"And worst of all, I hear rumours of the good St. Vincent, our father, under whose fostering care we have been led to fame, going home for ill-health at the moment when the French are coming into the Mediterranean again." "A pretty morning's work! And what shall you do about it all?" "I can only pray to God that the faults of others may press as heavily on the enemy as they press on me." "Come out with me, Nelson, to-night," she said, laying her hand gently on his arm. "All this can be grappled with, but not by one in this anguish of mind. You must brace yourself up to face things in your old light-hearted way. You shall dine with me to-night, and bring Will and the other; and we will drive on the Marina, and have the new iced cream, and see the night service in the Palace chapel." "I believe it will do me good. After I have wrote my dispatches, there is nothing of all this that I can do, but wait until my orders are obeyed. And I believe you that I should go to work with a clearer mind and a better spirit. I believe I have kept too much on my flagship during this busy time. To tell you how dreary and uncomfortable the _Vanguard_ appears, is only to tell you what it is to go from the pleasantest society to a solitary cell, or from the dearest friends to no friends: I have been so perfectly the _great_ man--not a creature near me. From my heart I wish myself the little man again! You and good Sir William have spoiled me for any place but with you." My Lady was much gratified, but made nothing of it. "Any society will serve after a ship, Nelson." "Nay, but I love you all--Mrs. Cadogan too. You cannot conceive what I feel when I call you all to my remembrance, as I stump up and down this room in solitary grandeur, or with my secretary waiting to catch my eye." "Quit it, then, naughty man; and be sure and dine with us to-night, and bring the boys." CHAPTER XXIII.--Of the Love of the Admiral and My Lady. You can rely that I, at any rate, was uncommonly glad when the Admiral gave his orders that we were to accompany him to My Lady's hospitable table, for it had been mighty dull on board ship for a long while past.