Page:Wives of the prime ministers, 1844-1906.djvu/285

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LADY CAMPBELL-BANNERMAN


other. But Lady Campbell-Bannerman's body, as befitted one who was Scotch in every fibre of her being, was taken to her home in Scotland and buried in Meigle kirkyard.

Courage, staunchness, humour—these are the three things that stand out in the recollections of one who knew her well (there were not many who did). During her last years, "even to her accepted friends," is the testimony, "she was singularly silent and reserved, generally leaving all the talking to her husband, while she herself sat listening, her steady blue-grey eyes quietly observing the speaker, and gaining for herself the reputation of being a dull, heavy woman. I often wished that the people who so apostrophised her could have seen her a few moments afterwards, those same quiet eyes sparkling with humour, and those singularly silent lips making remarks showing a mental activity which very ill suggested a dull, heavy woman." The same observer mentions her reminiscences of long journeys taken in early days—"delightful to listen to, as recalled by her in her even, low, sweet voice," on account of her "sense of humour and her splendid memory." She adds: "She had a wonderful knowledge of human nature, the more striking considering

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