In 1844 she nearly involved an old lady in very
serious trouble through innocently begging her to
take a sealed packet to her sister, then staying at
Mayence. In this little parcel were, amongst other
things, four pairs of Tyrolean gloves, then much in
fashion, which nearly caused the arrest of the poor
lady on the Belgian frontier. The officials threatened
the most frightful penalties, amongst them a fine of
£50, for attempting to smuggle a lesser number of pairs
of gloves through the Customs than the Belgian law
allowed — the regulation being that nothing under a
dozen pairs could be carried by travellers without
liability to a very severe penalty.
In fairness it must be admitted that the authorities
had to be on their guard, for many attempts were
made to smuggle things and defraud the Customs.
