The Darcys rose tolerably early, and took a barque along the western shores of Lake Maggiore past Stresa, Arono, and Dormelletto, to Sesto Calende, where the Tessino leaves Lake Maggiore. Arriving at Sesto Calende, the Darcys met their carriages and Georgiana and continued on, as Milan was yet beyond the reach of a day’s journey by carriage. They noted that the Simplon Road did not end at Simplon, or even Domo, but the wide, flat road, bridges, aqueducts, railings and other works of Buonaparte’s effort appeared all the way to Milan. Sesto was succeeded by the plains of Lombardy, a flat expanse cultivated with immense swaths of corn and other grains, interspersed here and there with grape-vines and mulberry trees. Somma claimed to be the city where Hannibal defeated Scipio. In one of the gardens that surround that city was said to be a cypress tree of enormous girth, but the Darcys agreed that they would suspend the pleasure of seeing another tree—even a very large one—in favour of reaching their inn at an earlier hour. They stopt the night at Cerro Maggiore which, despite its grand name, afforded only one inn, poorly kept, and deplorably dirty.

Whilst en route to Milan, Georgiana valiantly struggled to keep up the appearance of composure, if not actual felicity. She was thankful to have her guide-books with her, and so could fill the hours rumbling along the final stage of the Via Sempione, relating the very bloody history of Milan, which had been besieged, sacked, and destroyed with an astonishing frequency. More recently, she concluded, in the past century alone, the city had been the possession of Spain, Germany, Austria, France, two states of Italy, and was again now a subject of Austria. Elizabeth wondered aloud how the Milanese could keep themselves in writing-paper with such frequent alteration of address, but perhaps the industry of the printers was a portion of the apparent prosperity they now beheld. Mr. Darcy smiled at this bon mot, but Elizabeth might have been speaking to herself, for all of the response she drew from Georgiana. At length, Georgiana recollected herself enough to inform them that present-day Milan had a population of about one hundred and fifty thousand souls.