TWO:Those whose ideas of France in the eighteenth century are derived only from such books as Dickens Tale of Two Cities, or even from a casual acquaintance with a few of the histories and chronicles of the time, are apt vaguely to picture to themselves a nation composed partly of oppressed, starving peasants, and partly of their oppressors, a race of well-bred ruffians and frivolous, heartless women; all splendidly dressed, graceful, polite, and charming in their manners amongst themselves; but arrogant, cruel, and pitiless to those beneath them.She also met an acquaintance, M. Denon, who introduced her to the Comtesse Marini, of whom he was then the cavalire servente; and who at once invited her to go that evening to a caf.
