Page:Memoirs of the Lady Hester Stanhope.djvu/301

 would hardly be allowed to see the outside of a gaol!

Of this English gentleman Lady Hester never spoke to me, nor did she ever even allude to his visit: he did not see her, and, I presume, continued his road; but, if these pages ever meet his eye, he may be assured that he would have met with a hospitable reception, had she been well enough to receive him, or had I been at liberty to entertain him.

Whilst at dinner, a servant came to say Lady Hester would be glad to see me in the evening. I found her weak and wan: her cheeks were sunken, and her voice was less distinct than usual; for never was there a person who spoke generally with so clear an enunciation. Logmagi was with her. Instead of receiving her welcome, and those obliging expressions which she usually employed even after the most trifling ailment, she addressed me harshly, and seemed to take pains to mortify me by using slighting expressions in Arabic that Logmagi might understand what she said. The theme of her conversation was the debasement of men who suffered themselves to be controlled by their wives. Although to mortify people was one of her constant practices through life, whether in action, correspondence, or conversation, yet it never was done to gratify any malignant feelings of her own, but from a fearless disregard of the conventional rules