Page:Wives of the prime ministers, 1844-1906.djvu/185

MRS. DISRAELI This was done, and Disraeli did not find out the state of the case until the day after the next day. But when he did he was so distressed that he asked permission for them to go home at once.

On the other hand, many stories are told of his devotion to her. When he received his D.C.L. at Oxford there was a great ovation. As he returned to his seat, he put up his eyeglass and sought his wife. He dropped it as soon as he saw her, and kissed his hand to her. He always wrote her a set of verses on the anniversary of their wedding day.

Her favourite topic of conversation was her husband, and she would descant on his merits and virtues in and out of season. She considered him handsome, and one evening when in the company of some ladies who began to talk about certain men who had fine figures, Mrs. Disraeli said in a tone of pity for those who could not possibly know what a fine figure of a man really meant, "Oh! you should see my Dizzy in his bath!" On another occasion after a dinner-party, one of the guests present took her to her carriage and said, "Mr. Disraeli spoke most eloquently in the House to-night; how well he is looking." Mrs. Disraeli, hugely delighted, replied, "Ah! you think he looks 151