Some account of John Duke of Argyll and his family

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story admirably, with particular energy and terseness,
and, conscious of excelling, did not dislike to find a
willing hearer. Alas ! three times out of four, no
sooner had he begun than the Duchess's shrill pipe
struck in : " No, no ; it was not so ;" " No, now r , my
lord, you don't tell that right ; let me." Upon which,
moving quietly off, he fell into his usual way of walking
up and down the room, with his head bent and his
hands behind him (a habit which was also my father's),
till she had hammered and stammered out as much of
the matter as she could recollect ; then, turning round
with a placid smile, he would say, " There , Jane
has told it you."
Notwithstanding many similar instances of com-
plaisance, you must not think he was a man governed
by his wife. No one could be more master at home,
where his decrees, once issued, were the nod of Jupiter,
allowing no resistance, nor, indeed, meeting with any ;
for a sense of duty disposed her to obey ; and although
she had the obstinacy of a fool in the petty concerns
that she viewed as her own province, yet it is but fair
to say that she was quite free from any taint of the
cunning which often attends weak understandings.
Therefore, she never sought to sway him by cajoling
or artifice. Plain truth and downright honesty were
the principal features of her character ; she always trod
a straight path, and always meant to take the right
one. In a word, she was a good woman, to the utmost
of her knowledge and power. On these valuable
(or rather invaluable) qualities he used to declare