... His Diotima was Lady Blessington, whose literary dinners and soirees were duly, in , dashed at by his free pencil. At Gore House he heard gossip of Byron, saw D'Israeli in action, and met Rogers, Procter , Moore, and Bulwer, men of letters and men of the world. After such models Willis shaped his own career. He luxuriated in drawing-rooms and shone at dinners, The topmost bright bubble on the...