residence, and Lady Aylmer always attended and
probably directed these discussions; but it was found that nothing
could be done. Any attempt to remove a gamekeeper or a gardener would
evidently throw the whole machinery of Aylmer Park out of gear. If
retrenchment was necessary Aylmer Park must be abandoned, and the
glory of the Aylmers must be allowed to pale. But things were not so
bad as that with Sir Anthony. The gardeners, grooms, and gamekeepers
were maintained; ten domestic servants sat down to four heavy meals
in the servants' hall every day, and Lady Aylmer contented herself
with receiving little or no company, and with stingy breakfasts and
bad dinners for herself and her husband and daughter. By all this it
must be seen that she did her duty as the wife of an English country
gentleman, and properly maintained his rank as a baronet.

He was a heavy man, over seventy years of age, much afflicted with
gout, and given to no pursuit on earth which was available for
his comfort. He had been a hunting man, and he had shot also; but
not with that energy which induces a sportsman to carry on those
amusements in opposition to the impediments of age. He had been, and
still was, a county magistrate; but he had never been very successful
in the justice-room, and now seldom troubled the county with his
judicial incompetence. He had been fond of good dinners and good
wine, and still, on occasions, would make attempts at enjoyment in
that line; but the gout and Lady Aylmer together were too many for
him, and he had but small opportunity for filling up the blanks of
his existence out of the kitchen or cellar. He was a big man, with
a broad chest, and a red face, and a quantity of white hair,--and
was much given to abusing his servants. He took some pleasure in
standing, with two sticks on the top of the steps before his own
front door, and railing at any one who came in his way. But he could
not do this when Lady Aylmer was by; and his dependents, knowing his
habits, had fallen into an ill-natured way of deserting the side of
the house which he frequented. With his eldest son, Anthony Aylmer,
he was not on very good terms; and though there was no positive
quarrel, the heir did not often come to Aylmer Park. Of his son
Frederic he was proud,--and the best days of his life were probably
those which Captain Aylmer spent at the house. The table was then
somewhat more generously spread, and this was an excuse for having
up the sp