PELHAM

By Edward Bulwer Lytton


VOLUME I.

CHAPTER I.

Ou peut-on etre mieux qu'au sein de sa famille?
--French Song.
[Where can on be better than in the bosom of
one's family?]

I am an only child. My father was the younger son of one of our oldest
earls; my mother the dowerless daughter of a Scotch peer. Mr. Pelham was
a moderate whig, and gave sumptuous dinners; Lady Frances was a woman of
taste, and particularly fond of diamonds and old china.

Vulgar people know nothing of the necessaries required in good society,
and the credit they give is as short as their pedigree. Six years after
my birth, there was an execution in our house. My mother was just setting
off on a visit to the Duchess of D_____; she declared it was impossible
to go without her diamonds. The chief of the bailiffs declared it was
impossible to trust them out of his sight. The matter was compromised--
the bailiff went with my mother to C___, and was introduced as my tutor.
"A man of singular merit," whispered my mother, "but so shy!"
Fortunately, the bailiff was abashed, and by losing his impudence he kept
the secret. At the end of the week, the diamonds went to the jeweller's,
and Lady Frances wore paste.