These English streets had never seemed so romantic . . . and presently here a horse and cart drew up alongside the street lamp, holding a piano and two persons beside the driver. The man was masked, and wore a soft felt hat and a velvet coat. He seated himself at the piano and played a Chopin waltz with sentiment and brilliancy; then he struck a few chords of prelude, turning towards the woman beside him. She rose, and, laying one hand on the corner of the instrument, began to sing one of the season's favorites -- and she also was masked; and even her figure was hidden by a long dark cloak, the hood of which was drawn over her head to meet the mask . . .
One of the most popular writer of books for children, Kate Douglas Wiggin (1856-1923) writes of an England we all might wish to visit, inPenelope's English Experiences-- replete with pleasant romance, yet also with telling details of everyday life.