He found, in the course of his devious wanderings
through all sorts of out-of-the way thoroughfares within a certain
radius from Brompton Church, that the houses which came nearest to his
ideal cottage in a walled garden were either too far away from Hyde
Park, or they were not to be let, or they were to be let unfurnished.
So, like a prudent person, he moderated his desires, and began to cast
about for any furnished house of fairly cheerful aspect, with a garden
behind. But here again he found that the large furnished houses were out
of the question, because they were unnecessarily expensive, and that the
smaller ones were mostly to be found in slummy streets; while in both
cases there was a difficulty about servants. The end of it was that he
took the first floor of an old-fashioned house in Hans Place, being
induced to do so partly because the landlady was a bright,
pleasant-looking little Frenchwoman, and partly because the rooms were
furnished and decorated in a fashion not common to lodging-houses.
Then came the question of terms, references, and what not; and on all of
these points Mr.
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