Page:Letters from India Vol 1.djvu/112

 tremulous tone; but after the first six words he seemed quite at his ease, spoke loud enough to be heard all over the room, and really made a beautiful speech. Several ladies near us, friends of Sir Charles Metcalfe, were crying, and there were two or three attempts at applause, which were soon checked as highly incorrect. Sir Charles’s answer was shorter, but remarkably good, though he was really so much affected by the whole thing that he could hardly speak. In short, we all began the day thinking it would be a ludicrous ceremony, and it turned out very interesting, and moreover had an excellent effect for George, as we heard from all quarters. It was rather good fun, the officers of the ‘Jupiter’, who were dispersed in different parts of the room, coming with the remarks they had overheard. I heard one man saying, ‘But why the d—l is he not always speaking? It is so pleasant to listen to him.’

We had a rest from twelve o’clock till dinner-time and dressed after dinner for the ball. We had the floor chalked with Sir Charles Metcalfe’s arms. There was a sitting-down supper for 650 people, and about 1,000 came to the ball. We went in after they were all assembled, and