In Gaskell's Words: Lord Hollingford Lord Hollingford, the eldest son, had lost his wife, and was a good deal more at the Towers since he had become a widower. He was a tall ungainly man, considered to be as proud as his mother, the countess; but, in fact, he was only shy, and slow at making commonplace speeches. He did not know what to say to people whose daily habits and interests were not the same as his; he would have been very thankful for a handbook of small talk, and would have learnt off his sentences with good-humored diligence. Wives and Daughters Chapter IV, Mr. Gibson's Neighbors