tand
the nature of the duties which devolved upon him as a country
gentleman; and the Marquis himself was always spoken of by Mr.
Gilmore as--an idiot. On these various grounds the squire has
hitherto regarded himself as being a little in advance of other
squires, and has, perhaps, given himself more credit than he has
deserved for intellectuality. But he is a man with a good heart, and
a pure mind, generous, desirous of being just, somewhat sparing of
that which is his own, never desirous of that which is another's. He
is good-looking, though, perhaps, somewhat ordinary in appearance;
tall, strong, with dark-brown hair, and dark-brown whiskers, with
small, quick grey eyes, and teeth which are almost too white and too
perfect for a man. Perhaps it is his greatest fault that he thinks
that as a liberal politician and as an English country gentleman he
has combined in his own position all that is most desirable upon
earth. To have the acres without the acre-laden brains, is, he
thinks, everything.

And now it may be as well told at once that Mr. Gilmore is over head
and ears in love with a young lady to whom he has offered his hand
and all that can be made to appertain to the future mistress of
Hampton Privets. And the lady is one who has nothing to give in
return but her hand, and her heart, and herself. The neighbours all
round the country have been saying for the last five years that Harry
Gilmore was looking out for an heiress; for it has always been told
of Harry, especially among those who have opposed him in politics,
that he had a keen eye for the main chance. But Mary Lowther has not,
and never can have, a penny with which to make up for any deficiency
in her own personal attributes. But Mary is a lady, and Harry Gilmore
thinks her the sweetest woman on whom his eye ever rested. Whatever
resolutions as to fortune-hunting he may have made,--though probably
none were ever made,--they have all now gone to the winds. He is so
absolutely in love that nothing in the world is, to him, at present
worth thinking about except Mary Lowther. I do not doubt that he
would vote for a conservative candidate if Mary Lowther so ordered
him; or consent to go and live in New York if Mary Lowther would
accept him on no other condition. All Bullhampton parish is nothing
to him at the present moment, except as far as it is connected with
Mary Lowther. Hampton Privets is dear to him only as far as it can be
made to look attractive in