cxlviii MEMOIR 



his wife before the world as a still active partner. When he 

 paid a call, he would have her write c with love ' upon a card ; or 

 if that (at the moment) was too much, he would go armed with a 

 bouquet and present it in her name. He even wrote letters for her 

 to copy and sign : an innocent substitution, which may have caused 

 surprise to Ruffini or to Vernon Lee, if they ever received, in the 

 hand of Mrs. Jenkin. the very obvious reflections of her husband. 

 He had always adored this wife whom he now tended and sought 

 to represent in correspondence : it was now, if not before, her turn 

 to repay the compliment ; mind enough was left her to perceive his 

 unwearied kindness; and as her moral qualities seemed to survive 

 quite unimpaired, a childish love and gratitude were his reward. 

 She would interrupt a conversation to cross the room and kiss 

 him. If she grew excited (as she did too often) it was his habit 

 to come behind her chair and pat her shoulder ; and then she 

 would turn round, and clasp his hand in hers, and look from him 

 to her visitor with a face of pride and love ; and it was at such 

 moments only that the light of humanity revived in her eyes. 

 It was hard for any stranger, it was impossible for any that loved 

 them, to behold these mute scenes, to recall the past, and not to 

 weep. But to the Captain, I think it was all happiness. After 

 these so long years, he had found his wife again ; perhaps kinder 

 than ever before ; perhaps now on a more equal footing ; certainly, 

 to his eyes, still beautiful. And the call made on his intelligence 

 had not been made in vain. The merchants of Aux Cayes, who 

 had seen him tried in some l counter-revolution' in 1845, wrote 

 to the consul of his ' able and decided measures,' ' his cool, steady 

 judgment and discernment ' with admiration ; and of himself, as 

 1 a credit and an ornament to H.M. Naval Service.' It is plain 

 he must have sunk in all his powers, during the years when he 

 was only a figure, and often a dumb figure, in his wife's drawing- 

 room ; but with this new term of service, he brightened visibly. 

 He showed tact and even invention in managing his wife, guid- 

 ing or restraining her by the touch, holding family worship so 

 arranged that she could follow and take part in it. He took (to 

 the world's surprise) to reading voyages, biographies, Blair's 

 Sermons, even (for her letters' sake) a work of Vernon Lee's, 



