'
'Ah! I shall always regret I never saw him,' said her ladyship.
'Well, the daughter is in bad health; and so, after keeping her shut
up all her life, the mother was obliged to take her to Weymouth; and
Masham, who has a living in their neighbourhood, which, by-the-bye,
Herbert gave him, and is their chaplain and counsellor, and friend of
the family, and all that sort of thing, though I really believe he has
always acted for the best, he was with them. Well, the King took the
greatest fancy to these Herberts; and the Queen, too, quite singled
them out; and, in short, they were always with the royal family. It
ended by his Majesty making Masham his chaplain; and now he has made
him a bishop.'
'Very droll indeed,' said her ladyship; 'and the drollest thing of all
is, that he is now coming to dine here.'
'Have you seen Cadurcis to-day?' said Lord Monteagle.
'Of course,' said her ladyship.
'He dines here?'
'To be sure. I am reading his new poem; it will not be published till
to-morrow.'
'Is it good?'
'Good! What crude questions you do always ask, Henry!' exclaimed Lady
Monteagle. 'Good! Of course it is good. It is something better than
good.'
'But I mean is it as good as his other things? Will it make as much
noise as his last thing?'
'Thing! Now, Henry, you know very well that if there be anything I
dislike in the world, it is calling a poem a thing.
Pages:
280
281
282
283
284
285
286
287
288
289
290
291
292
293
294
295
296
297
298
299
300
301
302
303
304