2.94 Caroline Lucrctia HerschcL [isss.. 



his account. " I," she writes, " rather suffered him to 

 hunger than would let him eat anything hurtful ; in- 

 deed, I would not let him eat anything at all without 

 his papa was present." Great as was the joy of the 

 dear venerable lady to rest her aged eyes once more 

 on almost the only living being upon whom she poured 

 some of that wealth of affection with which her heart 

 never ceased to overflow, it is on the disappointments 

 and shortcomings of those few precious days that she 

 dwells ; and, if she could have felt resentment towards 

 her nephew, it would have been roused by the abrupt 

 termination of his visit. Her lamentations are piteous. 

 Solely with the intention of sparing her feelings, her 

 nephew went away without letting her know the exact 

 time beforehand of his departure, and made no formal 

 leave-taking, when he bade her good-night to return 

 to his inn. To her infinite dismay and distress, she 

 found that he and his son had quitted Hanover at 

 four o'clock on the following morning. It was kindly 

 intended, but it was a mistake that gave intense pain. 

 Her introduction to her little grand-nephew is described 

 as follows by his father : 



.... " Now let me tell you how things fell out. Dr. 

 Groskopff took Willie with him to aunty, but without saying 

 who he was. Says she, ' What little boy is that ? ' Says 

 he, ' The son of a friend of mine. Ask him his name/ 

 However, Willie would not tell his name. ' Where do you 

 come from, little fellow ?' ' From the Cape of Good Hope,* 



