, towards the middle of the evening, mysteriously
disappeared, and was looked for and inquired for in vain, until poor
Lord Holland, who was then dependent upon the assistance of two
servants to move from his seat, being raised from the sofa on which
he had been deposited when he was brought up from the dining-room,
the flowers, which Adelaide had left there, were discovered, pressed
as flat as if for preservation in a book of botanical specimens. The
kindly, good-natured gentleman departed, luckily, without knowing
the mischief he had done, or seeing my sister's face of ludicrous
dismay at the condition of her flowers; which Sydney Smith, however,
observed, and in a minute exclaimed, "Ah! I see! Oh dear, oh dear,
what a pity! Hot-bed! hot-bed!"

It has always been a matter of amazement to me that Lady Holland
should have been allowed to ride rough-shod over society, as she did
for so long, with such complete impunity. To be sure, in society,
well-bred persons are always at the mercy of ill-bred ones, who have
an immense advantage over everybody who shrinks from turning a
social gathering into closed lists for the exchange of
impertinences; and people gave way to Lady Holland's domineering
rudeness for the sake of their hosts and fellow-guests, and spared
her out of consideration for them. Another reason for the toleration
shown Lady Holland was the universal esteem and affectionate respect
felt for her husband, whose friends accepted her and her
peculiarities for his sake, and could certainly have given no
stronger proof of their regard for him.

The most powerful inducement to patience, however, to the London
society upon which Lady Holland habitually trampled, was the immense
attraction of her house and of the people who frequented it. Holland
House was, for a series of years, the most brilliant, charming, and
altogether delightful social resort. Beautiful, comfortable,
elegant, picturesque,--an ideal house, full of exquisite objects and
interesting associations, where persons the most distinguished for
birth, position, mental accomplishments, and intellectual gifts, met
in a social atmosphere of the highest cultivation and the greatest
refinement,--the most perfect civilization could produce nothing
more perfect in the way of enjoyment than the intercourse of that
delightfu