250 DINNER 



well as magistrates ; therefore taking leave of my com- 

 panion, and requesting him most respectfully to thank 

 his lordship from me, for this especial mark of his favour, 

 I returned to Redbourn, well pleased with my walk and 

 entertainment, contrasting in my own mind the conduct 

 of a man ennobled by worth as well as by rank and 

 wealth — with that of one of mean understanding, who 

 possessing but one qualification necessary for his position, 

 had not a spark of generosity or gentlemanlike feeling in 

 his whole composition. 



It was not long after this, when I had, by my solitary 

 walks, or other means with which I was unacquainted, 

 become pretty well known in the neighbourhood, that one 

 of Lord Verulam's tenants, occupying a farm adjoining 

 the town of Redbourn, invited me to dinner. I accepted 

 the invitation ; and after receiving a hearty shake of the 

 hand from my new acquaintance, and as polite a recep- 

 tion from his wife, a lady of prepossessing appearance 

 and genteel manners, he introduced me to his friend, in 

 whom I immediately recognized the gentleman who had 

 been so assiduous in his attention to me at Gorhambury. 

 He expressed his gratification at meeting me again, 

 and we sat down to an excellent repast, in which I 

 satisfied my host that I well knew how to appreciate that 

 part of his entertainment. After the cloth was with- 

 drawn, and the bottle had circulated a little, it did not 

 take me long to discover that I was indebted for my 

 invitation to the gentleman whose acquaintance I had 

 already so unexpectedly made at Gorhambury. It was 

 natural that the conversation should turn on that meeting, 

 and I learnt that the correspondence already spoken of, 



