"]
[Footnote 7: At Sotheby's house, Miss Jane Porter, author of 'The
Scottish Chiefs', etc., etc., met Byron. She made the following note of
his appearance, and after his death sent it to his sister:
"I once had the gratification of Seeing Lord Byron. He was at Evening
party at the Poet Sotheby's. I was not aware of his being in the room,
or even that he had been invited, when I was arrested from listening
to the person conversing with me by the Sounds of the most melodious
Speaking Voice I had ever heard. It was gentle and beautifully
modulated. I turned round to look for the Speaker, and then saw a
Gentleman in black of an Elegant form (for nothing of his lameness
could be discovered), and with a face I never shall forget. The
features of the finest proportions. The Eye deep set, but mildly
lustrous; and the Complexion what I at the time described to my
Sister as a Sort of moonlight paleness. It was so pale, yet with all
so Softly brilliant.
"I instantly asked my Companion who that Gentleman was. He replied,
'Lord Byron.' I was astonished, for there was no Scorn, no disdain,
nothing in that noble Countenance _then_ of the proud Spirit
which has since soared to Heaven, illuminating the Horizon far and
wide."]
[Footnote 8: Probably the Berrys.]
[Footnote 9: Miss Lydia White, the "Miss Diddle" of Byron's 'Blues', of
whom Ticknor speaks ('Life', vol. i. p. 176) as "the fashionable
blue-stocking," was a wealthy Irishwoman, well known for her dinners and
conversaziones
"in all the capitals of Europe.
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