i supped on warmed-over lentil soup and cold roasted lamb that night , sitting in the von helrung kitchen with the butler , bartholomew gray , who was as kind as he was dignified , and who thoughtfully distracted me from my distress with a hundred questions about my home in new england , and with stories about his family 's progress from slavery in the deep south to the great `` shining city on a hill , '' new york .