St. John has the same high spirits and keenness now that he had
then and the same sweetness and simplicity. There are only a few
women whose friendships have remained as loving and true to me
since my girlhood as his--Lady Horner, Miss Tomlinson [Footnote:
Miss May Tomlinson, of Rye.], Lady Desborough, Mrs. Montgomery,
Lady Wemyss and Lady Bridges [Footnote: J Lady Bridges, wife of
General Sir Tom Bridges.]--but ever since we met in 1880 he has
taken an interest in me and all that concerns me. He was much
maligned when he was Secretary of State for War and bore it
without blame or bitterness. He had infinite patience, intrepid
courage and a high sense of duty; these combined to give him a
better place in the hearts of men than in the fame of newspapers.
His first marriage was into a family who were incapable of
appreciating his particular quality and flavour; even his mother-
in-law--a dear friend of mine--never understood him and was amazed
when I told her that her son-in-law was worth all of her children
put together, because he had more nature and more enterprise. I
have tested St. John now for many years and never found him
wanting.
Lord Pembroke [Footnote: George, 13th Earl of Pembroke.] and
George Wyndham were the handsomest of the Souls. Pembroke was the
son of Sidney Herbert, famous as Secretary of State for War during
the Crimea. I met him first the year before I came out. Lord
Kitchener's friend, Lady Waterford--sister to the present Duke of
Beaufort--wrote to my mother asking if Laura could dine with her,
as she had been thrown over at the last minute and wanted a young
woman.
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