2o8 SIR WILLIAM FLOWER 



the circumstances before him. The Duke listened, and asked 

 what he proposed to do. He said, " To ask a question in the 

 House." " VVell, and when your question is answered, what 

 next ? " " Well," the Duke of Argyll replied, hesitating, " that, 

 I suppose, will depend upon circumstances," or something to that 

 effect. Whereupon the Duke of Wellington said, " Let me give 

 you a piece of advice, which I have always acted upon through 

 my life. Never take any step without having clearly in your 

 mind what, if it should succeed, the next step should be." 



I expressed my admiration for the house and surroundings to 

 Lady Tennyson, but she said it was not nearly as charming as 

 Farringford, which she looked upon as really her home. She 

 always longed for the time for going back there, and most kindly 

 said, " I do hope you will come and see us there ; I should like 

 you to know the place." Hallam told me they were literally 

 driven out of the Isle of Wight during the tourist season by the 

 intrusion of strangers, who insisted on coming into the garden, 

 walking up and looking in at the windows, and if they were 

 stopped from doing this, standing round the gates, or cHmbing 

 up trees with opera-glasses and telescopes to catch a glimpse of 

 the poet. When they go out for a walk or a drive they crowd 

 round them in a manner unpleasant for any one, but especially 

 for one so peculiarly sensitive to such treatment as Tennyson. 

 After dinner we all went up into the poet's library, a large corner 

 room looking to the south-west and commanding a fine view. 

 Then came the promised reading of the " Duke of Wellington." ^ 

 He reclined sideways on the sofa, holding the book up in his 

 hand, near his face, with a lamp behind. As he had been talking 

 much during the day, and was suffering somewhat from a cough, 

 Hallam begged him not to read, and I felt that I ought not to 

 press him, as it was evidently an effort. But he was resolute, 

 saying that he had promised me to do it, and so he would, and 

 he read it all through, while the Duke and I listened with the 

 deepest attention. 



Hallam left the room because, he said afterwards, it was 



^ It may be remembered that one of Flower's pleasures in life had been 

 reading Tennyson's poetry to his famil;^jn the evening. Hence his peculiar 

 enjoyment of the scene he describes. 



