[Illustration: THE GROVE. ] Before the marriage of Lord Clarendon’s daughters[79] and nieces,[80] who were more like sisters than cousins, we had frequent theatrical performances, and were very rich in _jeunes premières_ and _ingénues_, while I generally took the part of the _soubrette_, “maid-of-all-work,” or lower comedian. Lord Skelmersdale[81] was stage manager as well as actor, Sir Spencer Ponsonby Fane[82] the leading comedian, and Sir Villiers Lister[83] most versatile in the parts of first lover, principal juvenile and special artist, whether as scene-painter, drop-painter, or the more delicate _metier_ of make-up-artist to the _corps dramatique_. He and Lord Sefton[84] distinguished themselves one night in a splendid _pas-de-deux_, a tarantella in Neapolitan costume, Lord Sefton figuring as the _ballerina_ on the occasion, with very short petticoats. One of the _costumiers_ who had come down on duty suggested to his lordship the advisability of having a “female turned leg,” offering him the tempting option of models of the calves and ankles of those two world-renowned dancers, Cerito and Elsler. Footnote 79: The daughters—afterwards the Countess of Lathom, the Countess of Derby, and Lady Ampthill. Footnote 80: The nieces—twin sisters, Lady Loch, wife of the late Lord Loch, and the Countess of Lytton, Mrs Earle and the late Lady Glenesk. Footnote 81: The late Earl of Lathom. Footnote 82: The Hon. Sir Spencer Ponsonby Fane, G.C.B., late Comptroller of Accounts in the Lord Chamberlain’s Office, son of the fourth Earl of Bessborough. Footnote 83: Sir Villiers Lister, K.C.M.G., son of Lady Theresa Villiers by her first husband, Mr Lister. Footnote 84: The late Earl Sefton. The present Lord Clarendon and his two brothers[85] had also their names almost nightly in our bills. Footnote 85: Lieut.-Col. the Hon. George Villiers, Grenadier Guards; born 1847; died 1892. Hon. Francis Villiers, Under-Secretary to the Foreign Office; born 1852. In these theatrical sports we often had by-days, when the drama assumed a most illegitimate form, and one night the late Mr Bidwell,[86] so well known as an eminent amateur, appeared in an acrobatic costume as the manager of a strolling company, whose varied talents he utilised as “the strong man,” “the dancer on the tight rope” (a rather broad but very elastic deal plank), “a rapid act on a hobby-horse,” with clown and riding-master in the true circus fashion, etc., all of which fantastic tricks appeared to amuse the audience as much as they did the actors, which was all that could be expected. Footnote 86: Mr George Bidwell of the Foreign Office.