Page:Memoirs of the Lady Hester Stanhope.djvu/344

 liking for royalty," she answered, "is not indiscriminate, but I believe in the divine right of kings; for I have found it out. And you may ask Mr. Forster also why the bottle of oil came from India to anoint the kings of France. I dare say they never heard of Melek es Sayf, a hero whose exploits and name are hardly inferior in the East to those of Solomon. Is it not extraordinary, that in Europe they know nothing of those people—of him and his forty sons, all of whom were men of note in their time? This must be so; for some of the gates of Cairo are named after them.

"If you happen to speak about the Albanians and the other soldiers that I had here, tell them I did not see them all; I only saw the most desperate, and those whose violence was to be kept under. When I admitted them to my presence, I was always alone, and they always wore their arms; but I never feared them."

Thus Lady Hester went on talking: the dish of potatoes, the dessert, and several other things were forgotten. So, reminding her that Mr. Forster and Mr. Knox must be all this time marvelling what could have detained me, I at last made my escape. In the mean while, the breakfast had been served up as well as the resources of the place would admit. The scene must have been highly curious to her ladyship's guests, who could not fail to be amused as well