[En route to Paris—Saturday, 24 July 1869]
Saturday. July 24th for Paris. Mr. Dickens, Mary, & Miss Hogarth came to lunch. We had a merry time enough. They were all going to Teddington to dine and were wishing we were all going too. We all talked and laughed together but Dickens did not talk especially more than the rest. Katie says she has seen him when uninterested in the company become perfectly silent and say not one word during dinner. When he was young he was apt to be both pale and silent. He was very happy for him however on Saturday and talked gayly when he was inclined as if he felt at home. He said he should go to Liverpool when we went away.
We had a strange broken night of course, hearing French for the first time. The hardest part is for Jamie because he is so thoughtful about everything when he can manage, that when he cannot speak I am apt to forget and leave him in difficulties. The night was clear and moony and we found Sunday morning hot and clear in Paris. Fortunately the hotel was a comfortable one—on the Rue de Rivoli.
