188 THE WIFE OF THOMAS CARLYLE. her criticism, as he really valued her judgment. She had, too, a large circle of friends, whom she attached to her- self by a bond of peculiar tenderness. She enjoyed the friendship of many distinguished men — among them Dar- win, Dickens, and Tennyson — she entertained them at her house, and she was justly famed as a hostess. It used to be said that many who came to sit at her hus- band's feet, remained at hers. When he was present, however, she persistently kept herself in the background, devoting all her energies to drawing him out to the best advantage, by means of a judicious word here and there, by warding off interruption, and by an occasional well- timed cup of tea. When he was absent she revealed her- self as a brilliant talker, quiet, witty, eloquent, humorous, adding piquancy to the conversation by quaint quotations of Scotch proverbs, odd by-words, or sudden touches of mimicry. In 1863, her health, long declining, became worse than ever, and she suffered greatly from neuralgia in her arm. One day, feeling rather better than usual, she went out to visit a cousin in the city. After making her call, she hailed an omnibus to ride home ; but, as the street was undergoing repairs, the omnibus could not approach the curbstone, and just as she left the sidewalk to cross to it, a cab dashed toward her at full speed. To avoid being run over she was obliged to throw herself suddenly to one side. She fell, and the desperate effort she made to keep from striking upon her helpless arm in falling, wrenched and lacerated the sinews of her thigh. Nor did she succeed in saving her arm, which received the full force of the blow. She lay for a moment unable to rise or move ; then kind hands lifted her and placed her in a carriage, when she was driven home. Her suffer- ing was terrible ; but in the midst of it she could still think of her husband, and when at length the carriage
