told by her granddaughter, Lady Louisa
Stuart, cannot have been an unmixed delight. "Some particulars, in
themselves too insignificant to be worth recording, may yet interest the
curious, by setting before them the manners of our ancestors," Lady
Louisa says. "Lord Dorchester, having no wife to do the honours of his
table at Thoresby, imposed that task upon his eldest daughter, as soon
as she had bodily strength for the office: which in those days required
no small share. For this mistress of a country mansion was not only to
invite--that is urge and tease--her company to eat more than human
throats could conveniently swallow, but to carve every dish, when
chosen, with her own hands. The greater the lady, the more indispensable
the duty. Each joint was carried up in its turn, to be operated upon by
her, and her alone; since the peers and knights on either hand were so
far from being bound to offer their assistance, that the very master of
the house, posted opposite her, might not act as her croupier, his
department was to push the bottle after dinner. As for the crowd of
guests, the most inconsiderable among them--the curate, or subaltern, or
squire's younger brother--if suffered through her neglect to help
himself to a slice of the mutton placed before him, would have chewed
it in bitterness and gone home an affronted man, half inclined to give a
wrong vote at the next election. There were then professed
carving-masters, who taught young ladies the art scientifically; from
one of whom Lady Mary said she took lessons three times a week that she
might be perfect on her father's public days, when, in order to perform
her functions without interruption, she was forced to eat her own dinner
alone an hour or two beforehand."

CHAPTER II

GIRLHOOD (1703-1710)

Lady Mary makes the acquaintance of Edward Wortley Montagu--Montagu
attracted by her looks and her literary gifts--Assists her in her
studies--Montagu a friend of the leading men of letters of the
day--Addison, Steele, Congreve, Vanbrugh, and others--The second volume
of the _Tatler_ dedicated to him by Steele--Montagu a staunch Whig--His
paternal interest for Lady Mary does not endure--He becomes a suitor for
her hand--Lady Mary's devotion and respect for him--Her flirtations--She
and Montagu correspond through the medium of his sister, Anne--Lady
Mary's mordant humour--Her delight in retailing society scandal--The
death of Anne Wortley--Lady Mary and Montagu