LADY LILFORD 131 



of loving gratitude for a devotion which never 

 varied with occasional fluctuations of health. 

 Nor did love inspire good nursing alone : my 

 sister-in-law became an observer, and though 

 her actual knowledge of ornithological matters 

 might be limited, any statement of hers could 

 be relied upon for its accuracy. 



The following lines were written by my 

 brother to his wife, Clementina Lady Lilford, 

 who had been requested to sit for her portrait : 



Nor Sun, nor limner's art can give 



Thy Heaven-lit smile and features, 

 The light in which I breathe and live, 



My blessings and my teachers. 

 Seek not, Sweet-heart, for pictures then, 



For those complete and whole 

 As sent by Heaven to comfort me 



Are printed on my Soul. 



I have mentioned the building of Lilford 

 Hall in the earlier pages of this memoir. It 

 seems here a fitting place to give a brief account 

 of the country home to which my brother was 

 warmly attached, and for which he longed, in 

 days of exile at Bournemouth. Lilford has 

 none of the glories that distinguish so many of 



K 2 



