Walker-My_Musical_Ex.. - Walter Cosand

268 MV MUSICAL EXPERIENCES
after dinner, to make up a whist-party for Henselt,
who had a great weakness for this game.
Before the day fixed for going to dine, Henselt,
however, managed to pay the lady a visit, and I,
therefore, did not see their first meeting ; but she
related it all to me as we sat together awaiting his
arrival on the occasion of his dining there.
All except the soup went well. The calves' knees
which my friend had been at much trouble to procure,
were well cooked ; the vegetables were to his liking.
And as he sat there he told madame many little
things that had happened in the days when he had
frequented her father's house ; he had just as good a
memory for the way her father's coat was made, and
how it hung on his diminutive frame, as I had for the
bracelet which his daughter had worn when we first
knew each other in Geneva. After dinner I was
amused to see that my friend was following the lead
of the Meister's disciples even more than myself ;
she rose from table, brought him eau-de-Cologne
mixed with cognac to rinse his mouth, and finally
presenting to him a tiny bowl of perfumed warm
water, she herself wiped his fingers with a fine
damask napkin.
The whist-party that evening was not a success,
and Henselt left about half-past eight (the dinner had
been at half-past five), I accompanying him, as we
both were going the same way. He asked me, in the
interval between his after-dinner nap and the arrival
for