All this time--the end of 1878, early 1879--the minerals were being assayed. Richard had not packed his own minerals; there were cases for France, and cases for England. Frenchmen had the selection of them, and Richard's cases did not give such good results as were expected. We could not understand it, but _he_ knew that the mineral was in the ground, and he determined on the following Expedition to choose and send his _own_ specimens, and prove a very different tale. In early January Richard got an attack of pleurodynia, from which he very speedily recovered. Dr. George Bird attended him. Amongst other friends, we saw a good deal of Hepworth Dixon. We also went down to Hatfield; Lady Salisbury had a house party. Richard gave lectures at 9, Conduit Street. On the 22nd of January he gave his lecture to the Anthropological. On Sundays we used to visit the studios; oftenest to Mr. Val Prinsep's and Sir Frederick Leighton's. We spent a delightful day with Richard's old friend, Mr. John Larking, "The Firs," Lee, Kent, and his family, who lived in half-Oriental style, so that it seemed like a day back at Damascus. We also saw a great deal of Dr. Percy Badger, who was always delighted (and his wife too) to get hold of Richard. Dr. Badger turned an old kitchen into a comfortable studio, and there we used to find him, working hard at his Dictionary. Mr. Henry Irving gave us a delightful supper at 15A, Grafton Street. We went to Bethnal Green to look at the Free Library, and saw the Museum. We frequently had many pleasant dinners and evenings at my father's, where people would come accidentally as a pleasant surprise. One night came Lord Houghton, Lord Arundell, Mr. F. F. Arbuthnot, and Uncle Gerard; it is noted because it was a very amusing evening. On the 21st of February my book, "A.E.I.," came out. My publisher, Mr. Mullan, was so pleased with it that he gave a large party in its honour. We were seventeen invited. Mr. Mullan, being an Irishman, ordered that everything on the table should be an Irish dish. A pyramid of my books was in the middle of the table, one to be given to each guest, which was a very pretty thought. The notables were my husband, Lord Houghton, Mr. Irving, and Arthur Sketchley. There were a great many short, friendly speeches made; the gaieties began at eleven and terminated at five. We had a very pleasant dinner at General and Mrs. Paget's, and a visit from Mr. Joyner, C.E., our old friend from Poonah, and from the Montalbas, whom we had known in Venice. We came in also for three of Lady Salisbury's Foreign Office parties, one at Lady Derby's, and several parties at Lady Margaret Beaumont's. On the 23rd of March, 1879, we drove down to Mortlake, where I now live, to see the graves of my mother, and the uncle and brother who had died in 1877. We called on Canon Wenham, who afterwards buried Richard in 1891, and we went to look over the old house where my two aunts had lived so many years and died.