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10 September 1881 — Ca’ Capello, Venice | |
Saturday. 10th September [1881]. Worked away all the morning at modelling & had the girl for model to sit to me. Lunch at 1. At 2 Henry & the Burrs went out. I remained at home to put up flowers that Mr Malcolm sent me & arranged them on the dinner table for the evening. The Murphys, mother, 2 daughters & a son came to see me. The girls very pretty but over dressed & vulgar. They seemed well satisfied with themselves & all were very talkative, Mrs M. dragging into the conversation the names of all her grand acquaintances at Rome & in London. When they were gone I returned to my flowers but was called away again by a visit from Mr & Mrs Trollope the Standard Correspondent at Rome. I went upstairs to rest when they came to say Countess Marcello was come so I sent to beg her to come up stairs wh she did & brought Theresa. Then Css Valmarana came so I had to dress & go down– When they were all gone I had some tea & a few minutes quiet. Henry came home & said he had been showing the little Prince of Naples over the English department of the Exhibition & that he seemed very intelligent & especially pleased at the Doomsday Book which he seemed to know all about. We sat down 10 to dinner. Besides ourselves & the Burrs there were Le Chevalier de Pilat (Austrian Consul Genl. & Austrian Commr at the Congress), M. de Vambery (Hungarian Comr), Dott Hildebrand (Swedish Commr), Capt Wheeler (American Comr), Col. Haig & Captn Baird. Directly after dinner Henry & all the Commrs had to go to a Giunta at the Sindaco’s & left Col. Haig & Mr Baird to wait with us. Mr Trollope came in. We had tea & talk to spin out the time till the Commrs return but Mr Trollope at last gave them up & went away. They returned abt 11. I gave them tea & made them write in my autograph book. Mr Vambery chattered away in a most amusing manner without the slightest shyness. I asked him after his wife at which he replied “Oh yes she is better but still in bed. She is a very good creature, a very good creature. I brought her up & educated her myself. She is the daughter of a brother professor an old friend of mine who died.” They all left at abt 11.30. | |
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