But he was
inexhaustibly good-natured and good-humoured, and gave us excellent
suppers after the performance.
Then there was Edward Hobhouse, with--more or less with--his
exceedingly pretty and clever wife, and her sister, the not at all
pretty but still more clever and very witty Miss Graves. Hobhouse was
a man abounding in talent of all sorts, extremely witty, brim full
of humour, a thorough good fellow and very popular. He and his wife,
though very good friends did not entirely pull together; and it used
to be told of him, that replying to a man, who asked him "How's your
wife?" he answered with much humorous semblance of indignation, "Well!
if you come to that, how's yours?" Hobhouse was far and away the
cleverest and best educated man of the little set (these dramatic
reminiscences refer to the early years of my Florence life), and in
truth was somewhat regrettably wasted in the midst of such a frivolous
and idle community. But I take it that he was much of an invalid.
Of course we got up _The Rivals_. I was at first Bob Acres, with an
Irishman of the name of Torrens for my Sir Lucius, which he acted,
when we could succeed in keeping him sober, to the life. My Bob Acres
was not much of a success. And I subsequently took Sir Anthony, which
remained my stock part for years, and which I was considered to do
well.
Sir Francis Vincent, a resident in Florence for many years, with whom
I was for several of them very intimate, played the ungrateful part
of Falkland.
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