough, shall I go from Paris by Treves, Coblentz, Cassel to Gottingen, Berlin, Dresden, Buda, Vienna, Belgrade? and return by Trieste into Italy for the winter?

Then 1/4 hour or 20 minutes trying to learn the German writing characters till Miss H came to me  at 1 10/.. and staid an hour, saying she meant it a great compliment to say I nailed her as I always did, so that she could not get away – We looked over maps of France, Switzerland, and Italy – Talked of the London German master and Dr. de Prati here, who seems little likely to teach Miss H- much more German than she knows already –

Very windy – The rain continued till between 1 and 2, and then blew off so that I might have gone out had I felt inclined – Wrote the above of today till 2 1/2 – From then to 6 25/.., at my private and traveling Daybooks –

Dressed – Dinner at 7 10/.. in 40 minutes – Music – Coffee at 8 1/2 – German pronunciation lesson from Miss H-.  From 10 5/.., read aloud from page 91 to 139, end of chapter 23, volume vi, Gibbon.

Came upstairs at 11 1/4 – A minute or two in Miss H’s room and she the same in mine. Very good friends. Speaking this morning of the good of going to bed at ten and getting up at four or five, she said, you wont get me to do that.  And this evening, on my alluding to going to Paris, she said, I shall not believe you will go till I know you are there.  And this morning looking over the maps, she asked me to point out Salona and then immediately put her finger on Spalatra, saying, that is it.  I merely said yes. Does she like me and think of being more with me? I suspect it, but now I care less and less about it –

For the weather, vide the 1st lines of today and line 8 of this page.  Rain again before 3, and afterwards very rainy, windy, stormy afternoon and evening, and very boisterous, wet night now at 11 1/2 – The sky light making a terrible rattle from the high wind, which almost blew us away in the sitting room tonight, and blows into my room at a fine rate – F now at 11 1/2 in my room with good fire 62° –

Till 12 25/.., writing out the verb werden – F 54 1/2° in the balcony now at 12 3/4 tonight –

WYAS Finding Number  SH:7/ML/E/14/0162