GOSSIP OF THE " GREAT WORLD "
Reminiscences. By Roma Lister. (Hutchinson. 21s.) Miss ROMA ',MEWS Reminiscences are described as social and political, but polities play but a small part. She being what used to be called " very highly connected," has enjoyed " great social advantages," and as she lived chiefly in Rome ahe heard a very great deal of gossip, both Papal, royal, aristocratic, and Bohemian. Her Reminiscences, as we are told in the Preface, " flow from her pen as they flow from memory," and produce the refreshing effect of light and well-informed fireside talk. A firm believer in ghosts, she has set down a great number of strange occurrences, more entertaining than credible, A great lover of animals and of nature, she knows how to take her readers from time to time away from the hearth and into the open. One of the most charming scenes in a charming book depicts Lady Herries offering sanctuary to a fox, and one of the most pleasing and ridiculous describes the escapade of some high-spirited young people at a ball in Copenhagen at which Edward VII was present as Prince of Wales. A sad little story of King Edward comes from " a lady long known to the royal family." Not long before his death the King was at Nauheim. "He was glad to see - her, and asked her several times to luncheon. One day His Majesty looked tired and sad She tried to interest him. All to no avail. The King had something on his mind. ' It is terrible,' he said, ` that after such a glorious reign—for it is a glorious reign—I should have to leave my kingdom under such a terrible shadow.' lie repeated the words dreamily, as if he were looking into the future. The lady spoke to him of his strength and his good health. He waved it aside. ` I have not got two months to live. But I am going to die in harness,' he said, ' No one shall put me to bed. " As with all these pleasant collections of social tales, one's enjoyment is a little spoilt by the inevitable and constantly recurrent comment which arises in one's mind " I wonder whether that is true ? "
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