am the only person likely to take an interest in her; while, for my
part, I have ascertained that, for all her statuesque features, she
will prove accommodating. She seems to me a kindly soul, but cautious.
I have not been able to extract a word of what passed between her and
my mother.

Another trifling piece of news! My father has this morning refused the
appointment as Minister of State which was offered him. This accounts
for his preoccupied manner last night. He says he would prefer an
embassy to the worries of public debate. Spain in especial attracts
him.

This news was told me at lunch, the one moment of the day when my
father, mother, and brother see each other in an easy way. The
servants then only come when they are rung for. The rest of the day my
brother, as well as my father, spends out of the house. My mother has
her toilet to make; between two and four she is never visible; at four
o'clock she goes out for an hour's drive; when she is not dining out,
she receives from six to seven, and the evening is given to
entertainments of various kinds--theatres, balls, concerts, at homes.
In short, her life is so full, that I don't believe she ever has a
quarter of an hour to herself. She must spend a considerable time
dressing in the morning; for at lunch, which takes place between
eleven and twelve, she is exquisite. The meaning of the things that
are said about her is dawning on me. She begins the day with a bath
barely warmed, and a cup of cold coffee with cream; then she dresses.
She is never, except on some great emergency, called before nine
o'clock. In summer there are morning rides, and at two o'clock she
receives a young man whom I have never yet contrived to see.