nant, nor a
vindictive man: his vices arose from utter indifference to all men,
and all things--except as conducive to his own ends. He would not have
injured a worm if it did him no good; but he would have set any house
on fire if he had no other means of roasting his own eggs. Yet still,
if any feeling of personal rancour could harbour in his breast, it was,
first, towards Evelyn Cameron, and, secondly, towards Ernest Maltravers.
For the first time in his life, he did long for revenge,--revenge
against the one for stealing his patrimony, and refusing his hand; and
that revenge he hoped to gratify.

As to the other, it was not so much dislike he felt, as an uneasy
sentiment of inferiority. However well he himself had got on in the
world, he yet grudged the reputation of a man whom he had remembered
a wayward, inexperienced boy: he did not love to hear any one praise
Maltravers. He fancied, too, that this feeling was reciprocal, and that
Maltravers was pained at hearing of any new step in his own career.
In fact, it was that sort of jealousy which men often feel for the
companions of their youth, whose characters are higher than their own,
and whose talents are of an order they do not quite comprehend. Now, it
certainly did seem at that moment to Lord Vargrave that it would be
a most splendid triumph over Mr. Maltravers of Burleigh to be lord of
Lisle Court, the hereditary seat of the elder branch of the family
to be, as it were, in the very shoes of Mr. Ernest Maltravers's elder
brother. He knew, too, that it was a property of great consequence. Lord
Vargrave of Lisle Court would hold a very different post in the peerage
from Lord Vargrave of -----, Fulham! Nobody would call the owner of
Lisle Court an adventurer; nobody would suspect such a man of caring
three straws about place and salary. And if he married Evelyn, and if
Evelyn bought Lisle Court, would not Lisle Court be his? He vaulted over
the _ifs_, stiff monosyllables though they were, with a single jump.
Besides, even should the thing come to nothing, there was the very
excuse he sought for joining Evelyn at Paris, for conversing with her,
consulting her. It was true that the will of the late lord left
it solely at the discretion of the trustees to select such landed
investment as seemed best to them; but still it was, if not legally
necessary, at least but a proper courtesy to consult Evelyn. And plans,
and drawings, and explanations, and rent-rolls, would ju