Mr. Hook is no misanthrope, and while he exposes the ridiculous with a rare wit and humour he evinces a natural and warm sympathy with the good. He is a very original thinker and writer, hits off characters with a facility and felicity that few authors possess, and makes them invariably act in accordance with the peculiar characteristics with which he has endowed them. The _vraisemblance_ is never for a moment violated, which makes the reader imagine he is perusing a true narration instead of a fiction. House-hunting to-day. Went again over the Hôtel Monaco, but its dilapidated state somewhat alarms us. The suite of reception rooms are magnificent, but the garden into which they open pleases me still more, for it is vast and umbrageous. The line old hôtels in the Faubourg St.-Germain, and this is one of the finest, give one a good idea of the splendour of the _noblesse de l'ancien régime_. The number and spaciousness of the apartments, the richness of the decorations, though no longer retaining their pristine beauty, and above all, the terraces and gardens, have a grand effect. CHAPTER XIX. House-hunting all the day with Lord B----. Went again over the Hôtel Monaco, and abandoned the project of hiring it. Saw one house newly built and freshly and beautifully decorated, which I like, but Lord B---- does not think good enough. It is in the Rue de Matignon. It is so desirable to get into a mansion where every thing is new and in good taste, which is the case with the one in question, that I hope Lord B---- will be satisfied with this. Sat an hour with General d'O---- who has been unwell. Never was there such a nurse as his wife, and so he said. Illness almost loses its irksomeness when the sick chamber is cheered by one who is as kind as she is clever. Madame d'O---- is glad we have not taken the Hôtel Monaco, for she resided in it a long time when it was occupied by her mother, and she thinks the sleeping-rooms are confined and gloomy. "After serious consideration and mature deliberation," we have finally decided on taking the house in the Rue de Matignon. It will be beautiful when completed, but nevertheless not to be compared to the Hôtel Ney. The _salons de réception_, are very good, and the decorations are rich and handsome. The large _salon_ is separated from the lesser by an immense plate of unsilvered glass, which admits of the fireplaces in each room (they are _vis-à-vis_) being seen, and has a very good effect. A door on each side this large plate of glass opens into the smaller _salon_. The portion of the house allotted to me will, when completed, be like fairy land. A _salon_, destined to contain my buhl cabinets, _porcelaine de Sèvres_, and rare _bijouterie_, opens into a library by two glass-doors, and in the pier which divides them is a large mirror filling up the entire space.