Page:Memoirs of the Lady Hester Stanhope.djvu/349

 however, I refused to see him. But it was not caprice, nor, as this proves, was it Englishmen alone I denied myself to. Sometimes I was not well enough to sustain a conversation—sometimes I had no provisions in the house, perhaps no servant who knew how to set a table; but travellers never fancied that there could be any other reason for my refusal, but the determination to affront them. God knows, when I could, I was willing to receive anybody.

"Once I had a visit from two persons whom we will call Mr. A. and Mr. B., or Mr. B. and Mr. C.—what letter you like. I thought Mr. B. very stupid, but good God! doctor, there never was anything so vulgar as Mr. C. When I got his note to ask leave to come, the name deceived me; I thought he might be a son of Admiral C. But when he came into the room with his great thighs and pantaloons so tight that he could hardly sit down, I thought he was more like a butcher than anything else. He was a man entirely without breeding, with his Ma'ams and ladyships. I asked him a few questions, as—'Pray, sir, will you allow me to ask if you are a relation of Admiral C's.?'—'No, ma'am, I am no relation at all.'—'Will you permit me to inquire what is the motive of your visit to me?'—'Only to see your ladyship, ma'am.'—'Do you come to this country with any particular object?'—'To be a merchant.'—'You are