years, would now address him as "Nelson," and Will saw no reason why My Lady should be even as familiar as Captain Troubridge. There was a streak of hardness in Will's nature, which made him seem, in that one instance, sensible of, but not to be moved by, auburn hair and upturned eyes and laughing mouth, no matter how oval the face or how faultless the arching of the brows. And he could see that the Admiral had not this immovability. He had, further, more active grudges. He regarded My Lady as being responsible for the Admiral's accepting the mass of absurd compliments in the shape of deputations, processions, masquerades, and what not. Celebrations, in his opinion, should have been confined to military parades and the like. But at the bottom of everything I believe his deepest grudge against My Lady was that, when talking to Englishmen, she had not the guardedness of an English lady. What she might do with Italians was different. Extravagance was a national trait, and it is not surprising that one so prejudiced should have considered that what was good enough for an Italian was not good enough for an Englishman. I know now that she truly was more of a lady in Italian than she was in English; for in England the people among whom she had formed her ideas and learnt her mode of speech were dissipated, or of humble birth; while in Naples she had spent her time amongst the highest in the land and the most erudite. Sir William was best as a _sçavant_. I should have wondered why My Lady did not attempt to subjugate Will in place of the Admiral, were it not that I knew it was her pride to reflect herself in the Admiral's glory. I think she was at this time intoxicated with that, and had yet no ulterior idea of, through him, having as great a place in England as she had at Naples. Of one thing I am quite certain, that she was the most passionate hero-worshipper, and capable of a passionate affection for a lovable nature; and no man ever doubted that the Admiral was the most lovable man in the fleet as well as the most heroic. But the Admiral, though a well-born man, a great-nephew of the greatest Norfolk man before him--the great Sir Robert Walpole--was a plain man, small, and with no more high birth than beauty written on his face; whereas Will's proud beauty was more than enough for a prince. He had, I should have thought, just the beauty and breeding which she should have found irresistible. There was generally between them, therefore, no better than an armed truce, which My Lady's goodness of heart made her constantly forget and do him as generous a turn as she would to any of her favourites. Possession of the Journal has supplied me the clue to what I did not quite understand at the time. Here, for instance, is an entry I see:-- _Extract from the Admiral's Journal, Naples, Dec. 16th._