'You remember, you asked a question of me; to wit, whether I were minded still as I seemed to be minded last year. I have showed you a fraction of the reasons why I should not have changed, and you have approved them.' Betty found nothing to answer; it was difficult not to approve them, and yet she hated the conclusion. The conversation was not resumed immediately. All the quiet beauty of the scene around them spoke, to Betty, for a life of ease and luxury; it seemed to say, Keep at a distance from disagreeable things; if want and squalor are in the world, you belong to a different part of the world; let London be London, you stay in Kensington Gardens. Take the good of your advantages, and enjoy them. That this was the noblest view or the justest conclusion, she would not say to herself; but it was the view in which she had been brought up; and the leopard's spots, we know, are persistent. Pitt had been brought up so too; what a tangent he had taken from the even round of society in general! Not to be brought back? 'I see,' she began after a while,--'from my window at your house I see at some distance what looks like a large and fine mansion, amongst trees and pleasure grounds; whose is it?' 'That is Holland House.' 'Holland House! It looks very handsome outside.' 'It is one of the finest houses about London. And it is better inside than outside.' 'You have been inside?' 'A number of times. I am sorry I cannot take you in; but it is not open to strangers.' 'How did you get in?' 'With my uncle.' 'Holland House! I have heard that the society there is very fine.' 'It has the best society of any house in London; and that is the same, I suppose, as to say any house in the world.' 'Do you happen to know that by experience?' 'Yes; its positive, not its relative character,' he said, smiling. 'But you-- However, I suppose you pass for an Englishman.' 'Yes, but I have seen Americans there. My late uncle, Mr. Strahan, was a very uncommon man, full of rare knowledge, and very highly regarded by those who knew him. Lord Holland was a great friend of his, and he was always welcomed at Holland House. I slipped in under his wing.' 'Then since Mr. Strahan's death you do not go there any more?' 'Yes, I have been there. Lord Holland is one of the most kindly men in the kingdom, and he has not withdrawn the kindness he showed me as Mr. Strahan's nephew and favourite.' 'If you go _there_, you must go into a great deal of London society,' said Betty, wondering. 'I am afraid you have been staying at home for our sakes. Mrs. Dallas would not like that.' 'No,' said Pitt, 'the case is not such. Once in a while I have gone to Holland House, but I have not time for general society.' 'Not time!' 'No,' said Pitt, smiling at her expression. 'Not time for society! That is--_is_ it possibly--because of Martin's court, and the Duke of Trefoil's alley, and the like?'