To him he confided
an account of the troubles which beset him. After speaking of
the visit paid by his royal highness, and the part enacted by my
Lord Arran, whom he described as "one of the silliest creatures
in England, with his guitar, and his other whims and follies," he
went on to say that when Hamilton had heard him out, he would be
enabled to judge whether the visit ended in perfect innocence or
not. "Lady Chesterfield is amiable, it must be acknowledged,"
said he, "but she is far from being such a miracle of beauty as
she supposes herself: you know she has ugly feet; but perhaps
you are not acquainted that she has still worse legs. They are
short and thick, and to remedy these defects as much as possible,
she seldom wears any other than green stockings. I went
yesterday to Miss Stuart's after the audience of those damned
Muscovites: the king arrived there just before me; and as if the
duke had sworn to pursue me wherever I went that day, he came in
just after me. The conversation turned upon the extraordinary
appearance of the ambassadors. I know not where that fool Crofts
had heard that all these Muscovites had handsome wives; and that
all their wives had handsome legs. Upon this the king
maintained, that no woman ever had such handsome legs as Miss
Stuart; and she to prove the truth of his majesty's assertion,
with the greatest imaginable ease, immediately showed her leg
above the knee. Some were ready to prostrate themselves in order
to adore its beauty, for indeed none can be handsomer; but the
duke alone began to criticize upon it.
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