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281
Heroes of the Telegraph
·
John Munro
134
Another
social
pleasure
was
his
visits
to
the
house
of
Mr.
Alfred
Austin,
a
barrister,
who
became
permanent
secretary
to
Her
Majesty's
Office
of
Works
and
Public
Buildings,
and
retired
in
1868
with
the
title
of
C.B.
His
wife,
Eliza
Barron,
was
the
youngest
daughter
of
Mr.
E.
Barron,
a
gentleman
of
Norwich,
the
son
of
a
rich
saddler,
or
leather-seller,
in
the
Borough,
who,
when
a
child,
had
been
patted
on
the
head,
in
his
father's
shop,
by
Dr.
Johnson,
while
canvassing
for
Mr.
Thrale.
Jenkin
had
been
introduced
to
the
Austins
by
a
letter
from
Mrs.
Gaskell,
and
was
charmed
with
the
atmosphere
of
their
choice
home,
where
intellectual
conversation
was
happily
united
with
kind
and
courteous
manners,
without
any
pretence
or
affectation.
'Each
of
the
Austins,'
says
Mr.
Stevenson,
in
his
memoir
of
Jenkin,
to
which
we
are
much
indebted,
'was
full
of
high
spirits;
each
practised
something
of
the
same
repression;
no
sharp
word
was
uttered
in
the
house.
The
same
point
of
honour
ruled
them:
a
guest
was
sacred,
and
stood
within
the
pale
from
criticism.'
In
short,
the
Austins
were
truly
hospitable
and
cultured,
not
merely
so
in
form
and
appearance.
It
was
a
rare
privilege
and
preservative
for
a
solitary
young
man
in
Jenkin's
position
to
have
the
entry
into
such
elevating
society,
and
he
appreciated
his
good
fortune.
Annie
Austin,
their
only
child,
had
been
highly
educated,
and
knew
Greek
among
other
things.
Though
Jenkin
loved
and
admired
her
parents,
he
did
not
at
first
care
for
Annie,
who,
on
her
part,
thought
him
vain,
and
by
no
means
good-looking.
Mr.
Stevenson
hints
that
she
vanquished
his
stubborn
heart
by
correcting
a
'false
quantity'
of
his
one
day,
for
he
was
the
man
to
reflect
over
a
correction,
and
'admire
the
castigator.'
Be
this
as
it
may,
Jenkin
by
degrees
fell
deeply
in
love
with
her.
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