nd took me
over to Oulton with him. He was silent all the way. When we got
to the little white wicket gate before the approach to the
house he took off his hat and began to beat his breast like an
Oriental. He cried aloud all the way up the path. He calmed
himself, however, by the time that Mr. Crabbe had opened the
door and asked us in. Crabbe brought in some wine, and we all
sat down to table. I sat opposite to Mrs. Crabbe; her husband
was on my left hand. Borrow sat at one end of the table, and
the chair at the opposite end was left vacant. We were talking
in a casual way when Borrow, pointing to the empty chair, said
with profound emotion, 'There! It was there that I first saw
her.' It was a curious coincidence that though there were four
of us we should have left that particular seat unoccupied at a
little table of about four feet square.[257]

But this is a lengthy digression from the story of Henrietta Clarke, who
married William MacOubrey, an Irishman--and an Orangeman--from Belfast
in 1865. The pair lived first in Belfast and afterwards at 80 Charlotte
Street, Fitzroy Square. Before his marriage he had practised at 134
Sloane Street, London. MacOubrey, although there has been some doubt
cast upon the statement, was a Doctor of Medicine of Trinity College,
Dublin, and a Barrister-at-Law. Within his limitations he was an
accomplished man, and before me lie not only documentary evidence of his
M.D. and his legal status, but several printed pamphlets that bear his
name.[258] What is of more importance, the letters from and to his wife
that have through my hands and have been consigned to the flames prove
that husband and wife lived on most affectionate terms.

It is natural that Borrow's correspondence with his stepdaughter should
have been of a somewhat private character, and I therefore publish only
a selection from his letters to her, believing however that they modify
an existing tradition very considerably:

To Mrs. MacOubrey

DEAR HENRIETTA,--Have you heard from the gentleman whom you
said you would write to about the farm?[259] Mr. C. came over
the other day and I mentioned the matter to him, but he told me
that he was on the eve of going to London on law business and
should be absent for some time. His son is in Cambridge. I am
afraid that it will be no easy matter to find a desirable
tenant and t