Frances asked me to meet him at a small dinner and placed me next to him.  In the course of our conversation, he quoted these words that he had heard in a sermon preached by Dr. Caird: 

“Oh! for the time when Church and State shall no longer be the watchword of opposing hosts, when every man shall be a priest and every priest shall be a king, as priest clothed with righteousness, as king with power!”

I made him write them down for me, and we discussed religion, preachers and politics at some length before I went home.

The next morning he wrote to his daughter: 

Argyll lodge, Kensington.

Dear Frances,

How dare you ask me to meet a syren.

Your affectionate,

A.

CHAPTER II

Character sketch of Margot—­plans to start A magazine—­meets
master of balliol; Jowett’s orthodoxy; his interest in and
influence over Margot—­rose in “Robert Elsmere” Identified as
Margot—­Jowett’s opinion of Newman—­Jowett advises Margot to
marry—­HUXLEY’S blasphemy

I shall open this chapter of my autobiography with a character-sketch of myself, written at Glen in one of our pencil-games in January, 1888.  Nearly every one in the room guessed that I was the subject, but opinions differed as to the authorship.  Some thought that our dear and clever friend, Godfrey Webb, had written it as a sort of joke.

“In appearance she was small, with rapid, nervous movements; energetic, never wholly ungraceful, but inclined to be restless.  Her face did not betray the intelligence she possessed, as her eyes, though clear and well-shaped, were too close together.  Her hawky nose was bent over a short upper lip and meaningless mouth.  The chin showed more definite character than her other features, being large, bony and prominent, and she had curly, pretty hair, growing well on a finely-cut forehead; the ensemble healthy and mobile; in manner easy, unself-conscious, emphatic, inclined to be noisy from over-keenness and perfectly self-possessed.  Conversation graphic and exaggerated, eager and concentrated, with a natural gift of expression.  Her honesty more a peculiarity than a virtue.  Decision more of instinct than of reason; a disengaged mind wholly unfettered by prejudice.  Very observant and a fine judge of her fellow-creatures, finding all interesting and worthy of her speculation.  She was not easily depressed by antagonistic circumstances or social situations hostile to herself—­on the contrary, her spirit rose in all losing games.  She was assisted in this by having no personal vanity,