16Jul1866, A Regular At Home Going On

LONDON, July 16th, 1866.
—F. having his Cornmitteeums, I went to luncheon at the Houghtons, and to my horror found a regular At Home going on, and had to plunge into French to make myself agreeable to a Portuguese Comte and Comtesse and Prince Borghese. Manning was there, and I am rather proud of having "had speech" of him ; though it was strictly confined to the weather. He has a fine, intellectual, bald head, and a handsome, ascetic, mournful countenance.