He received me with some appearance of interest, which immediately
stiffened and froze. Beginning to shake hands with me as if he meant it,
he instantly dropped my hand, as if it had stung him.

His nobility was of that sort which stands in constant need of repair.
Like a weakly constitution, it required keeping up, and his lordship
could not be said to neglect it; for he seemed to find his principal
employment in administering continuous doses of obsequiousness to his
own pride. His rank, like a coat made for some large ancestor, hung
loose upon him: he was always trying to persuade himself that it was an
excellent fit, but ever with an unacknowledged misgiving. This misgiving
might have done him good, had he not met it with renewed efforts at
looking that which he feared he was not. Yet this man was capable of the
utmost persistency in carrying out any scheme he had once devised.
Enough of him for the present: I seldom came into contact with him.

I scarcely ever saw Lady Alice, except at dinner, or by accidental
meeting in the grounds and passages of the house; and then she took no
notice of me whatever.




CHAPTER VII


_The Library_.

One day, a week after his arrival, Lord Hilton gave a dinner-party to