This gentleman suffered under a truly aristocratic affliction--the ever-reviving difficulty of passing his day.

Mild in demeanour, easy in the discharge of petty social obligations, perfectly inoffensive, he came and went like a vivified statue of gentlemanly _ennui_.

Every morning there arrived for him a consignment of English newspapers; these were taken to his bedroom at nine o'clock, together with a cup of chocolate.

They presumably occupied him until he appeared in the drawing-room, just before the hour of luncheon, when, in spite of the freshness of his morning attire, he seemed already burdened by the blank of time, always sitting down to the meal with an audible sigh of gratitude.

Invariably he addressed to his neighbour a remark on the direction of the smoke from Vesuvius.