m the hustings. Forlorn in the vast metropolis as Leonard
had once been, in his turn he loitered on the bridge, and gazed on the
remorseless river. He had neither money nor connections,--nothing save
talents and knowledge to force his way back into the lofty world in
which all had smiled on him before; and talents and knowledge, that had
been exerted to injure a benefactor, made him but the more despised.
But even now, Fortune, that had bestowed on the pauper heir of Rood
advantages so numerous and so dazzling, out of which he had cheated
himself, gave him a chance, at least, of present independence, by which,
with patient toil, he might have won, if not to the highest places, at
least to a position in which he could have forced the world to listen
to his explanations; and perhaps receive his excuses. The L5,000
that Audley designed for him, and which, in a private memorandum, the
statesman had entreated Harley to see safely rescued from the fangs of
the law, were made over to Randal by Lord L'Estrange's solicitor; but
this sum seemed to him so small after the loss of such gorgeous hopes,
and the up-hill path seemed so slow after such short cuts to power,
that Randal looked upon the unexpected bequest simply as an apology for
adopting no profession. Stung to the quick by the contrast between his
past and his present place in the English world, he hastened abroad.
There, whether in distraction from thought, or from the curiosity of a
restless intellect to explore the worth of things yet untried, Randal
Leslie, who had hitherto been so dead to the ordinary amusements of
youth, plunged into the society of damaged gamesters and third-rate
roues. In this companionship his very talents gradually degenerated, and
their exercise upon low intrigues and miserable projects but abased his
social character, till, sinking step after step as his funds decayed,
he finally vanished out of the sphere in which even profligates still
retain the habits, and cling to the caste of gentlemen. His father died;
the neglected property of Rood devolved on Randal, but out of its scanty
proceeds he had to pay the portions of his brother and sister, and
his mother's jointure; the surplus left was scarcely visible in the
executor's account. The hope of restoring the home and fortunes of his
forefathers had long ceased. What were the ruined hall and its bleak
wastes, without that hope which had once dignified the wreck and the
desert? He wrote from St. P