Page:Lady Anne Granard 2.pdf/55

Rh When busy he was better, and appeared to think perpetual motion a panacea for his unnamed and un-nameable complaint; and so much were they hurried from place to place, after their arrival at Genoa, that both sisters were thankful when they embarked again, as the sea appeared a resting-place; and during their placid sail to Naples, Isabella regained the quiet she required to her person, but she could not fail to perceive that her husband was proportionately ill at ease; perpetual motion seemed necessary for him; and when not hastily walking the deck, he would be asking incessant questions of every person on board, without attending to their replies, or apparently remembering what he had inquired about. There was a bustling attention to their wants, that was entirely new in his conduct, and evidently arose from a vain wish to escape from some corroding care, which he could neither conquer nor explain, and which he sought especially to hide from his own family, though it might be accounted for by the situation of his lady. On arriving at the hotel in Naples, he immediately inquired for letters, and on one being given to him which was from Rome, he put it in his pocket, and proceeded to select rooms suitable for their accommodation; having settled every thing in a manner more like himself than usual, he said he must take a short turn on the Chiajia, and see if the mountain looked as it used to do, and not till he had completely left the house did he draw forth and read the letter.