The unknown treasure was put away in a drawer with the rest.
Here it remained undisturbed for forty-three years. Having
now occasion to remove these papers, she opened the forgotten
scroll, and was at once struck both with the words of the
'Hyperion,' and with the resemblance of the writing to
Keats's.
She forthwith consulted the Keepers of the Manuscripts in the
British Museum, with the result that her TROUVAILLE was
immediately identified as the poet's own draft of the
'Hyperion.' The responsible authorities soon after, offered
the fortunate possessor five hundred guineas for the
manuscript, but courteously and honestly informed her that,
were it put up to auction, some American collector would be
almost sure to give a much larger sum for it.
Miss Bird's patriotism prevailed over every other
consideration. She expressed her wish that the poem should
be retained in England; and generously accepted what was
indubitably less than its market value.
CHAPTER XLVII
A MAN whom I had known from my school-days, Frederick
Thistlethwayte, coming into a huge fortune when a subaltern
in a marching regiment, had impulsively married a certain
Miss Laura Bell. In her early days, when she made her first
appearance in London and in Paris, Laura Bell's extraordinary
beauty was as much admired by painters as by men of the
world. Amongst her reputed lovers were Dhuleep Singh, the
famous Marquis of Hertford, and Prince Louis Napoleon. She
was the daughter of an Irish constable, and began life on the
stage at Dublin. Her Irish wit and sparkling merriment, her
cajolery, her good nature and her feminine artifice, were
attractions which, in the eyes of the male sex, fully atoned
for her youthful indiscretions.
My intimacy with both Mr. and Mrs. Thistlethwayte extended
over many years; and it is but justice to her memory to aver
that, to the best of my belief, no wife was ever more
faithful to her husband. I speak of the Thistlethwaytes here
for two reasons - absolutely unconnected in themselves, yet
both interesting in their own way. The first is, that at my
friend's house in Grosvenor Square I used frequently to meet
Mr. Gladstone, sometimes alone, sometimes at dinner. As may
be supposed, the dinner parties were of men, but mostly of
men eminent in public life. The last time I met Mr.
Gladstone there the Duke of Devonshire and Sir W. Harcourt
were both present. I once dined with Mrs. Thistlethwayte in
the absence of her husband, when the only others were Munro
of Novar - the friend of Turner, and the envied possessor of
a splendid gallery of his pictures - and the Duke of
Newcastle - then a Cabinet Minister. Such were the
notabilities whom the famous beauty gathered about her.
