tion
this as one of my diverting adventures," she wrote to Lady Mar, "though
I must own that it is not half so mortifying here as in England, there
being as much difference as there is between a little cold in the head,
which sometimes happens here, and the consumptive cough, so common in
London. Nobody keeps their house a month for lying in; and I am not so
fond of any of our customs to retain them when they are not necessary. I
returned my visits at three weeks' end."

So soon as possible after this domestic event, preparations for the
return journey were made. The party went by sea to Tunis, thence to
Genoa, Turin, Lyons, and Paris. Their arrival at Paris in October was
notified by Lady Mar to her husband: "You'll be surprised to hear 657
[i.e., Lady Mary] is here. She arrived the day after me. You may believe
how much incognito I am. 'Twas in vain to attempt being so. Twould fill
a whole letter to tell you the people that have been to see me. I was
very much pleased at seeing 657 and she appeared to be the same." The
sisters had not met for three years.

CHAPTER X

A SCANDAL

Montagu re-enters the House of Commons--His miserliness--Pope refers to
it--Comments on Society--Lady Mary and a first-class scandal--Remond--
His admiration for her--Her imprudent letters to him--The South Sea
Bubble--Lady Mary speculates for Remond--She loses money for him--He
demands to be re-imbursed--He threatens to publish her letters--She
states the case in letters to Lady Mar--Lady Mary meets Pope--His letters
to her when she was abroad--He affects to be in love with her--Her
matter-of-fact replies--Her parody of his verses, "On John Hughes and
Sarah Drew."

Montagu, on his return to England, again entered the House of Commons,
where he represented Huntingdon from 1722 to 1734, and then for
Peterborough from 1734 to 1747 and from 1754 to 1761. Whether it was
lack of ambition or just want of appreciation of his talents by the
leaders of his party, there is no evidence. Even with his family
connections and his wealth, he was never offered a place in any
Administration, nor, it must be confessed, did he in any way distinguish
himself in Parliament. As the years passed, his chief pleasure, if
indeed it was not his only one, was in the hoarding of money--in this
pursuit he was splendidly successful. From references to Lady Mary in
contemporary correspondence, it would appear that she too had no small
streak of the miser in her