They spent the day in the gardens and ball-room of
the hotel, dancing and otherwise merry-making; but I saw little of them,
being at the Consulate. Towards evening it drizzled, and the assemblage
melted away gradually; and when the band marched down to the pier, there
were few to follow, although one man went dancing before the musicians,
flinging out his arms, and footing it with great energy and
gesticulation. Some young women along the road likewise began to
dance as the music approached.
Thackeray has a dread of servants, insomuch that he hates to address
them, or to ask them for anything. His morbid sensibility, in this
regard, has perhaps led him to study and muse upon them, so that he may
be presumed to have a more intimate knowledge of this class than any
other man.
Carlyle dresses so badly, and wears such a rough outside, that the
flunkies are rude to him at gentlemen's doors.
In the afternoon J----- and I took a walk towards Tranmere Hall, and
beyond, as far as Oxton. This part of the country, being so near
Liverpool and Birkenhead, is all sprinkled over with what they call
"Terraces," "Bellevues," and other pretty names for semi-detached villas
("Recluse Cottage" was one) for a somewhat higher class. But the old,
whitewashed stone cottage is still frequent, with its roof of slate or
thatch, which perhaps is green with weeds or grass. Through its open
door, you see that it has a pavement of flagstones, or perhaps of red
freestone; and hogs and donkeys are familiar with the threshold.
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