Somerville, the husband.
"He was very proud of his wife, and very desirous of talking about her,
a weakness quite pardonable in the judgment of one who is desirous to
know. He began at once on the subject. Mrs. Somerville, he said, took
great interest in the Americans, for she claimed connection with the
family of George Washington.
"Washington's half-brother, Lawrence, married Anne Fairfax, who was one
of the Scotch family. When Lieutenant Fairfax was ordered to America,
Washington wrote to him as a family relative, and asked him to make him
a visit. Lieutenant Fairfax applied to his commanding officer for
permission to accept, and it was refused. They never met, and much to
the regret of the Fairfax family the letter of Washington was lost. The
Fairfaxes of Virginia are of the same family, and occasionally some
member of the American branch returns to see his Scotch cousins.
"While Dr. Somerville was eagerly talking of these things, Mrs.
Somerville came tripping into the room, speaking at once with the
vivacity of a young person. She was seventy-seven years old, but
appeared twenty years younger. She was not handsome, but her face was
pleasing; the forehead low and broad; the eyes blue; the features so
regular, that in the marble bust by Chantrey, which I had seen, I had
considered her handsome.
"Neither bust nor picture, however, gives a correct idea of her, except
in the outline of the head and shoulders.
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