For instance, if the Consul
wanted to see the Wali, he had to send one of his dragomans to the Wali's
dragomans, and they arranged between them just what they liked. The two
chief men met each other, attended by two dragomans, who reported every
word of the conversation round Damascus. These men easily made people
enemies; and the lies, mischief, and scandal they originated were beyond
imagination. I have said that my first impression of the Wali was as of
a well-fed cat; but I soon discovered that the cat had claws, for he
quickly became jealous of Richard's influence, and during our two years'
sojourn at Damascus he was one or our worst enemies.
Another, and the most interesting of all the personages who attended my
receptions, was Lady Ellenborough, known at Damascus as the Honourable
Jane Digby El Mezrab.[1] She was the most romantic and picturesque
personality: one might say she was Lady Hester Stanhope's successor.
She was of the family of Lord Digby, and had married Lord Ellenborough,
Governor-General of India, a man much older than herself, when she was
quite a girl. The marriage was against her wish. She was very unhappy
with him, and she ran away with Prince Schwartzenburg when she was only
nineteen, and Lord Ellenborough divorced her. She lived with Prince
Schwartzenburg for some years, and had two or three children by him, and
then he basely deserted her. I am afraid after that she led a life for
a year or two over which it is kinder to draw a veil.
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