Whereupon the forgetful lady remembered, and asked me promptly to have a glass of port. Afterwards we went to the drawing-room, where the little boy was sent for and I was requested to begin the drawing there and then, and upon my remarking that the light was too bad owing to the fog, and that I should be very pleased to make a mental study of the child before I began my portrait upon a brighter day, she observed that she quite understood from me that I had come to make the drawing, and said it was perfectly easy to draw by lamp-light, so I wasn't allowed out of the house before I had started. Then I found her ladyship, although considerably advanced in years, was still a student of drawing, for she produced the cast of a head and was getting ready to copy it. I was straining my eyes in attempting to draw the little boy, while she was endeavouring to place the cast in position and soliciting my attention to her work at frequent intervals.
When finally the pencil sketch of her small grandson was completed, as it was after a second sitting by daylight, I received the most delightful letter of appreciation and thanks from her ladyship, which I have kept to this day. Soon after my mother urged me to attend a special exhibition at the School of Art Needlework in which she was interested, and the first person I saw on entering was old Lady Ashburton. I went up to her and began to thank her for her welcome appreciation of my small drawing, and again she looked at me with astonishment and wonder. "Who are you?... I don't know you," she said. This time I did not hesitate to enlighten her. "Oh," she smiled in remembrance, "Go and find Miss Phillimore; I want to speak to her."
CHAPTER XV
NOTABLE PEERS—TANGIER—THE TECKS
Peers of the Period.—My Voyage to Tangier.—Marlborough House and White Lodge.
In 1880, the new premises of The Daily Telegraph were opened in Fleet Street. It will be remembered that the paper was originated by Mr. J. M. Levy. When he had made The Daily Telegraph a great permanent institution he retired from the toil of journalism and left the control and organising power to his son, the present Lord Burnham, who maintained its reputation, and at the time of the opening ceremony of the new offices in Fleet Street it was undoubtedly the most popular newspaper of the day. The Prince of Wales and Prince Leopold were present among the very distinguished and representative assembly to honour Sir Edward Lawson, and assist at the celebration of an interesting occasion.
When the guests began to move about and conversation became general, I had opportunity to observe the different people, and my eye was immediately attracted to old Lord Houghton (Monckton-Milnes). He had come on from a state banquet, and was dressed in the uniform of a Deputy-Lieutenant which was ludicrously ill-fitting, the tunic rucked up in many folds, whilst the trousers, which were much too long, hung also in folds; on his head he wore a black skull cap, which seemed strangely at variance with his patent leather boots, and he carried a very long stick with a crutch handle. As he moved to and fro among the guests, his odd appearance was accentuated by the occasional contrast of the immaculately groomed contingent, and on this occasion the poet-peer was truly a figure of fun.
I was not alone in my observations, as while I was still gazing at him the Prince of Wales came up to me and remarked what a splendid opportunity was before me of making a good caricature of Lord Houghton, and that I should never have a better. Immediately after and quite unaware that the subject had already been broached, Prince Leopold came to me with the same suggestion.