She was obliged to be civil to him for her nephew's sake,
and she was too wise to let Lesbia imagine him dangerous: but the fact
that he was dangerous was obvious, and it was Fraeulein's duty to protect
her employer's interests.
Everybody knew Lord Maulevrier, so there was no difficulty about getting
admission to Wordsworth's garden and Wordsworth's house, and after Mr.
Hammond and his companions had explored these, they went back to the
shores of the little lake, and climbed that rocky eminence upon which
the poet used to sit, above the placid waters of silvery Rydal. It is a
lovely spot, and that narrow lake, so poor a thing were magnitude the
gauge of beauty, had a soft and pensive loveliness in the clear
afternoon light.
'Poor Wordsworth' sighed Lesbia, as she stood on the grassy crag looking
down on the shining water, broken in the foreground by fringes of
rushes, and the rich luxuriance of water-lilies. 'Is it not pitiable to
think of the years he spent in this monotonous place, without any
society worth speaking of, with only the shabbiest collection of books,
with hardly any interest in life except the sky, and the hills, and the
peasantry?'
'I think Wordsworth's was an essentially happy life, in spite of his
narrow range,' answered Hammond.
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