The fact that
he wished to make my acquaintance shows, no doubt, that I have
sailed into his ken, and that he wishes to add me to his
collection. I felt myself singularly unrewarding. I am not a talker
at the best of times, and to feel that I am expected to be witty
and suggestive is the last straw. Lord Wilburton discoursed
fluently and agreeably. Lady Harriet said that she envied me my
powers of writing, and asked how I came to think of my last
brilliant book, which she had so enjoyed. I did not know what to
say, and could not invent anything. They made a great deal of the
children. They walked round the garden. They praised everything
ingeniously. They could not say the house was big, and so they
called in convenient. They could not say that the garden was ample,
but Lord Wilburton said that he had never seen so much ground go to
the acre. That was neat enough. They made a great point of visiting
my library, and carried away my autograph, written with the very
same pen with which I wrote my great book. This they called a
privilege. They made us promise to go over to the Castle, which I
have no great purpose of doing. We parted with mutual goodwill, and
with that increase of geniality on my own part which comes on me at
the end of a visit.
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