The nonchalance, the total indifference which he could at any time assume, is well illustrated in the following anecdote:
"An acquaintance having, in a morning call, bored him dreadfully about some tour he had made in the north of England, inquired with great pertinacity of his impatient listener, which of the lakes he preferred?
"Brummell, quite tired of the man's tedious raptures, turned his head imploringly toward his valet, who was arranging something in the room, and said,
"'Robinson!'
"'Sir."
"'Which of the lakes do I admire?'
"'Windermere, sir,' replied that distinguished individual.
"'Ah, yes—Windermere,' replied Brummell; so it is—yes; Windermere!'"
An anecdote of him which is somewhat more familiar, but which possesses the same characteristics with the above, is one which represents him as saying, in reply to the remark of a lady, who, observing that at a dinner where they met, the great beau took no vegetables, asked him whether such was his general habit, and if he never ate any.
"Yes, my dear madam," he replied, "I once ate a pea!"