Pelham Vol I by Edward Bulwer-lytton

Ou peut-on etre mieux qu'au sein de sa famille? -- French Song. [Where can on be better than in the bosom of one's family? ]

I am an only child. My father was the younger son of one of our oldest earls; my mother the dowerless daughter of a Scotch peer. Mr. Pelham was a moderate whig, and gave sumptuous dinners; Lady Frances was a woman of taste, and particularly fond of diamonds and old china.