During the autumn of 18, while on a tour through the extreme southern provinces of france, my route led me within a few
miles of a certain maison de sante or private mad-house, about which i had heard much in paris from my medical friends. as
had never visited a place of the kind, i thought the opportunity too good to be lost, and so proposed to my travelling companion
(a gentleman with whom i had made casual acquaintance a few days before) that we should turn aside, for an hour or so, and
look through the establishment. to this he objected pleading haste in the first place, and, in the second, a very usual horror at
the sight of a lunatic. he begged me, however, not to let any mere courtesy towards himself interfere with the gratification of my
curiosity, and said that he would ride on leisurely, so that i might overtake him during the day, or, at all events, during the next.
as he bade me good-bye, i bethought me that there might be some difficulty in obtaining access to the premises, and mentioned
my fears on this point. he replied that, in fact, unless i had personal knowledge of the superintendent, monsieur maillard, or
some credential in the way of a letter, a difficulty might be found to exist, as the regulations of these private mad-houses were
more rigid than the public hospital laws. for himself, he added, he had some years since, made the acquaintance of maillard, and
would so far assist me as to ride up to the door and introduce me; although his feelings on the subject of lunacy would not
permit of his entering the house.
es - which sentence best summarizes the entire first paragraph?
the narrator is on his way to a private mad-house to be examined and his
companion wishes that he himself did not have to take his friend there.
the traveling companion would like to visit his good friend monsieur
maillard, but is in too big a hurry, so he sends his mate, the narrator, in his
place
the narrator asks his traveling companion if he wants to visit a mad-house
and the companion agrees to escort the narrator as far as the door of the
house, but no farther.
the narrator has heard stories of horror about the maison de sante and
wishes to investigate to see if they are as vile as he has been told. at the
last minute, his companion backs out on going