It seemed to me, who was only a boy then, that Her Majesty was of a purpose devoting her whole attention to Captain Troubridge, to whom she had given the second place of honour on her left hand--he being the most distinguished of the captains present. I did not think then all I am about to say, for I knew less of life, and I had not the light of what has happened since to guide me; but, testing the proceedings with these acids, I should say that the daughter of Maria Theresa was desirous on the one hand of giving Lady Hamilton full play in subjugating the Admiral, and that on the other hand she was desirous of bringing all the influences of her beauty, her womanly charm, her splendid birth, and her queenhood, to bear upon the bluff British sailor, who was of all the least amenable to women's wiles, and who was in the future always to be in the balance against the influence of herself and Lady Hamilton with the Admiral. Speaking from memory and experience, I picture Captain Troubridge as a little uneasy in this bower of Armida. But there was one thing which made him to some extent the willing servant to the Queen of Naples,--Captain Troubridge was a fighting man, and he had the highest admiration for the courage, resourcefulness and patriotism of the woman who, married to a _roi fainéant_, made such a good fight to maintain her kingdom's place among the nations. As for myself, the dinner was rather mortifying, for My Lady, after placing me next to her, forgot my existence, until a lackey, breaking a crystal goblet on her right hand between her and me, in the attempt to fill it without disturbing her colloquy with the Admiral, made a portentous crash which attracted the attention of the whole company, including even My Lady; who, suddenly becoming aware of my existence, and feeling that she had treated me rather badly, put her arm round me and kissed me, with everybody looking. The blood rushed to my head until I must have looked like the merchant ensign; and, to add to my confusion, the lady on the other side, who was the wife of an Italian prince and could not speak a word of English, seized the cue, and almost took me on her knee in her attempt to make up for her deficiency as a linguist.