England -- Fiction; Love stories; Male friendship -- Fiction; Quakers -- Fiction; Social classes -- Fiction
Lord Hampstead, though he would not go into Parliament or belong to
any London Club, or walk about the streets with a chimney-pot hat, or
perform any of his public functions as a young nobleman should do,
had, nevertheless, his own amusements and his own extravagances.
In the matter of money he was placed outside his father's
liberality,--who was himself inclined to be liberal enough,--by the
fact that he had inherited a considerable portion of his maternal
grandfather's fortune. It might almost be said truly of him that
money was no object to him. It was not that he did not often talk
about money and think about money. He was very prone to do so, saying
that money was the most important factor in the world's justices and
injustices. But he was so fortunately circumstanced as to be able
to leave money out of his own personal consideration, never being
driven by the want of it to deny himself anything, or tempted by a
superabundance to expenditure which did not otherwise approve itself
to him. To give 10_s._ or 20_s._ a bottle for wine because somebody
pretended that it was very fine, or £300 for a horse when one at a
£100 would do his work for him, was altogether below his philosophy.
By his father's lodge gate there ran an omnibus up to town which he
would often use, saying that an omnibus with company was better than
a private carriage with none. He was wont to be angry with himself
in that he employed a fashionable tailor, declaring that he incurred
unnecessary expense merely to save himself the trouble of going
elsewhere. In this, however, it may be thought that there was
something of pretence, as he was no doubt conscious of good looks,
and aware probably that a skilful tailor might add a grace.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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