The immediate change for good effected in the neighbourhood through the abiding therein of a wealthy proprietor, who paid his bills and “lived cleanly as a gentleman should,” was very speedily evident. It might be supposed, too, that the satisfaction at that change would have been great and general. This, however, was far from being the case. There is a certain magic in the very name of _Duke_, and the “neighbourhood,” clinging, in a kind of stupid, unreasoning way to old associations, old habits, and traditions, took exception at old Dub; and for a long while either treated him as a usurper, or consented, as it were under protest, to admit him among their intimates. This was the more extraordinary, inasmuch as the new-comer showed very little inclination to hide his talents, _id est_ his pieces of gold, in a napkin. On the contrary, he not only kept open house, and was ten times as genial as the “Dook,” but he owned (as we have shown) a very nice-looking daughter, who was withal (for Mr. Duberly was a widower) the heiress to his wealth; whereas the “Duchess” girls were plain young women with high noses, whose only fortune was the pedigree on which their parent had brought as much discredit as it is possible for a duke to entail upon his belongings. But notwithstanding all his manifest advantages, “old Dub,” the merchant-prince, who paid his way, employed the people, and was a blessing to his neighbourhood, found it up-hill work to conciliate the goodwill of individuals whose social tastes had been refined--ripened, indeed, so to speak--under the sunshine of ducal notice, and who had enjoyed the privilege of ducal proximity. By slow degrees, however, the thorough excellence of the man told against the spurious advantages of position; the memory of the princely banquets few and far between as compared to those offered to their acceptance by the new owner of Fairleigh, faded away from the minds of the invited. “Dub’s” wines were excellent, and his daughter’s face (to say nothing of her being an heiress) was fair to see; so in process of time, the descendant of the Manchester warehouseman took his place--no longer under protest--amongst the magnates of the land; and the dark-eyed, lively Sophy was sought for in marriage by the great ones of the earth.