Summer passed away in these occupations, and my return to Geneva
was fixed for the latter end of autumn; but being delayed by
several accidents, winter and snow arrived, the roads were
deemed impassable, and my journey was retarded until the ensuing
spring. I felt this delay very bitterly; for I longed to see my
native town and my beloved friends. My return had only been
delayed so long, from an unwillingness to leave Clerval in a
strange place, before he had become acquainted with any of its
inhabitants. The winter, however, was spent cheerfully; and
although the spring was uncommonly late, when it came, its
beauty compensated for its dilatoriness.
The month of May had already commenced, and I expected the
letter daily which was to fix the date of my departure, when
Henry proposed a pedestrian tour in the environs of Ingolstadt,
that I might bid a personal farewell to the country I had so
long inhabited. I acceded with pleasure to this proposition: I
was fond of exercise, and Clerval had always been my favourite
companion in the rambles of this nature that I had taken among
the scenes of my native country.