MODERN
FLIRTATIONS
,
A
NOVEL
:
BY
CATHERINE
SINCLAIR
,
AUTHOR
OF
"
BEATRICE
.
"
STRINGER
+
TOWNSEND
,
NEW
YORK
PREFACE
.
It
was
the
rule
of
a
celebrated
equestrian
,
which
might
be
adapted
to
authors
as
well
as
to
horsemen
,
that
every
one
should
ride
as
if
he
expected
to
be
thrown
,
and
drive
as
if
he
expected
to
be
upset
.
Impunity
in
publishing
,
far
from
rendering
an
author
presumptuous
,
should
tend
rather
to
increase
his
timidity
,
the
danger
being
greater
always
of
venturing
too
much
,
than
of
hazarding
too
little
;
and
the
more
cause
any
writer
has
to
feel
grateful
for
the
lenient
judgment
of
an
enlightened
public
,
the
more
circumspect
should
he
become
,
not
to
trespass
by
an
obtrusive
reappearance
on
that
notice
which
has
already
perhaps
been
,
as
in
respect
to
the
author
herself
,
beyond
all
expectation
favorable
.
An
old
proverb
declares
that
"
a
goose-quill
is
more
powerful
than
a
lion
's
claw
,
"
and
authors
have
been
called
"
keepers
of
the
public
conscience
;
"
but
no
influence
is
perhaps
so
extensive
as
that
exercised
by
what
is
termed
"
light
reading
,
"
which
has
now
in
a
great
measure
superseded
public
places
and
theatrical
entertainments
,
affording
a
popular
resource
with
which
the
busiest
men
relax
their
hard-working
minds
,
and
the
idlest
occupy
their
idleness
.
It
becomes
a
deep
responsibility
,
therefore
,
of
which
the
author
trusts
she
has
ever
felt
duly
sensible
,
to
claim
the
leisure
hours
of
so
many
,
while
it
is
her
first
desire
that
whatever
be
the
defect
of
these
pages
,
no
actual
evil
may
be
intermingled
,
and
the
cause
of
sound
religion
and
morality
supported
,
for
her
feelings
are
best
expressed
in
the
words
of
the
poet
,
"
If
I
one
soul
improve
,
I
have
not
liv
'd
in
vain
.
"
Novel-reading
,
formerly
considered
the
lowest
resource
of
intellectual
vacuity
,
has
been
lately
promoted
to
a
new
place
in
the
literary
world
,
since
men
of
the
brightest
genius
as
well
as
of
the
highest
attainments
in
learning
and
philosophy
,
allow
their
pens
occasionally
to
wander
in
the
attractive
regions
of
fiction
;
therefore
works
of
imagination
,
no
longer
merely
a
clandestine
amusement
to
frivolous
minds
,
are
now
avowedly
read
and
enjoyed
,
to
beguile
an
idle
hour
,
or
to
cheer
a
gloomy
one
,
by
men
of
science
,
of
wisdom
,
and
of
piety
.
Such
is
the
general
encouragement
given
now
to
works
of
fancy
,
that
,
as
the
literary
existence
of
authors
depends
on
attracting
readers
,
there
will
scarcely
be
encouragement
enough
soon
to
induce
historians
and
biographers
to
dip
the
pen
of
veracity
into
the
ink
of
retrospection
,
while
it
is
perhaps
to
be
lamented
that
when
so
large
a
proportion
of
the
public
attention
is
occupied
by
novelists
,
their
works
being
certain
of
instant
circulation
,
for
a
very
short
period
and
for
no
more
,
few
authors
afford
themselves
time
to
aspire
at
the
highest
grade
of
imaginary
composition
.
When
such
volumes
are
really
true
to
nature
,
they
convey
very
important
truths
in
a
form
more
popular
than
a
dry
sententious
volume
of
moral
precepts
,
and
perhaps
history
itself
can
scarcely
afford
so
graphic
a
portrait
of
human
life
as
many
of
those
fictitious
volumes
,
written
under
the
inspiration
of
genius
,
which
portray
in
vivid
coloring
,
the
thoughts
and
motives
by
which
men
are
internally
influenced
.
The
Life
of
Cleopatra
,
or
the
Memoirs
of
Agrippina
,
can
afford
scarcely
so
much
direction
to
young
ladies
respecting
their
views
of
life
and
manners
in
the
present
day
,
as
might
be
conveyed
by
a
judiciously-drawn
portrait
of
that
world
as
it
is
,
on
the
stage
of
which
they
are
about
to
be
personally
introduced
;
and
a
large
proportion
of
those
elaborate
volumes
dignified
with
the
name
of
history
,
can
only
be
considered
in
the
main
fictitious
,
because
,
while
biographers
would
confidently
state
the
private
opinions
,
secret
intentions
,
and
real
characters
of
illustrious
men
who
lived
and
acted
several
hundred
years
ago
,
they
cannot
justly
estimate
the
actual
dispositions
and
motives
of
their
own
most
intimate
friends
,
nor
confidently
point
out
what
circumstances
have
influenced
the
greatest
events
in
their
own
day
.
If
two
authors
,
entertaining
opposite
political
sentiments
,
were
to
write
the
history
of
last
year
,
every
fact
recorded
,
and
every
individual
mentioned
must
inevitably
be
represented
,
or
misrepresented
,
according
to
the
writer
's
own
private
feelings
,
while
each
would
believe
he
was
writing
unadulterated
truth
.
Thus
poetry
and
fiction
,
when
true
to
the
principles
of
human
life
,
exhibit
the
mind
and
soul
of
man
visibly
to
the
senses
;
and
history
,
which
has
been
called
"
the
Newgate
Calendar
of
Kings
and
Emperors
,
"
supplies
the
facts
of
human
existence
,
and
may
be
considered
a
portrait
of
men
's
persons
and
external
actions
.
In
writing
a
story
of
domestic
life
,
it
is
singular
to
reflect
how
commonly
men
are
remembered
by
their
eccentricities
,
and
loved
for
their
very
faults
,
while
the
most
difficult
task
in
fiction
is
,
to
describe
amiable
persons
so
as
to
render
them
at
all
interesting
and
not
utterly
insipid
.
Probably
it
may
be
for
this
reason
that
modern
writers
too
frequently
,
instead
of
describing
the
principles
which
ennoble
human
nature
,
and
the
sentiments
which
embellish
life
,
have
painted
in
vivid
coloring
,
all
that
is
low
,
mean
,
and
vicious
in
society
,
introducing
their
readers
into
scenes
,
the
reality
of
which
would
be
shunned
with
abhorrence
,
and
flinging
over
vice
such
a
mantle
of
genius
as
converts
the
deformities
of
society
into
subjects
of
interest
—
unfortunately
even
of
sympathy
.
Were
authors
obliged
hereafter
,
to
live
with
the
characters
they
create
,
how
few
would
desire
to
share
with
them
in
such
a
world
!
Even
where
the
intention
is
to
represent
an
attractive
character
,
it
seldom
appears
as
one
which
could
be
an
agreeable
acquisition
to
any
family
circle
;
and
in
works
of
sentiment
or
feeling
,
nothing
is
less
successfully
pictured
than
a
generous
and
refined
attachment
,
fitted
to
survive
every
trial
or
vicissitude
of
existence
,
between
those
who
are
to
love
each
other
for
ever
.
Few
stories
could
be
written
,
if
lovers
in
a
romance
acted
with
the
slightest
degree
of
confidence
or
esteem
;
but
such
narratives
are
generally
founded
on
a
teazing
succession
of
narrow-minded
suspicions
,
and
unwarrantable
concealments
on
the
part
of
heroes
and
heroines
,
who
condemn
each
other
unheard
,
and
go
through
volumes
of
heart-breaking
alienation
,
enough
to
terminate
life
itself
,
rather
than
ask
the
most
simple
explanation
,
while
the
reader
cannot
but
feel
a
certain
conviction
in
closing
the
last
page
,
that
an
engagement
begun
with
cavilling
jealousies
and
painful
recriminations
,
can
never
become
productive
of
lasting
peace
.
The
mothers
and
daughters
in
fashionable
society
have
of
late
been
so
harshly
stigmatized
by
the
press
,
that
it
seems
as
if
some
authors
had
taken
up
a
porcupine
's
quill
dipped
in
gall
,
to
ridicule
their
conduct
and
motives
,
while
not
a
pen
has
yet
been
drawn
from
the
scabbard
,
nor
a
drop
of
ink
spilled
in
their
justification
;
but
the
weight
of
censure
might
become
greatly
lightened
by
being
more
equitably
divided
among
all
who
are
entitled
to
carry
a
share
,
and
in
these
volumes
an
endeavor
is
made
to
rectify
the
balance
more
justly
,
though
with
what
success
remains
to
be
discovered
by
the
author
herself
,
as
not
a
single
friend
ever
sees
her
pages
,
or
puts
on
the
spectacles
of
criticism
till
after
they
are
printed
.
The
only
peculiarity
to
which
she
makes
any
pretension
,
in
once
more
presuming
to
publish
,
is
,
that
avoiding
all
caricature
,
all
improbability
,
and
all
personality
,
she
has
introduced
a
few
individuals
acting
and
thinking
in
the
ordinary
routine
of
every-day
life
,
while
her
highest
ambition
is
to
represent
in
natural
colors
,
the
conduct
and
feelings
of
men
elevated
and
ennobled
by
the
influence
of
Christianity
.
When
Dr.
Johnson
remarked
once
that
it
required
a
clever
person
to
talk
nonsense
well
,
Boswell
replied
,
"
Yes
,
sir
!
If
you
were
to
represent
little
fishes
speaking
,
you
would
make
them
talk
like
great
whales
;
"
and
on
a
similar
plan
,
authors
describing
society
,
instead
of
sketching
the
good-humoured
chit-chat
and
lively
persiflage
with
which
the
business
and
amusements
of
fashionable
life
are
carried
on
,
too
frequently
fill
up
their
dialogues
with
set
speeches
,
moral
essays
,
and
long
quotations
,
such
as
never
are
extemporized
in
any
drawing-room
,
where
too
energetic
a
stroke
given
to
the
shuttlecock
of
conversation
makes
it
instantly
fall
to
the
ground
.
The
flagrant
impossibilities
by
which
a
carelessly-written
narrative
is
carried
on
,
destroys
often
at
once
the
illusion
.
Persons
are
described
,
who
may
be
overheard
speaking
aloud
their
most
secret
thoughts
when
supposing
themselves
alone
,
soliloquizing
audibly
in
the
streets
,
journalizing
a
history
of
their
own
crimes
,
becoming
permanent
guests
in
houses
to
which
they
have
no
introduction
,
preserving
the
noblest
sentiments
amidst
the
most
degraded
habits
,
and
dying
enlightened
Christians
when
they
have
lived
as
dissolute
infidels
.
A
celebrated
mathematician
threw
aside
a
novel
once
in
disgust
,
saying
that
"
it
proved
nothing
;
"
but
in
these
pages
the
author
has
endeavoured
to
prove
much
.
Amidst
the
bustle
and
business
,
the
joys
and
sorrows
of
life
,
she
has
attempted
to
illustrate
how
truly
"
wisdom
's
ways
are
of
pleasantness
,
and
all
her
paths
are
peace
,
"
—
how
superior
is
the
Christian
standard
of
principle
to
the
mere
worldly
code
of
honour
or
expediency
,
and
how
much
of
the
happiness
intended
for
man
by
his
Creator
is
ruined
and
forfeited
by
the
perversity
of
his
own
will
,
in
neglecting
the
good
of
others
,
and
in
vainly
grasping
,
like
a
spoiled
child
,
at
more
than
is
intended
for
his
share
.
While
thus
writing
a
fiction
,
which
may
perhaps
be
denominated
a
large
religious
tract
in
high
life
,
the
author
humbly
submits
her
pages
to
the
judgment
of
others
,
and
cannot
conclude
in
the
words
of
a
more
universally
venerated
,
or
of
a
more
generally
popular
fictitious
author
than
the
excellent
Bunyan
:
"
Thus
I
set
pen
to
paper
with
delight
,
And
quickly
had
my
thought--in
black
and
white
;
For
having
now
my
method
by
the
end
,
Still
as
I
pulled
it
came
,
and
so
I
penned
It
down
,
until
at
last
it
came
to
be
,
For
length
and
breadth
,
the
bigness
which
you
see
.
"
CHAPTER
I
.
The
newspapers
have
recently
adopted
a
strange
habit
of
sometimes
unexpectedly
seizing
an
individual
's
name
,
long
since
retired
from
public
notice
,
and
gibbetting
it
up
before
the
world
's
eye
,
when
least
anticipated
,
by
volunteering
a
paragraph
to
announce
,
that
some
aged
lord
,
or
ex-minister
,
whom
no
one
has
remembered
to
think
of
for
half
a
century
or
more
,
is
residing
on
his
estates
,
and
enjoying
,
the
editor
is
happy
to
understand
,
astonishing
health
,
considering
his
advanced
years
.
In
observance
of
this
custom
,
an
exclamation
of
irritability
and
astonishment
,
too
violent
to
be
worthy
of
record
,
was
elicited
one
day
,
from
a
dignified
and
very
distinguished-looking
old
gentleman
,
with
a
venerable
head
,
such
as
Titian
might
have
painted
,
and
a
high
lofty
forehead
bearing
the
traces
of
deep
thought
and
feeling
,
when
,
after
having
seated
himself
on
his
favorite
arm
chair
at
the
United
Service
Club
in
Edinburgh
,
his
eye
rested
with
a
look
of
kindling
amazement
on
these
few
lines
,
in
large
consequential-looking
type
,
on
a
leading
column
of
the
Courant
.
June
1829.
"
We
are
happy
to
inform
our
readers
that
the
brave
and
noble
veteran
,
once
a
distinguished
hero
in
many
a
well-fought
fight
,
Sir
Arthur
Dunbar
,
G.C.B.
,
is
yet
alive
,
reposing
on
his
well-earned
laurels
,
at
a
retired
mansion
in
the
marine
village
of
Portobello
.
Though
frequently
and
most
severely
wounded
in
battle
,
besides
being
deprived
of
an
arm
in
Lord
Rodney
's
engagement
during
the
year
'
82
,
the
Admiral
's
health
continues
unimpaired
and
his
cheerfulness
invariable
,
at
the
advanced
age
of
70.
"
"
Pshaw
!
stuff
and
nonsense
!
Some
enemy
is
resolved
to
make
a
laughing-stock
of
me
in
my
old
age
!
"
exclaimed
he
,
angrily
pointing
out
the
paragraph
to
his
gay
young
relative
,
Louis
De
Crespigny
,
who
was
familiarly
leaning
over
the
high
back
of
his
chair
;
and
then
crumpling
up
the
offending
Courant
with
an
obvious
wish
that
it
might
be
consumed
in
the
flames
—
"
I
hope
this
is
only
the
work
of
some
wretched
penny-a-liner
;
but
if
I
even
suspected
that
my
conceited
,
good-looking
scoundrel
of
a
nephew
had
a
hand
in
the
jest
,
I
would
cut
him
off
with
a
shilling
,
—
or
rather
without
one
,
for
I
could
scarcely
raise
so
much
as
a
shilling
to
leave
him
,
and
he
knows
that
.
This
is
most
thoroughly
ridiculous
!
I
,
who
have
been
dead
,
buried
,
and
forgotten
for
years
,
to
be
made
as
conspicuous
here
,
as
a
hair-dresser
's
wig-block
!
The
editor
shall
be
prosecuted
,
—
horse-whipped
,
—
or
—
or
made
as
absurd
as
he
has
made
me
!
"
"
Why
really
,
Admiral
,
I
wish
he
had
as
much
good
to
say
of
us
all
,
and
then
the
sooner
he
paragraphs
about
me
the
better
!
—
'
We
are
happy
to
inform
our
readers
that
the
agreeable
and
fascinating
Cornet
De
Crespigny
,
of
the
15th
Light
Hussars
,
now
in
his
eighteenth
year
,
is
still
alive
!
'
—
the
public
likes
to
know
the
exact
age
of
distinguished
men
,
such
as
you
and
I
,
Admiral
!
"
"
The
public
is
an
ass
!
"
replied
Sir
Arthur
,
breaking
into
a
smile
;
"
and
perhaps
I
am
another
,
to
mind
what
is
said
at
all
,
but
that
rascal
of
an
editor
has
made
me
ten
years
older
than
I
am
;
besides
which
,
though
a
grey-haired
Admiral
of
sixty-four
is
not
probably
much
addicted
to
blushing
,
he
really
has
put
my
modest
merit
out
of
countenance
.
I
would
rather
pay
the
newspapers
any
day
for
overlooking
than
for
praising
me
.
We
ought
to
live
or
die
for
our
country
;
but
now
,
when
I
am
no
longer
needed
,
let
me
stay
in
peace
on
the
shelf
,
like
,
"
added
he
,
giving
a
comic
smile
at
his
empty
sleeve
,
"
like
a
cracked
tea-cup
with
the
handle
off
!
"
"
But
,
Sir
Arthur
!
"
replied
the
young
Cornet
warmly
,
"
you
who
never
turned
your
back
on
friend
or
foe
,
are
not
very
likely
to
remain
quietly
on
the
shelf
,
as
long
as
every
man
who
lives
must
respect
you
,
and
every
man
who
dies
continues
to
appoint
you
,
as
my
father
did
,
his
executor
,
the
trustee
of
his
estates
,
and
the
guardian
of
his
children
,
asking
you
to
lend
them
a
hand
,
as
you
have
done
to
me
in
all
the
difficulties
of
life
.
"
"
I
have
but
one
hand
to
lend
,
and
that
is
much
at
your
service
,
in
whatever
way
it
can
be
useful
!
the
other
,
though
absent
without
leave
,
has
been
my
own
best
friend
,
as
the
loss
of
that
arm
was
the
luckiest
hit
in
the
world
.
It
obtained
me
a
step
at
the
time
,
and
the
pension
has
supported
me
ever
since
.
What
with
my
nephew
's
frantic
extravagance
,
and
my
two
young
nieces
being
but
indifferently
provided
for
,
I
often
wish
,
like
every
body
else
,
for
a
larger
income
.
Poor
girls
!
"
added
Sir
Arthur
,
knitting
his
bushy
eye-brows
into
a
portentous
frown
,
which
gave
to
his
venerable
countenance
a
look
of
noble
and
manly
sorrow
.
"
No
one
can
blame
them
!
but
it
was
little
short
of
insanity
in
my
brother
to
leave
such
young
children
under
the
sole
guardianship
of
a
heartless
spendthrift
like
your
friend
and
my
nephew
Sir
Patrick
,
who
would
sell
his
soul
for
sixpence
.
"
"
Yes
!
and
squander
it
the
next
minute
,
"
added
young
De
Crespigny
,
laughing
.
"
I
saw
Pat
produce
a
£
20
note
yesterday
at
Tait
's
auction-room
,
and
a
buzz
of
wonder
ran
all
through
the
circle
of
his
friends
.
Such
a
sight
had
not
been
seen
in
his
pocket
for
many
a
day
,
and
he
threatened
to
put
it
up
to
auction
,
saying
,
he
was
sure
we
would
all
give
double
the
value
for
it
,
as
a
rarity
,
considering
the
quarter
from
which
it
came
.
He
really
seems
to
pique
himself
on
his
poverty
,
and
has
the
art
of
doing
what
another
man
would
be
cut
for
,
with
so
much
grace
and
apparent
unconsciousness
,
that
his
friends
really
forget
to
disapprove
.
"
"
I
never
forget
!
"
replied
the
Admiral
,
slowly
rising
and
adjusting
his
spectacles
.
"
I
am
even
told
the
incorrigible
rascal
has
mortgaged
the
legacy
he
pretends
to
expect
from
me
!
He
would
do
anything
short
of
a
highway
robbery
for
money
,
and
has
done
some
things
that
seem
to
a
man
of
honor
quite
as
bad
.
But
,
"
added
Sir
Arthur
,
growing
more
and
more
angry
,
"
as
long
as
he
can
give
his
friends
a
good
bottle
of
claret
,
they
ask
no
questions
!
Patrick
Dunbar
has
caused
me
the
only
feeling
of
shame
I
ever
had
occasion
for
,
and
yet
to
see
that
proud
snuff-the-moon
look
of
his
,
you
would
suppose
the
world
scarcely
big
enough
to
hold
him
!
With
his
chin
in
the
air
,
as
I
saw
him
yesterday
,
he
will
certainly
knock
his
forehead
some
day
against
the
sky
!
"
"
You
cannot
wonder
,
Sir
Arthur
,
that
Dunbar
is
in
immense
favor
with
himself
,
when
he
is
so
admired
,
and
almost
idolized
in
society
.
He
certainly
has
the
handsomest
countenance
in
Scotland
;
—
as
my
uncle
Doncaster
says
,
Pat
is
a
portrait
of
Vandyke
in
his
best
style
.
With
that
grand
,
chivalrous
,
Chevalier-Bayard
look
,
he
is
the
best
rider
who
ever
sat
on
horseback
!
I
could
not
but
laugh
when
he
mounted
yesterday
for
a
ride
along
Princes
Street
,
and
turned
to
me
,
with
his
lively
,
victorious
laugh
,
saying
,
'
Now
I
am
going
to
give
the
ladies
a
treat
!
'
"
"
The
insufferable
coxcomb
!
"
said
Sir
Arthur
,
relaxing
into
an
irresistible
smile
of
indulgent
affection
.
"
From
the
day
he
first
came
staggering
into
this
world
to
astonish
us
all
,
he
has
thought
himself
the
finest
sight
between
this
and
Whitehall
!
"
"
Of
course
he
does
!
Pat
is
asked
for
so
many
locks
of
his
hair
,
by
various
young
ladies
,
that
his
valet
keeps
a
wig
to
supply
them
;
and
he
might
almost
pay
his
debts
with
the
countless
collection
he
has
received
of
sentimental
rings
,
displaying
forgotten
forget-me-nots
,
in
turquoises
and
gold
!
Who
,
on
the
wide
earth
,
except
yourself
,
Sir
Arthur
,
would
ever
dream
of
finding
fault
with
our
gay
,
dashing
,
high-spirited
friend
,
Dunbar
,
the
life
of
society
,
the
model
of
dress
,
equipage
,
and
good
living
.
Why
!
the
very
instant
he
opens
his
lips
,
all
dulness
vanishes
like
a
spectre
!
I
wish
the
whole
world
were
peopled
with
such
men
;
but
he
promises
to
shoot
himself
as
soon
as
he
sees
his
own
equal
.
He
staked
his
reputation
one
day
that
he
would
!
"
"
His
reputation
!
!
the
sooner
he
parts
with
it
the
better
!
Let
Patrick
Dunbar
exchange
his
own
with
the
first
man
he
meets
in
the
street
,
and
he
will
gain
by
the
bargain
.
"
"
Pardon
me
there
,
Sir
Arthur
,
your
nephew
is
universally
allowed
to
be
the
best
fellow
upon
earth
!
"
"
Very
probably
!
'
the
best
fellow
upon
earth
'
generally
means
a
selfish
,
extravagant
,
scatter-brained
roue
;
but
I
must
be
off
!
There
is
a
cold
,
sharp
,
cutting
wind
,
blowing
in
at
the
back
of
my
neck
,
which
makes
me
feel
like
Charles
the
First
when
the
axe
fell
.
If
you
have
any
influence
,
De
Crespigny
,
with
my
scape-grace
of
a
nephew
—
all
nephews
are
scape-graces
,
as
far
as
my
experience
goes
—
try
to
make
him
more
like
yourself
,
and
I
shall
be
grateful
,
with
all
my
heart
.
"
"
Like
me
!
!
!
"
said
the
young
Cornet
,
turning
away
with
a
smile
;
but
it
was
a
smile
of
bitterness
,
almost
amounting
to
remorse
,
while
he
hastily
grasped
a
newspaper
,
and
flung
himself
into
a
seat
.
"
No
!
no
!
Sir
Arthur
,
he
is
not
quite
so
bad
as
that
.
Dunbar
has
his
faults
;
he
wears
them
upon
his
sleeve
,
and
attempts
no
disguise
;
but
there
are
many
worse
men
in
the
world
,
who
are
held
up
as
examples
by
those
who
know
no
better
.
Whenever
I
reform
myself
,
you
may
depend
upon
my
lecturing
our
friend
,
but
not
till
then
.
We
must
both
sow
all
our
wild
oats
first
.
"
"
Yes
!
and
endure
the
fruit
of
them
afterwards
,
"
replied
Sir
Arthur
,
with
a
look
of
anxious
kindness
at
his
young
relative
.
"
That
is
the
only
crop
where
to
sow
is
more
agreeable
than
to
reap
!
But
I
waste
words
!
Young
men
will
be
young
men
,
and
I
might
as
well
ask
this
east
wind
not
to
blow
,
or
try
to
turn
the
sea
from
its
course
,
as
attempt
to
stop
the
mad
career
of
that
scatter-brained
madcap
!
It
would
matter
less
if
he
only
fell
himself
hereafter
,
like
a
pebble
in
the
stream
;
but
the
fatal
eddy
extends
in
a
wide
circle
,
which
must
reach
the
interests
of
those
helpless
young
girls
,
my
nieces
;
and
I
cannot
but
grieve
over
the
consequences
which
may
,
and
must
befall
them
,
after
I
go
to
that
rest
which
is
in
the
grave
,
and
to
that
hope
which
is
beyond
it
.
"
"
Never
trouble
your
head
about
that
which
shall
occur
then
,
Sir
Arthur
!
'
Too
much
care
once
made
an
old
man
grey
.
'
My
motto
is
,
'
apres
moi
le
deluge
!
'
This
little
world
of
ours
got
on
wonderfully
well
before
we
came
into
it
,
and
will
do
astonishingly
well
again
,
after
we
make
our
exit
,
"
said
young
De
Crespigny
,
with
a
strange
medley
in
his
tone
,
of
melancholy
thought
,
and
contemptuous
derision
.
"
Pat
tells
me
that
both
my
young
cousins
promise
to
turn
out
a
perfect
blaze
of
beauty
,
with
long
shining
ringlets
that
they
almost
tread
upon
in
walking
,
teeth
that
would
make
the
fortune
of
a
dentist
,
and
complexions
that
Rowland
's
kalydor
could
not
improve
.
Ten
years
hence
,
I
shall
propose
to
one
or
both
of
them
myself
,
if
that
will
give
you
satisfaction
.
"
"
Perfect
!
but
as
marrying
two
sisters
at
once
is
not
quite
customary
,
let
your
intentions
be
limited
to
Agnes
.
She
is
several
years
the
eldest
;
and
I
like
the
good
old
patriarchal
rule
of
marrying
by
seniority
;
besides
which
,
she
is
quite
a
little
flirt
already
,
though
scarcely
yet
in
her
teens
.
She
will
be
a
young
lady
,
entirely
suited
for
the
ordinary
marrying
and
giving
in
marriage
of
every-day
life
;
but
little
Marion
is
the
very
light
of
my
eyes
,
and
I
must
match
her
by
a
very
high
standard
indeed
.
It
will
be
a
dark
day
for
me
,
if
ever
I
am
obliged
to
part
with
her
at
all
;
and
being
now
only
in
her
sixth
year
,
I
may
,
without
selfishness
,
hope
to
keep
her
beside
me
for
my
few
remaining
days
.
I
must
begin
match-making
for
Agnes
,
however
,
directly
,
and
your
offer
shall
be
duly
considered
.
A
future
peer
,
with
countless
thousands
in
expectancy
,
and
not
particularly
ill-looking
,
does
not
fall
in
our
way
every
morning
.
"
"
So
all
the
young
ladies
seem
to
think
!
"
replied
the
young
Cornet
,
in
his
most
conceited
tone
.
"
Girls
dislike
nothing
so
much
as
to
marry
on
a
competence
;
there
is
a
great
deal
of
romance
in
marrying
on
nothing
,
and
a
great
deal
of
comfort
in
marrying
on
wealth
;
but
a
mere
vulgar
competence
has
neither
romance
nor
reality
.
Now
I
can
offer
both
!
First
,
actual
starvation
on
a
Cornet
's
pay
;
and
then
,
with
my
uncle
's
leave
,
the
pumpkin
will
turn
to
a
carriage
,
and
the
mice
into
horses
;
but
in
the
meantime
,
Sir
Arthur
,
Pat
tells
me
you
keep
a
capital
chop-house
at
Portobello
,
so
pray
invite
me
to
drop
in
some
day
at
six
,
to
begin
my
siege
of
your
pretty
niece
.
I
must
come
and
see
,
before
I
can
conquer
,
"
added
Mr.
De
Crespigny
,
in
a
tone
of
peculiar
conceit
,
with
which
he
always
spoke
either
to
ladies
or
of
them
.
"
Probably
next
week
I
may
find
my
way
to
this
terra
incognita
of
yours
.
Is
it
across
the
Queensferry
,
or
where
?
"
"
My
good
friend
!
you
are
not
so
pre-eminently
ignorant
of
geography
as
you
would
appear
;
for
did
I
not
see
you
honoring
that
dullest
of
all
dull
places
,
the
little
obscure
village
of
Portobello
,
with
your
august
presence
,
only
yesterday
.
I
nearly
spitted
you
on
the
point
of
my
umbrella
,
you
hurried
so
rapidly
past
,
evidently
wishing
to
escape
from
that
girl
in
a
cloak
,
who
seemed
to
beset
your
footsteps
!
"
"
Impossible
!
!
!
"
exclaimed
young
De
Crespigny
,
coloring
violently
,
and
starting
from
his
seat
.
"
Could
it
be
in
the
nature
of
things
that
I
should
cut
you
!
"
"
True
enough
!
I
might
have
said
,
like
Lady
Towercliffe
to
Prince
Meimkoff
,
'
vous
m'avez
coupe
.
'
"
"
Indeed
!
"
continued
the
cornet
,
trying
to
conceal
his
countenance
.
"
I
wish
you
had
cut
my
throat
in
return
!
"
"
If
it
is
to
be
done
,
I
would
rather
somebody
else
did
!
Why
,
De
Crespigny
!
you
will
set
the
house
on
fire
with
that
violent
poker
exercise
!
Your
own
face
is
on
fire
already
!
Have
more
regard
for
your
complexion
!
Ah
!
now
it
is
pale
enough
!
Are
you
ill
?
My
dear
fellow
!
what
is
the
matter
?
"
"
Nothing
!
I
am
merely
looking
at
the
beautiful
sunset
!
"
"
What
!
does
the
sun
set
in
the
east
to-night
?
"
asked
Sir
Arthur
,
jestingly
;
"
that
is
worth
looking
at
!
"
"
I
am
annoyed
with
a
spasm
of
toothache
!
"
said
De
Crespigny
,
putting
a
handkerchief
to
his
face
,
which
nearly
covered
it
;
and
then
suddenly
throwing
open
the
window
,
he
looked
far
out
,
as
if
in
search
of
his
groom
.
He
leaned
forward
so
long
,
however
,
that
Sir
Arthur
kindly
but
vehemently
remonstrated
on
the
danger
of
exposing
himself
,
while
in
so
much
pain
,
to
the
cold
air
;
enumerated
a
whole
host
of
remedies
for
decayed
teeth
;
suggested
the
great
comfort
and
convenience
of
having
the
offender
extracted
by
Hutchins
,
and
ended
by
hoping
his
young
friend
would
still
have
a
tooth
left
for
his
proposed
dinner
at
Portobello
.
"
Depend
upon
me
for
that
,
"
replied
Mr.
De
Crespigny
,
with
forced
vivacity
.
"
I
shall
ferret
you
out
next
week
.
I
have
little
doubt
your
pasture
is
excellent
in
that
quarter
,
and
there
is
no
one
from
whom
I
would
be
half
so
happy
to
receive
a
soup
ticket
.
"
"
Keep
your
flattery
for
the
ladies
,
where
it
will
always
be
acceptable
,
and
where
I
hear
you
are
already
an
experienced
practitioner
in
the
arts
of
captivation
.
As
for
my
dinner
,
I
consider
it
an
imposition
to
ask
any
friend
,
and
not
give
him
the
best
my
cook
and
cellar
can
furnish
;
and
you
may
expect
whenever
you
do
come
,
to
find
a
notice
over
my
door
,
'
hot
joints
every
day
!
'
"
"
But
it
was
the
society
of
your
house
,
and
not
the
dinner
,
to
which
my
agreeable
anticipations
were
directed
;
and
there
,
you
know
,
I
cannot
be
disappointed
!
as
somebody
wisely
said
,
when
shown
a
tempting
bill
of
fare
,
'
show
me
a
bill
of
the
company
!
'
"
"
That
reminds
me
to
say
,
you
must
not
expect
my
pretty
niece
to
be
at
my
little
bathing
machine
of
a
house
!
It
would
not
be
fair
to
inveigle
you
under
such
false
pretences
;
but
I
promise
you
an
old
man
's
welcome
,
and
the
best
that
my
cottage
can
produce
;
aged
as
this
newspaper
makes
me
I
enjoy
every
inch
of
life
,
and
hope
you
,
at
the
same
age
,
will
do
the
same
.
I
may
almost
apply
to
my
little
villa
that
favourite
saying
in
Spain
,
'
My
home
,
my
home
!
though
thou'rt
but
small
,
Thou
art
to
me
th
'
Escurial
.
'
"
With
a
cordial
shake
of
the
hand
,
and
a
smile
of
cheerful
benignity
,
Sir
Arthur
withdrew
,
and
as
his
firm
and
stately
step
receded
,
Mr.
De
Crespigny
watched
him
with
a
look
of
respectful
interest
,
which
ended
in
his
turning
away
after
the
admiral
had
disappeared
,
and
heaving
a
deep
sigh
,
while
a
cloud
of
care
darkened
on
his
forehead
,
and
a
look
of
angry
vexation
shaded
his
previously
animated
eyes
.
Day
after
day
passed
on
,
subsequent
to
the
preceding
conversation
,
during
which
Sir
Arthur
frequently
postponed
his
chop
,
to
what
he
considered
an
atrociously
late
hour
,
in
hopes
of
his
promised
guest
appearing
.
Once
the
admiral
felt
positively
convinced
that
he
had
seen
him
enter
a
Portobello
omnibus
at
four
o'clock
,
but
still
he
appeared
not
.
Week
after
week
elapsed
,
and
still
Sir
Arthur
ate
his
dinner
alone
,
in
long-surviving
expectation
that
either
his
own
not
very
dutiful
nephew
,
or
young
De
Crespigny
,
would
"
cast
up
;
"
but
at
last
these
hopes
and
wishes
were
ended
by
his
hearing
that
Sir
Patrick
's
embarrassments
had
caused
him
to
leave
Edinburgh
by
moonlight
,
and
that
,
soon
after
,
Mr.
De
Crespigny
as
suddenly
departed
,
no
one
knew
why
,
when
,
or
wherefore
.
CHAPTER
II
.
The
two
most
dashing
,
bold
,
and
mischievous
boys
at
Eton
during
their
day
,
had
formerly
been
Sir
Patrick
Dunbar
and
Louis
De
Crespigny
,
who
astonished
the
weak
minds
of
masters
and
pupils
,
by
the
strange
and
startling
invention
displayed
in
their
exploits
,
as
well
as
by
the
ingenuity
with
which
both
got
safely
out
of
every
threatening
predicament
,
and
the
sly
humor
or
cunning
with
which
they
frequently
shifted
the
disgrace
,
or
even
the
punishment
,
of
their
offences
,
on
others
who
deserved
it
less
,
or
perhaps
not
at
all
.
Invariably
at
the
head
of
every
mad
exploit
,
or
at
the
bottom
of
every
secret
design
,
how
they
could
possibly
have
escaped
being
expelled
was
a
frequent
topic
of
subsequent
wonder
among
their
contemporaries
in
the
classes
;
but
their
delight
was
to
run
as
near
the
wind
as
possible
,
and
still
to
display
their
skilful
pilotage
by
baffling
justice
,
and
evading
the
utmost
rigor
of
the
law
,
while
always
ready
rather
to
do
harm
than
to
do
nothing
.
When
very
young
,
the
two
enterprising
friends
,
both
since
gazetted
into
the
15th
Light
Huzzars
,
had
shown
an
early
predilection
for
military
life
,
by
frequently
escaping
to
the
neighbouring
barracks
,
assisted
by
a
ladder
of
rope
on
which
they
descended
every
night
from
the
windows
.
A
gay
,
joyous
reception
invariably
awaited
these
lively
boys
at
the
mess-table
,
where
they
sung
many
a
jovial
song
,
and
cracked
many
a
merry
jest
over
their
claret
,
till
,
after
some
hours
spent
in
rapturous
festivity
,
they
stole
silently
back
within
bounds
,
and
were
re-admitted
at
the
window
,
by
their
respective
fags
,
who
had
received
orders
,
under
pain
of
death
,
to
keep
awake
and
answer
their
signals
for
the
ladder
by
instantly
lowering
it
.
The
spirits
of
both
these
young
companions
were
more
like
the
effect
of
intoxication
,
than
mere
sober
enjoyment
;
and
,
on
one
occasion
,
they
set
the
table
in
a
roar
,
by
having
a
rivalship
which
would
best
imitate
the
gradual
progress
of
becoming
tipsy
,
though
drinking
nothing
but
cold
water
;
in
which
exhibition
they
showed
so
much
talent
for
mimicry
,
taking
off
the
surrounding
officers
before
their
faces
,
and
making
so
many
home-thrusts
and
personal
remarks
,
that
the
scene
was
never
afterwards
forgotten
in
the
regiment
.
On
another
occasion
Sir
Patrick
caused
himself
to
be
placed
in
a
coffin
,
stolen
from
the
undertakers
,
and
was
carried
through
the
barracks
by
his
companions
,
who
made
paper
trumpets
with
which
they
played
the
dead
march
in
Saul
,
while
all
the
sentries
saluted
as
they
passed
.
Such
juvenile
exploits
in
the
dawn
of
life
were
now
the
subject
of
many
a
laughing
reminiscence
,
and
had
been
followed
by
others
on
a
more
extended
scale
and
of
more
matured
enterprise
,
at
Mr.
Brownlow
's
,
a
private
tutor
,
where
the
two
young
men
afterwards
distinguished
themselves
in
a
way
not
easily
to
be
forgotten
,
causing
their
better
disciplined
companions
to
wonder
,
though
in
very
few
instances
to
admire
.
In
the
favorite
aristocratic
achievements
of
driving
stage-coaches
,
breaking
lamps
,
wringing
off
knockers
,
assaulting
watchmen
,
with
other
fistic
and
pugilistic
exploits
,
they
were
nearly
unrivalled
;
and
occasionally
their
genius
had
soared
into
an
extraordinary
display
of
dexterity
,
in
transposing
the
signs
suspended
over
shops
,
and
in
filching
silk
handkerchiefs
from
the
pockets
of
their
friends
,
merely
as
amateurs
,
but
still
the
deed
was
done
,
and
the
laugh
raised
literally
at
the
expense
of
the
sufferer
,
as
the
plunder
was
retained
to
be
a
future
trophy
of
success
.
Each
successive
stage
of
their
youth
,
in
short
,
supplied
an
inexhaustible
fund
of
standing
jests
and
lively
anecdotes
,
the
wit
of
which
mainly
consisted
in
their
mischief
,
while
they
betrayed
an
utter
recklessness
about
the
opinions
or
the
feelings
of
others
,
till
at
length
the
patience
of
their
unfortunate
private
tutor
was
so
completely
exhausted
that
he
gave
them
a
secret
hint
to
withdraw
,
which
they
accordingly
lost
no
time
in
preparing
to
do
,
but
not
till
they
had
enjoyed
a
very
characteristic
revenge
.
When
Mr.
Brownlow
had
taken
a
party
of
friends
with
him
one
evening
to
the
theatre
,
Sir
Patrick
suddenly
discharged
from
the
gallery
the
whole
contents
of
a
prodigious
bag
of
flour
,
which
powdered
all
the
heads
,
faces
,
and
coats
,
in
the
pit
,
perfectly
white
,
and
caused
an
uproar
of
anger
and
of
irresistible
laughter
throughout
the
house
;
and
the
same
evening
Louis
De
Crespigny
,
as
a
farewell
frolic
,
abstracted
a
stuffed
bear
from
the
neighbouring
hair-dresser
's
,
and
having
equipped
it
in
the
costume
of
Mr.
Brownlow
,
hung
it
from
the
lamp-post
,
where
a
panic-struck
crowd
was
speedily
assembled
by
the
alarming
report
that
the
reverend
gentleman
had
committed
suicide
.
A
strict
investigation
took
place
respecting
the
authors
of
these
unpardonable
tricks
,
but
,
though
suspicion
fell
at
once
upon
the
real
culprits
,
and
the
circumstantial
evidence
against
them
seemed
irresistibly
strong
,
Sir
Patrick
argued
his
own
cause
with
so
much
skill
and
vivacity
,
while
De
Crespigny
looked
so
innocently
unconscious
of
the
whole
affair
,
that
,
with
a
silent
frown
from
the
master
,
of
stern
reproof
and
suspicion
,
they
were
,
not
honorably
acquitted
,
but
allowed
to
return
home
without
any
public
mark
of
censure
or
disgrace
;
and
soon
after
both
joined
their
regiment
at
Dublin
.
De
Crespigny
and
Sir
Patrick
had
but
one
companion
whom
they
acknowledged
as
their
equal
at
Eton
,
in
all
the
spirit
,
enterprise
,
and
vivacity
of
their
characters
,
but
who
was
,
in
a
thousand
other
respects
their
superior
,
for
seldom
,
indeed
,
has
there
been
known
,
in
one
so
young
,
a
character
of
as
much
intensity
,
or
which
displayed
a
combination
so
singular
,
of
superb
talents
,
rare
judgment
,
sound
principle
,
deep
piety
,
and
energetic
feeling
,
as
in
Richard
Granville
,
an
object
of
admiration
to
all
,
and
of
envy
to
many
;
though
jealously
lost
half
of
its
bitterness
in
association
with
one
so
eloquent
and
single-hearted
in
conversation
,
so
courteously
amiable
and
conciliatory
in
manner
,
and
with
so
fine
a
principle
of
tact
,
ready
as
far
as
possible
to
enhance
the
pleasures
,
to
palliate
the
faults
,
and
to
share
the
sorrows
of
all
his
companions
.
Cultivated
in
all
that
could
adorn
the
heart
as
well
as
the
head
,
in
whatever
was
amiable
,
high-spirited
and
generous
,
Richard
Granville
had
but
to
follow
the
impulse
of
natural
feeling
as
well
as
of
principle
,
and
he
out-did
the
very
wishes
of
his
friends
,
while
no
one
excelled
him
in
all
the
manly
exercises
suited
to
his
early
years
.
His
countenance
was
illuminated
with
an
expression
of
intellectual
energy
,
at
times
almost
sublime
,
while
there
was
a
living
grace
and
amiability
in
his
manner
irresistibly
attractive
.
Brave
,
liberal
,
and
resolute
,
he
entered
with
eagerness
into
all
the
offensive
recreations
of
his
companions
,
and
no
one
excelled
him
in
riding
,
fencing
,
and
cricket
,
while
he
was
the
best
shot
in
his
own
country
;
but
he
firmly
declined
ever
to
squander
his
time
or
money
on
any
game
of
chance
,
cards
,
billiards
,
or
gambling
in
any
form
.
While
Sir
Patrick
's
betting-book
was
from
the
first
a
model
of
skill
,
in
hedging
bets
,
and
all
the
manœuvres
of
jockey-ology
,
young
Granville
said
all
that
eloquence
and
affection
could
dictate
,
to
point
out
how
dangerous
and
dishonorable
was
the
course
on
which
he
seemed
about
to
enter
,
but
in
vain
,
for
Sir
Patrick
finished
the
discussion
by
offering
to
bet
him
£
5
he
would
not
be
ruined
in
less
than
ten
years
.
"
I
have
a
fortune
and
constitution
which
will
last
me
till
thirty
,
"
said
the
young
baronet
;
"
and
I
do
not
wish
to
live
a
day
longer
.
"
"
It
is
easy
,
"
said
Prince
Eugene
,
"
to
be
modest
when
one
is
successful
;
but
it
is
difficult
not
to
be
envied
.
"
While
the
very
presence
of
young
Granville
in
the
room
,
with
his
riotous
young
associates
,
seemed
as
if
it
held
up
a
glass
to
their
mind
's
eye
,
testifying
the
folly
and
evil
of
their
course
,
yet
Richard
Granville
abhorred
display
,
while
Sir
Patrick
and
De
Crespigny
frequently
declared
he
was
"
too
clever
and
too
good
for
them
;
"
and
unavoidable
circumstances
afterwards
combined
to
estrange
the
young
men
still
more
.
A
law-suit
had
been
going
on
almost
since
the
period
of
their
birth
,
conducted
in
an
amicable
way
by
their
guardians
,
in
which
the
interests
of
all
three
were
so
deeply
concerned
,
and
the
case
so
exceedingly
complicated
,
that
years
passed
on
,
during
which
the
youths
had
all
grown
to
manhood
,
and
the
case
remained
still
undecided
;
while
the
one-sided
view
which
was
given
to
Dunbar
and
De
Crespigny
on
the
subject
caused
in
them
an
angry
feeling
of
hostility
and
rancour
against
their
amiable
and
high-minded
young
relative
,
who
was
so
enthusiastically
desirous
to
enter
the
English
church
,
and
devote
himself
to
those
sacred
duties
,
that
he
scarcely
wished
a
favorable
decree
,
which
would
prevent
the
necessity
for
his
pursuing
a
profession
at
all
.
A
Scotch
law-suit
may
be
compared
to
a
game
at
battle-dore
between
the
tribunals
of
England
and
Scotland
,
while
the
gaping
client
sees
the
shuttle-cock
for
ever
flying
over
his
head
,
higher
and
higher
out
of
reach
,
and
sent
backwards
and
forwards
with
ceaseless
diligence
,
but
no
apparent
progress
;
or
it
is
like
a
kitten
playing
with
a
ball
of
worsted
,
which
is
allowed
to
come
often
apparently
within
her
grasp
,
and
is
then
,
when
she
least
expects
,
twitched
away
farther
than
before
.
The
Granville
case
had
been
decided
by
the
Court
of
Session
,
against
the
two
cousins
,
Dunbar
and
Crespigny
,
but
being
appealed
to
the
House
of
Lords
,
was
recommended
for
consideration
,
re-argued
,
re-considered
,
and
nearly
reversed
,
while
replies
and
duplies
,
remits
and
re-revisals
,
commissions
of
inquiry
,
and
new
cases
,
followed
each
other
in
ceaseless
succession
,
and
many
of
the
lawyers
who
were
young
men
when
the
case
began
,
grew
grey
in
the
service
,
while
it
yet
remained
in
suspense
.
A
grand-uncle
of
Sir
Patrick
's
had
fifty
years
before
,
bought
an
estate
of
£
12
,
000
a-year
from
the
Marquis
of
Doncaster
,
to
whom
young
De
Crespigny
was
now
heir
presumptive
;
but
Mr.
Dunbar
having
,
it
was
conjectured
,
entertained
some
suspicion
that
the
title
deeds
were
not
perfectly
valid
,
as
an
entail
had
been
discovered
afterwards
,
by
which
it
was
generally
thought
that
the
land
must
be
restored
to
the
original
owner
,
he
hastily
and
most
unfairly
sold
the
property
to
the
late
Mr.
Granville
for
£
350
,
000
,
and
dying
intestate
,
after
having
lost
nearly
the
whole
sum
in
a
mining
speculation
,
it
could
not
be
proved
whether
Sir
Patrick
's
father
had
acted
as
an
executor
for
the
deceased
or
not
,
so
as
to
render
himself
responsible
for
his
debts
,
and
liable
to
refund
the
sum
paid
by
Mr.
Granville
.
Thus
,
whether
the
entail
held
good
,
and
carried
the
estate
back
to
Lord
Doncaster
,
or
whether
it
had
been
legally
broken
,
so
as
to
entitle
the
Granville
family
to
keep
it
,
or
whether
,
if
it
were
refunded
,
the
price
could
be
claimed
from
the
heirs
of
Mr.
Dunbar
,
still
continued
a
mystery
never
apparently
to
be
solved
.
For
many
generations
past
,
the
ancient
Marquisate
of
Doncaster
had
been
inherited
by
a
succession
of
only
sons
,
all
strict
Papists
,
who
had
each
in
his
turn
been
reckoned
by
the
next
heirs
exceedingly
sickly
and
unpromising
,
but
still
the
wonder
grew
,
for
not
one
had
ever
died
,
till
he
left
a
substitute
in
regular
rotation
,
to
supply
the
vacancy
which
he
created
himself
;
and
a
long
train
of
minorities
in
the
family
had
caused
the
accumulation
of
wealth
and
property
to
be
enormous
,
when
the
present
proprietor
succeeded
fifty
years
before
our
story
commences
.
Nothing
could
exceed
his
own
astonishment
at
the
unembarrassed
magnificence
of
the
fortune
,
of
which
he
most
unexpectedly
found
himself
in
possession
,
as
his
father
had
been
in
the
habit
of
concealing
the
amount
of
his
own
income
,
and
allowing
his
heir
rather
less
than
nothing
,
saying
,
that
as
he
himself
had
never
had
anything
to
eat
till
he
had
no
teeth
to
eat
with
,
he
was
resolved
that
his
successor
should
be
similarly
treated
.
In
pursuance
of
this
plan
,
the
old
nobleman
even
on
his
death-bed
,
had
actually
expired
with
a
practical
joke
on
his
lips
.
He
sent
for
his
son
,
gravely
told
him
that
with
debts
,
mortgages
,
and
settlements
,
the
very
encumbered
estate
he
was
about
to
inherit
would
scarcely
pay
its
own
expenses
,
and
recommended
him
to
live
in
future
with
the
most
penurious
economy
.
When
the
will
was
opened
,
finding
to
his
unutterable
joy
,
that
he
had
merely
been
played
upon
by
the
old
humorist
,
who
,
in
reality
left
him
£
40
,
000
per
annum
clear
,
so
great
was
Lord
Doncaster
's
surprise
,
that
he
declared
his
good
fortune
at
the
time
to
be
"
almost
incredible
;
"
and
it
might
have
been
supposed
,
that
he
never
afterwards
completely
believed
it
,
as
his
personal
expenses
were
always
in
a
style
more
suited
to
the
old
Lord
's
threat
than
his
performance
,
and
he
became
a
fresh
instance
of
what
may
be
so
often
remarked
,
that
the
most
extravagant
heirs
in
expectancy
become
the
most
avaricious
in
possession
.
There
was
one
singular
peculiarity
in
the
settlements
of
Lord
Doncaster
's
family
,
that
so
long
as
he
had
no
son
,
or
if
his
son
at
twenty-one
declared
himself
a
Protestant
,
he
had
the
power
of
selling
or
bequeathing
the
estates
according
to
his
own
pleasure
or
caprice
;
and
the
ancestor
who
had
inserted
this
clause
in
his
deed
of
entail
,
made
his
intention
evident
,
that
the
succession
should
go
to
the
Roman
Catholic
Church
,
rather
than
to
a
Protestant
heir
;
but
the
present
peer
had
taken
advantage
,
on
so
large
a
scale
,
of
his
own
childless
privilege
,
to
sell
the
family
estates
,
that
his
two
deceased
sisters
,
Lady
Charlotte
De
Crespigny
,
and
Lady
Caroline
Smytheson
,
used
secretly
to
complain
,
that
little
would
be
left
for
their
children
,
if
he
persevered
in
turning
every
acre
into
gold
;
yet
no
one
ever
could
guess
how
the
large
sums
were
squandered
or
melted
away
,
which
the
old
Marquis
was
continually
raising
,
unless
they
went
,
as
was
strongly
suspected
,
in
the
form
of
"
secret
service
money
,
"
among
the
priests
by
whom
he
was
surrounded
.
Nobody
had
a
better
right
to
be
eccentric
than
Lord
Doncaster
!
—
old
,
rich
,
unmarried
,
and
originally
educated
at
home
,
—
a
misfortune
sufficient
in
itself
to
engender
so
many
peculiarities
,
as
to
render
a
man
unfit
for
society
ever
afterwards
.
The
aged
peer
was
shy
,
proud
,
and
arbitrary
beyond
all
conception
,
avaricious
about
trifles
,
yet
lavish
to
excess
on
great
occasions
,
suspicious
of
all
men
's
motives
and
intentions
,
and
yet
confiding
to
the
last
extreme
of
weakness
,
in
the
Abbe
Mordaunt
,
his
confessor
,
despising
all
men
,
and
yet
anxious
beyond
measure
for
the
world
's
good
opinion
,
addicted
to
the
very
worst
female
society
,
when
he
might
have
enjoyed
the
best
,
hating
company
,
and
yet
sometimes
plunging
into
it
,
when
and
where
he
was
least
expected
,
jealous
to
excess
of
his
next
heir
,
Louis
De
Crespigny
,
whom
he
enslaved
to
his
caprices
,
as
if
even
his
existence
were
to
be
given
or
withheld
at
his
option
,
yet
sometimes
whimsically
cordial
in
his
manner
to
him
,
though
ready
to
take
fire
in
an
instant
if
his
condescension
led
the
lively
youth
into
the
slightest
approach
towards
confidence
or
familiarity
.
Mr.
Howard
Smytheson
,
the
wealthy
brother-in-law
of
Lord
Doncaster
,
having
purchased
most
of
the
De
Crespigny
estates
,
as
acre
after
acre
,
farm
after
farm
,
and
house
after
house
,
came
successively
into
the
market
,
bequeathed
them
on
his
decease
to
an
only
daughter
then
an
infant
,
and
it
became
a
favorite
day-dream
with
the
old
peer
,
that
his
nephew
and
niece
should
be
educated
for
each
other
,
while
to
this
end
he
tried
his
utmost
power
of
conciliation
with
the
maiden
sister
of
Mr.
Howard
Smytheson
,
to
whose
care
the
young
heiress
had
been
consigned
,
hoping
that
thus
all
the
amputated
limbs
of
his
vast
property
might
yet
be
reunited
in
their
pristine
magnitude
,
to
which
very
desirable
end
he
thenceforth
directed
his
whole
conversations
with
young
De
Crespigny
,
to
whom
he
more
than
hinted
that
,
unless
their
will
were
the
same
about
this
marriage
,
his
own
will
after
death
would
be
found
very
different
from
what
his
nephew
probably
anticipated
and
wished
.
The
private
vices
of
Lord
Doncaster
had
been
so
very
private
,
that
though
much
was
suspected
,
little
could
be
known
;
yet
,
while
he
had
few
visible
or
personal
expenses
,
and
no
imaginable
outlet
for
his
fortune
,
he
invariably
spent
all
his
income
,
and
considerably
more
,
being
one
of
those
personages
occasionally
seen
who
excite
the
wonder
and
speculation
of
relations
and
neighbours
,
by
unaccountably
frittering
away
fortunes
of
almost
royal
splendor
,
without
any
appearance
of
royal
luxury
or
royal
liberality
.
Wearied
of
the
world
,
in
which
he
had
nothing
more
to
desire
,
and
of
himself
,
as
he
had
nothing
to
think
of
or
to
do
,
—
bored
in
short
with
the
want
of
a
want
,
Lord
Doncaster
's
life
was
indeed
a
mere
heartless
pageant
of
mean
ostentation
and
fretful
pride
,
sternly
insulated
in
a
state
of
solitary
old-bachelor
despotism
,
and
absorbed
in
himself
to
a
degree
which
no
ordinary
mind
could
conceive
or
comprehend
.
Encumbered
with
so
many
unoccupied
hours
,
it
was
a
subject
of
as
much
wonder
how
he
disposed
of
his
superfluous
time
,
as
of
his
superfluous
fortune
;
but
he
settled
that
question
,
by
remarking
one
day
to
his
nephew
,
that
"
the
great
business
of
life
is
,
to
shuffle
through
the
day
anyhow
till
dinner
time
.
"
Like
all
parsimonious
men
,
Lord
Doncaster
could
not
endure
to
hear
any
one
else
reckoned
affluent
,
and
Louis
De
Crespigny
knew
that
a
certain
receipt
for
irritating
him
was
,
to
over-estimate
everybody
's
income
,
consequently
he
amused
himself
occasionally
by
audibly
giving
out
Lord
Towercliffe
's
fortune
to
be
£
15
,
000
a-year
,
and
estimating
his
friend
Sir
Patrick
Dunbar
's
rent-roll
at
a
clear
sum
of
£
20
,
000
per
annum
,
while
he
slyly
watched
his
uncle
's
rising
choler
,
and
patiently
heard
,
for
the
fiftieth
time
,
an
elaborate
explanation
,
that
it
was
impossible
,
and
a
sober
calculation
which
reduced
both
the
offending
parties
almost
to
beggary
.
In
the
month
of
August
,
as
regularly
as
time
revolved
,
Lord
Doncaster
delighted
to
read
in
the
newspapers
,
his
own
pompous
advertisement
,
the
only
original
composition
he
was
ever
known
to
attempt
,
in
which
he
prohibited
poachers
and
strangers
from
shooting
on
his
moors
in
Argyleshire
,
Mid-Lothian
,
Yorkshire
,
Galloway
,
Cromarty
,
and
Caithness
,
but
except
the
annual
appearance
of
this
spirited
manifesto
,
no
public
evidence
ever
came
forth
of
that
extraordinary
wealth
which
property
so
extensive
must
be
supposed
to
produce
.
No
charitable
donations
bore
witness
to
Lord
Doncaster
's
liberality
—
no
country
objects
were
encouraged
by
his
public
spirit
—
and
the
monuments
daily
arising
in
memory
of
departed
merit
,
made
a
vain
appeal
for
his
pecuniary
tribute
of
respect
and
regret
,
for
Lord
Doncaster
neither
respected
nor
regretted
any
man
.
It
was
an
often-repeated
axiom
of
Lord
Doncaster
's
,
that
every
man
cheats
or
is
cheated
;
but
in
one
instance
,
and
one
only
,
his
Lordship
had
shown
apparently
some
kind
feeling
,
or
rather
perhaps
he
might
be
said
to
have
exhibited
a
capricious
freak
of
benevolence
,
though
the
result
had
been
such
as
to
afford
him
an
excuse
ever
afterwards
for
not
again
attempting
a
single
act
of
gratuitous
liberality
.
The
nearest
relative
to
his
ancient
family
,
after
Louis
De
Crespigny
and
Miss
Howard
,
was
Mrs.
Anstruther
,
a
distant
cousin
,
who
,
after
making
a
low
and
almost
disgraceful
marriage
,
had
suddenly
died
,
it
was
believed
by
her
own
hands
,
thus
consigning
her
two
young
children
to
helpless
,
and
apparently
hopeless
poverty
,
till
at
length
they
were
very
unwillingly
invited
,
or
rather
permitted
to
become
residents
in
an
almost
menial
capacity
at
Beaujolie
Castle
,
in
Yorkshire
,
where
,
as
they
could
neither
be
drowned
like
kittens
,
nor
shot
like
puppy-dogs
,
the
Marquis
caused
them
to
be
treated
like
the
"
whipping
boys
"
in
Charles
the
First
's
time
—
sometimes
employed
as
playmates
to
amuse
his
nephew
and
niece
during
their
holiday
visits
to
his
residence
,
but
more
frequently
treated
in
a
sort
of
mongrel
way
between
dependents
and
slaves
by
the
heartless
and
tyrannical
old
peer
,
who
considered
them
as
mere
poachers
on
the
preserve
of
his
family
honors
,
having
forced
their
way
into
existence
by
some
untoward
accident
,
and
become
absolute
blots
in
the
creation
,
liable
to
be
suspected
,
and
even
accused
to
their
faces
of
every
low
and
vicious
propensity
,
in
consequence
of
which
,
from
an
early
age
,
he
destroyed
their
self-respect
,
and
irritated
their
evil
passions
by
the
most
rash
and
unfounded
aspersions
—
theft
,
swindling
,
lying
,
and
gluttony
,
were
among
the
principal
counts
in
his
Lordship
's
indictment
,
when
he
sometimes
vented
a
paroxysm
of
ill-humor
on
these
his
unhappy
dependents
;
and
many
a
time
the
tears
of
Mary
Anstruther
,
and
the
flashing
eye
of
her
brother
Ernest
,
bore
witness
to
the
anger
and
grief
with
which
they
listened
to
his
bitter
and
often
unmerited
upbraidings
.
At
times
,
however
,
Lord
Doncaster
found
it
convenient
for
his
own
private
purposes
to
patronize
the
Anstruthers
,
and
threatened
,
in
the
hearing
of
all
his
young
relatives
,
that
if
Louis
De
Crespigny
's
conduct
did
not
in
all
respects
satisfy
him
,
an
heir
more
subservient
to
his
wishes
might
be
found
,
and
though
the
culprit
must
be
his
nephew
,
he
need
not
be
his
successor
,
while
the
glance
of
his
eye
towards
Ernest
aroused
hopes
,
wishes
,
and
even
expectations
of
the
wildest
extravagance
,
which
were
then
confirmed
for
a
time
by
his
being
promoted
to
temporary
attention
and
consideration
,
not
only
displayed
ostentatiously
by
their
capricious
patron
,
but
extending
to
the
increased
respect
and
observance
of
the
servants
,
the
thermometer
of
whose
obedience
rose
and
fell
according
as
the
sunshine
of
Lord
Doncaster
's
favor
shone
upon
his
young
relative
or
not
;
yet
brief
as
these
periods
of
increased
importance
had
always
been
,
they
made
an
indelible
impression
on
the
young
and
ambitious
minds
of
those
usually
neglected
children
.
"
The
child
becomes
a
boy
,
the
boy
a
youth
,
and
then
the
game
of
life
begins
in
earnest
.
"
Without
education
or
principle
,
and
with
no
friend
on
the
wide
earth
to
confide
in
or
to
consult
,
the
two
young
Anstruthers
,
like
weeds
that
will
yet
flourish
though
trampled
upon
,
grew
up
vigorous
in
body
,
and
enthusiastically
as
well
as
devotedly
attached
to
each
other
,
with
a
depth
and
power
of
affection
which
appeared
,
before
long
,
the
only
redeeming
quality
in
characters
wherein
strong
passions
and
weak
principles
promised
little
,
and
threatened
much
,
to
all
with
whom
they
might
hereafter
become
associated
.
The
resemblance
between
them
was
as
remarkable
as
their
attachment
,
both
having
dark
Italian-looking
countenances
,
of
remarkable
symmetry
,
with
a
singularly
excitable
and
determined
expression
in
their
large
lustrous
eyes
,
while
it
was
remarkable
that
neither
could
by
possibility
look
any
one
steadily
in
the
face
.
There
was
a
wild
,
almost
feverish
brilliancy
in
the
eye
of
Ernest
,
expressive
of
a
fiery
impetuosity
,
amounting
at
times
almost
to
an
appearance
of
insanity
,
when
,
after
being
obliged
to
crouch
and
flatter
for
his
bread
before
Lord
Doncaster
,
he
would
retire
with
Mary
,
and
give
loose
to
all
the
angry
torrent
of
his
long-suppressed
emotions
.
The
sister
's
heart
cowered
sometimes
before
the
flood
of
invectives
and
imprecations
with
which
he
relieved
his
heart
by
speaking
of
his
wrongs
,
while
he
seemed
to
cherish
a
gnawing
belief
that
fortune
herself
had
shown
him
a
most
unaccountable
and
undeserved
enmity
,
which
he
was
resolved
,
by
fair
or
by
foul
means
,
to
subvert
.
"
I
shall
yet
rise
above
all
the
accidents
of
fortune
!
It
shall
be
done
,
I
care
not
