"Worthy of the Great Nation!" he exclaimed, with enthusiasm.

"_Vive la France!_" Mercy listened and looked, in inexpressible astonishment.

He was utterly unlike the picture which her fancy had drawn of him in everyday life.
Take off his white cravat, and nobody would have discovered that this famous preacher was a clergyman! He helped himself to another plateful of the pie, and spoke more directly to Mercy, alternately eating and talking as composedly and pleasantly as if they had known each other for years.
"I came here by way of Kensington Gardens," he said.

"For some time past I have been living in a flat, ugly, barren, agricultural district.

You can't think how pleasant I found the picture presented by the Gardens, as a contrast.