“I’m so glad!  I wanted to see him very much, and I feel so grand to think I’ve really had a bow and a smile all to myself from the Premier of England,” said Jenny in a flutter of girlish delight when the brief interview was over.

“You shall go to the House of Commons with me and hear him speak some day; then your cup will be full, since you have already seen Browning, heard Irving, taken tea with Jean Ingelow, and caught a glimpse of the royal family,” said the Professor, enjoying her keen interest in people and places.

“Oh, thanks! that will be splendid.  I do love to see famous persons, because it gives me a true picture of them, and adds to my desire to know more of them, and admire their virtues or shun their faults.”

“Yes, that sort of mental picture-gallery is a good thing to have, and we will add as many fine portraits as we can.  Now you shall ride in a Hansom, and see how you like that.”

Jenny was glad to do so, for ladies do not use these vehicles when alone, and Ethel had put on great airs after a spin in one with Joe.  Jenny was girl enough to like to have her little adventures to boast of, and that day she was to have another which eclipsed all that her young companions ever knew.

A brisk drive, a cosy lunch at a famous chop-house where Johnson had drunk oceans of tea, was followed by a stroll in the Park; for the Professor liked his young comrade, and was grateful for the well-written notes which helped on his work.

As they leaned against the railing to watch the splendid equipages roll by, one that seemed well known, though only conspicuous by its quiet elegance, stopped near them, and the elder of the two ladies in it bowed and beckoned to Professor Homer.  He hastened forward to be kindly greeted and invited to drive along the Ladies’ Mile.  Jenny’s breath was nearly taken away when she was presented to the Duchess of S—­, and found herself sitting in a luxurious carriage opposite her Grace and her companion, with a white-wigged coachman perched aloft and two powdered footmen erect behind.  Secretly rejoicing that she had made herself especially nice for her trip with the Professor, and remembering that young English girls are expected to efface themselves in the company of their elders, she sat mute and modest, stealing shy glances from under her hat-brim at the great lady, who was talking in the simplest way with her guest about his work, in which, as a member of one of the historical houses of England, she took much interest.  A few gracious words fell to Jenny’s share before they were set down at the door of the hotel, to the great admiration of the porter, who recognized the liveries and spread the news.

“This is a good sample of the way things go in Vanity Fair.  We trudge away to our daily work afoot, we treat ourselves to a humble cab through the mud, pause in the park to watch the rich and great, get whisked into a ducal carriage, and come home in state, feeling rather exalted, don’t we?” asked the Professor as they went upstairs, and he observed the new air of dignity which Jane unconsciously assumed as an obsequious waiter flew before to open the door.