t--struck me as a third-class
Frenchman, something between a _sous-officier_ of cavalry and a
_commis-voyageur_; not ill-looking, and set up with that air of the
soldier that in France does duty for dignity. He had a few hasty words
with Culduff, but did not persist nor show any desire to make a row
in presence of ladies. So far, his instincts as a corporal guided him
safely. Had he been led by the _commis-voyageur_ side of his character,
we should have had a most disgraceful scene, ending by a hostile meeting
between a British peer and a bagman.

"My nerves have been so shaken by this incident, and my recollection is
still so charged with this odious woman's look, voice, and manner, that
I cannot trust myself to say more. Be assured, dear Nelly, that in all
the miserable details of this great calamity to our family, no one event
has occurred equal in poignant suffering to the insult I have thus been
subjected to.

"Culduff will not agree to it, but I declare to you she was positively
vulgar in the smirking complacence in which she presented the man as her
future husband. She was already _passee_ when she married my father, and
the exuberant joy at this proposal revealed the old maid's nature. C.
of course, calls her charming, a woman of very attractive qualities and
such like; but men of a certain age have ideas of their own on these
subjects, and, like their notions on cookery, make no converts among
people under forty. I believe I told him so, and, in consequence, the
whole theme has been strictly avoided by each of us ever since."

The remainder of the letter was devoted to details as to her future life
at Constantinople, and the onerous duties that would devolve on her as
ambassadress. She hinted also to a time when she would ask dear Nelly to
come and visit her; but, of course, until matters were fully settled and
concluded, she could not expect her to leave dear Gusty.

The postscript ran thus:--"Culduff meant to have given some small Church
promotion to young L'Estrange, and, indeed, believed he had done so: but
some difficulty has arisen. It is either not his turn, or the Bishop
is troublesome, or the Ecclesiastical Commissioners--if there be such
people--are making objections. If he--I mean L'Estrange--be still
disengaged, would it be wise to offer him the chaplaincy to the embassy?
I mean wise as regards ourselves; but I take it the sister may be still
unmarried, and if she be like what I remember her, a p