But it seemed as if I was destined to offend all the men that day; for
who should presently come up but the Right Honourable Edmund Preston, one
of His Majesty's Secretaries of State (as I know very well by the almanac
in our office) and the husband of Lady Jane.

The Right Honourable Edmund was riding a grey cob, and was a fat pale-
faced man, who looked as if he never went into the open air. "Who the
devil's that?" said he to his wife, looking surlily both at me and her.

"Oh, it's a friend of Grandmamma's and Jane's," said Lady Fanny at once,
looking, like a sly rogue as she was, quite archly at her sister--who in
her turn appeared quite frightened, and looked imploringly at her sister,
and never dared to breathe a syllable. "Yes, indeed," continued Lady
Fanny, "Mr. Titmarsh is a cousin of Grandmamma's by the mother's side: by
the Hoggarty side. Didn't you know the Hoggarties when you were in
Ireland, Edmund, with Lord Bagwig? Let me introduce you to Grandmamma's
cousin, Mr. Titmarsh: Mr. Titmarsh, my brother, Mr. Edmund Preston."

There was Lady Jane all the time treading upon her sister's foot as hard
as possible, and the little wicked thing would take no notice; and I, who
had never heard of the cousinship, feeling as confounded as could be. But
I did not know the Countess of Drum near so well as that sly minx her
grand-daughter did; for the old lady, who had just before called poor Gus
Hoskins her cousin, had, it appeared, the mania of fancying all the world
related to her, and said--

"Yes, we're cousins, and not very far removed. Mick Hoggarty's
grandmother was Millicent Brady, and she and my Aunt Towzer were related,
as all the world knows; for Decimus Brady, of Ballybrady, married an own