She had travelled over nearly all England--wherever, in short,
there were horse-fairs--and was familiar with London, where in the
studios of artists she was in request as a face model of
extraordinary value. Nor were these all the characteristics that
distinguished her from the common herd of Romany chies: she was one
of the few Gypsies of either sex who could speak with equal fluency
both the English and Welsh Romanes, and she was in the habit
sometimes of mixing the two dialects in a most singular way. Though
she had lived much in Wales, and had a passionate love of Snowdon,
she belonged to a famous branch of the Lovells whose haunt had for
ages been in Wales and also the East Midlands, and she had caught
entirely the accent of that district.
Among artists in London, as I afterwards learnt, she often went by
the playful name of 'Lady Sinfi Lovell,' for the following reason:
She was extremely proud, and believed the 'Kaulo Camloes' to
represent the aristocracy not only of the Gypsies, but of the world.
Moreover, she had of late been brought into close contact with a
certain travelling band of Hungarian Gypsy-musicians, who visited
England some time ago.
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