uffice to
subdue a man; to enslave him, and inflame him; to make him even forget;
they dazzle him so that the past becomes straightway dim to him; and he
so prizes them that he would give all his life to possess 'em. What is
the fond love of dearest friends compared to this treasure? Is memory as
strong as expectancy? fruition, as hunger? gratitude, as desire? I have
looked at royal diamonds in the jewel-rooms in Europe, and thought how
wars have been made about 'em; Mogul sovereigns deposed and strangled
for them, or ransomed with them; millions expended to buy them; and
daring lives lost in digging out the little shining toys that I value
no more than the button in my hat. And so there are other glittering
baubles (of rare water too) for which men have been set to kill and
quarrel ever since mankind began; and which last but for a score of
years, when their sparkle is over. Where are those jewels now that
beamed under Cleopatra's forehead, or shone in the sockets of Helen?

The second day after Esmond's coming to Walcote, Tom Tusher had leave
to take a holiday, and went off in his very best gown and bands to court
the young woman whom his Reverence desired to marry, and who was not
a viscount's widow, as it turned out, but a brewer's relict at
Southampton, with a couple of thousand pounds to her fortune: for honest
Tom's heart was under such excellent control, that Venus herself without
a portion would never have caused it to flutter. So he rode away on his
heavy-paced gelding to pursue his jog-trot loves, leaving Esmond to the
society of his dear mistress and her daughter, and with his young lord
for a companion, who was charmed, not only to see an old friend, but to
have the tutor and his Latin books put out of the way.

The boy talked of things and people, and not a little about himself, in
his frank artless way. 'Twas easy to see that he and his sister had the
better of their fond mother, for the first place in whose affections,
though they fought constantly, and though the kind lady persisted that
she loved both equally, 'twas not difficult to understand that Frank was
his mother's darling and favorite. He ruled the whole household (always
excepting rebellious Beatrix) not less now than when he was a child
marshalling the village boys in playing at soldiers, and caning them
lustily too, like the sturdiest corporal. As for Tom Tusher, his
Reverence treated the young lord with that politeness and deference
which h