196 LIFE AND FRIENDSHIP AT KEW 



and asked us in French if we would sit down and take coffee. 

 I had been teaching little Reggie Hooker French, and to 

 his father's delight, when the Emperor, addressing the little 

 boy, asked ' Parlez-vous francais ? ' my pupil promptly 

 replied, * un peu.' The Emperor had hit upon the one 

 sentence Master Reggie happened to know. 



The Emperor, who I remember was a very fine, tall; 

 good-looking man with a charming manner, had the royal 

 gift of never forgetting a face. Meeting me two years later 

 at a garden party given by Canon Duckworth in the Dean's 

 Yard, he at once recognised me. 



Another recollection connected with a royal personage is 

 of being taken by Cousin Joseph to Buckingham Palace, 

 shortly before a visit that the Shah of Persia made to England, 

 and of his saying, ' How foolish to tell me to bring all these 

 plants over from Kew and bed them in Buckingham Palace 

 Gardens ! The Shah will think they grow out of doors in 

 England.' 



A charming group of royal visitors to Kew were the 

 Princess Alice of Hesse and her sisters. They came with two 

 or three ladies-in-waiting, and Harriet and I took them over 

 the gardens. They were really very good-looking girls with 

 charming manners, expressing so gracefully their thanks for 

 our escort and hoping they were not tiring us. Cousin Joseph 

 admired these young Princesses very much. 



The close of our visit to Kew was marked by an event of 

 great importance, Cousin Joseph's second marriage. If there 

 is anything in a name, it seemed most appropriate that Dr. 

 Hooker, a botanist, should marry a lady of the name of 

 Hyacinth Jardine. 1 



Willie Hooker and I were present at the wedding, which 

 took place very quietly at Hereford. Afterwards I joined 

 Dr. and Mrs. Hooker at a meeting of the British Association, 

 where he received the congratulations of all his scientific 

 friends and we had a most interesting time. 



Later, when Dr. and Mrs. Hooker went on a little tour to 

 Oban and the Isle of Skye, I was invited to accompany them, 

 Cousin Joseph encouraging me to sketch all the time. Mr. 

 Arthur Lyell also went with us, and kept all our accounts for 

 us during the journey. It was a case of history repeating 



1 See p. 202. 



