Page:The genius - Carl Grosse tr Joseph Trapp 1796.djvu/295

 our entertainments by dispelling that kind of heaviness which gay townsmen are apt to feel during a long rural seclusion.

It was now autumn, and I wrote to Paris to inform Count Selami of my unexpected marriage in the south; he sent us a most pressing invitation to spend the winter with him and his Caroline at Paris. We set out and arrived in that capital about the latter end of November.

The political situation of France at this time was very critical, and the revolution of 1789 strongly portended its mighty and wonderful changes. Selami was not perfectly happy with his new-married spouse, and a kind of reserve which predominated in the fashionable circles, made them very cautious in the reception of strangers. We did not spend the winter quite as agreeably as we first expected, and resolved to return to the south early in spring, whence I projected to retire with my Adela to Spain.

About this time Don Fernandos grew very sullen and discontented, whenever he was in company with me and my friends: Deeming