Novels and Tales Lothair Author:Benjamin Disraeli Purchase of this book includes free trial access to www.million-books.com where you can read more than a million books for free. This is an OCR edition with typos. Excerpt from book: I am so happy that I am not going to leave Brentham tomorrow. There is no place in the world that I think equal to Brentham.' ' And I love it too, and no othe... more »r place,' she replied ; ' and I should be quite happy if I never left it.' CHAPTER V. Lord Montairy was passionately devoted to croquet. He flattered himself that he was the most accomplished male performer existing. He would have thought absolutely the most accomplished, were it not for the uurivalled feats of Lady Montairy. She was the queen of croquet. Her sisters also used the mallet with admirable skill, but not like Victoria. Lord Montairy always looked forward to bis summer croquet at Brentham. It was a great croquet family, the Brentham family; even listless Lord St. Alde- gonde would sometimes play, with a cigar never out of his mouth. They did not object to his smoking in the air. On the contrary, ' they rather liked it.' Captain Mildmay, too, was a brilliant hand, and had written a treatise on croquet, the best going. There was a great oroquiit party one morning at Brentham. Some neighbours had been invited who loved the sport. Mr. Blenkinsop, a grave young gentleman, whose countenance never relaxed while he played, and who was understood to give his mind entirely up to croquet. He was the owner of the largest estate in the county, and it was thought would very willingly have allied himself with one of the young ladies of the House of Brentham; but these flowers were always plucked so quickly, that his relations with the distinguished circle never grew more intimate than croque't. He drove over with some finehorses and several cases and bags containing instruments and weapons for the fray. His sister came with him, who had forty thousand pounds, bat, they said, in some mysterious manner dependent on his...« less