She gave a sketch of her life from her birth up, mentioning incidentally that she had been a belle, surrounded with beaux, the pride of her parents, with a reputation for intellect, etc.
"I had been urging Miss Bremer into an interesting talk before Mrs.W.
appeared, and I felt what a pity it was that she hadn't the same propensity to talk that the latter had.

She talked very pleasantly, however, and I thought what a pity it was that I shall not see her again; for I leave Rome in three days for Florence.
"I was in Rome for a winter, an idler by necessity for six weeks.

It is the very place of all the world for an idler.
"On the pleasant days there are the ruins to visit, the Campagna to stroll over, the villas and their grounds to gather flowers in, the Forum to muse in, the Pincian Hill or the Capitoline for a gossiping walk with some friend.
"On rainy days it is all art.

There are the cathedrals, the galleries, and the studios of the thousand artists; for every winter there are a thousand artists in Rome.
"A rainy day found me in the studio of Paul Akers.

As I was looking at some of his models, the studio door opened and a pretty little girl, wearing a jaunty hat and a short jacket, into the pockets of which her hands were thrust, rushed into the room, seemingly unconscious of the presence of a stranger, began a rattling, all-alive talk with Mr.Akers, of which I caught enough to know that a ride over the Campagna was planned, as I heard Mr.Akers say, 'Oh, I won't ride with you--I'm afraid to!' after which he turned to me and introduced Harriet Hosmer.
"I was just from old conservative England, and I had been among its most conservative people.