Dear Mr.
Hodgson,—I’ve been unable to write to you till this
moment. Mr. H. stayed till a late hour, and is now here again. B. dined with me, and after I left the room I sent
your note in, thinking him in better spirits and more free from irritations. He
has only just mentioned it to me: ‘Oh, by the bye, I’ve had a note
from H., Augusta, whom you must write to and say I’m
so full of domestic calamities that I can’t see anybody.’ Still, I
think he will see you if he hears you are here, or that
even it would be better, if the worst came to the worst, to let the servant
announce you and walk in. Can you call here about eleven tomorrow morning, when
he will not be up or scarcely awake, and Capt.
B., you, and I can hold a council on what is best to be done?
The fact is, he is now afraid of everybody who would
tell him the truth. It is a most dreadful situation, dear Mr. H.! The worst is
that if you said ‘you have done so and so,’
&c., he would deny it; and I see he is afraid of your
despair, as he terms it, when you hear of his situation, and, in
short, of your telling him the truth. He can only bear to see those who flatter
him and encourage him to all that is wrong. I’ve not mentioned having
seen you, because I wish him to suppose your opinions unprejudiced. You INTERVIEW WITH LORD BYRON. 23
