Shortly after, the departure of Lord and Lady Dufferin took place. It was a time and scene not easily forgotten. The whole Embassy staff were gathered in the hall, my wife and myself among them. The Ambassador and Lady Dufferin came down and went round to everyone, shaking hands and saying goodbye. There were few dry eyes. No ceremony marked their departure beyond this, and they drove away in an ordinary “growler”—it was just like them. Lord and Lady Dufferin returned to Paris subsequently—for the Emperor and Empress of Russia’s visit—but stayed at an hotel. I rarely met Lord Dufferin afterwards. The last time was at the cemetery at Mount Jerome, Dublin, when we stood beside the grave of the late Lord Plunket. He then laid his hand on my shoulder, saying: “Noyes, this is a great deal out of your life;” and so it was, for I had been intimate for many years with the Archbishop. It has been our delight to welcome Lady Dufferin on several occasions since. The death of Lord Ava in South Africa, so deservedly loved, was a great blow to Lord Dufferin, and one of the sorrows which no doubt brought him to the grave. On that occasion he wrote me the following letter:— “My dear Noyes,— “I knew you would feel for us, and my wife and I are deeply grateful to you and Mrs. Noyes for the sympathy you have shewn us. We know no details except that the telegram told us that our poor boy died without having ever recovered consciousness from the time he was struck. It is God’s will, and we must try to submit in patience. “Yours very sincerely, “DUFFERIN AND AVA.” The successor to the Marquis of Dufferin in Paris was Sir Edmund Monson, Bart., who had held many and important posts in the public service. He came to the Faubourg St. Honoré in October, 1896, having been Ambassador Extraordinary, and Plenipotentiary to the Emperor of Austria since 1893. He was appointed a Royal Commissioner for the Paris Exhibition of 1900, and was made an honorary D.C.L. of Oxford in 1898. He also received the Grand Cross of the Legion of Honour from the French Government.