Page:Ethel Churchill 3.pdf/96

94 "It is quite curious to observe," said Lady Harvey, "how accurately you remember all Pope's lines. I do believe that he was your grande passion; and that you only gave him up for the sake of appearances, which, I admit were not in his favour." This was a disagreeable subject—one woman always knows how to plague another; but it had the desired effect: the conversation languished, and the party began to disperse about the garden. "How very lovely the river is just now, with its dark ripples growing so silvery wherever the moonlight touches them!" exclaimed Lady Marchmont. "Lovely, indeed!" said her companion; but she saw that her companion's gaze was fixed upon herself. "Perhaps, from having always stayed so quietly in England," said she, at last, to break a silence, growing every moment more embarrassing,—"I may exaggerate its delight; but I have the greatest wish to see foreign countries. Did you enjoy travelling much?"