ni had higher pretensions than I had given it credit
for, or it employed an unlearned and imaginative stationer. I
scribbled a line of acceptance and went to dress.

The hour of eight found me knocking at the Count's door. The grim
serving-man admitted me to the pleasant chamber which should have been
mine own. A dozen wax candles burned in sconces, and on the table
among fruits and the remains of supper stood a handsome candelabra of
silver. A small fire of logs had been lit on the hearth, and before it
in an armchair sat a strange figure of a man. He seemed not so much
old as aged. I should have put him at sixty, but the marks he bore
were clearly less those of time than of life. There sprawled before me
the relics of noble looks. The fleshy nose, the pendulous cheek, the
drooping mouth, had once been cast in looks of manly beauty. Heavy
eyebrows above and heavy bags beneath spoiled the effect of a choleric
blue eye, which age had not dimmed. The man was gross and yet haggard;
it was not the padding of good living which clothed his bones, but a
heaviness as of some dropsical malady. I could picture him in health a
gaunt loose-limbed being, high-featured and swift and eager. He was
dressed wholly in black velvet, with fresh ruffles and wristbands, and
he wore heeled shoes with antique silver buckles. It was a figure of
an older age which rose to greet me, in one hand a snuff-box and a
purple handkerchief, and in the other a book with finger marking place.
He made me a great bow as Madame uttered my name, and held out a hand
with a kindly smile.

"Mr. Hervey-Townshend," he said, "we will speak English, if you please.
I am fain to hear it again, for 'tis a tongue I love. I make you
welcome, sir, for your own sake and for the sake of your kin. How is
her honourable ladyship, your aunt? A week ago she sent me a letter."

I answered that she did famously, and wondered what cause of
correspondence my worthy aunt could have with wandering nobles of Italy.

He motioned me to a chair between Madame and himself, while a servant
set a candle on a shelf behind him. Then he proceeded to catechise me
in excellent English, with now and then a phrase of French, as to the
doings in my own land. Admirably informed this Italian gentleman
proved himself. I defy you to find in Almack's more intelligent
gossip. He inquired as to the chances of my Lord North and the mind of
my Lord Rockingham. He had my Lord Shelbur