together when and where we pleased, and do in every respect just as we thought proper.
Mimili laughed heartily, and clapped her little hands, when I told her about the probationary year, and the troops of Swiss lads who would flock to her from all the neighbouring cantons.
“That will be quite a treat for me,” replied she. “I shall need a little change; for solitude, I think, will be oppressive to me when you are gone. I must be civil to all, as hospitality requires, and this is a point that father particularly insists on; but, in the character that you mean, not one of them shall come near me. Be not gloomy and melancholy before the time, my dear friend; in the hour of parting we will weep together, but till then let us be merry. This year is, after all, but a year: the sixteen that I have lived have seemed, even without you, like so many days: when I have you in my heart the time will appear still shorter; for now I have a deal—a great deal, to think about and to arrange. All that vexes me is, that in the mean time I shall grow a whole year older; and when you come back I may perhaps not be so handsome as you now think me. Look you, sir; if that were the case, I could cry my eyes out: for to suppose you could forget me in a year, ’tis impossible—is it not, my first, my dear, my only friend, impos-
