"The earl must be very rich, aunt, from the style he maintains."
"Very, my dear; his family I am unacquainted with, but I understand his
title is an extremely ancient one; and some one, I believe Lord Bolton,
mentioned that his estates in Wales alone, exceeded fifty thousand a
year."
"Much good might be done," said Emily, thoughtfully, "with such a
fortune."
"Much good is done," cried her aunt, with fervor. "I am told by every
one who knows him, his donations are large and frequent. Sir Herbert
Nicholson said he was extremely simple in his habits, and it leaves
large sums at his disposal every year."
"The bestowal of money is not always charity," said Emily, with an arch
smile and a slight color.
Mrs. Wilson smiled in her turn as she answered, "not always, but it is
charity to hope for the best."
"Sir Herbert knew him, then?" said Emily.
"Perfectly well; they were associated together in the service for
several years, and he spoke of him with a fervor equal to my warmest
expectations."
The Moseley arms in F---- was kept by an old butler of the family, and
Sir Edward every year, in going to or coming from L----, spent a night
under its roof. He was received by its master with a respect that none
who ever knew the baronet well, could withhold from his goodness of
heart and many virtues.
"Well, Jackson," said the baronet, kindly, as he was seated at the
supper table, "how does custom increase with you--I hope you and the
master of the Dun Cow are more amicable than formerly."
"Why, Sir Edward," replied the host, who had lost a little of the
deference of the servant in the landlord, but none of his real respect,
"Mr. Daniels and I are more upon a footing of late than we was, when
your goodness enabled me to take the house; then he got all the great
travellers, and for more than a twelvemonth I had not a title in my
house but yourself and a great London doctor, that was called here to
see a sick person in the town. He had the impudence to call me the
knight barrow-knight, your honor, and we had a quarrel upon that
account."
"I am glad, however, to find you are gaining in the rank of your
customers, and trust, as the occasion has ceased, you will be more
inclined to be good-natured to each other."
"Why, as to good-nature, Sir Edward, I lived with your honor ten years,
and you must know somewhat of my temper," said Jackson, with the self-
satisfaction of an approving conscience; "but Sam Daniels is a man who
is never easy unless he is left quietly at the top of the ladder;
however," continued the host, with a chuckle, "I have given him a dose
lately."
"How so, Jackson?" inquired the baronet, willing to gratify the man's
wish to relate his triumphs.
"Your honor must have heard mention made of a great lord, the Duke of
Derwent; well, Sir Edward, about six weeks agone he passed through with
my Lord Chatterton."
"Chatterton!" exclaimed John, interrupting him, "has he been so near us
again, and so lately?"
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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