or delirious by disease. If your ladyship or his lordship, my excellent
good friend and patron, were to take it----"

"God forbid!" cried my lord.

"Amen," continued Dr. Tusher. "Amen to that prayer, my very good lord! for
your sake I would lay my life down"--and, to judge from the alarmed look of
the doctor's purple face, you would have thought that that sacrifice was
about to be called for instantly.

To love children, and be gentle with them, was an instinct, rather than a
merit, in Henry Esmond, so much so, that he thought almost with a sort of
shame of his liking for them, and of the softness into which it betrayed
him; and on this day the poor fellow had not only had his young friend,
the milkmaid's brother, on his knee, but had been drawing pictures, and
telling stories to the little Frank Esmond, who had occupied the same
place for an hour after dinner, and was never tired of Henry's tales, and
his pictures of soldiers and horses. As luck would have it, Beatrix had
not on that evening taken her usual place, which generally she was glad
enough to have, upon her tutor's lap. For Beatrix, from the earliest time,
was jealous of every caress which was given to her little brother Frank.
She would fling away even from the maternal arms, if she saw Frank had
been there before her; insomuch that Lady Castlewood was obliged not to
show her love for her son in the presence of the little girl, and embrace
one or the other alone. She would turn pale and red with rage if she
caught signs of intelligence or affection between Frank and his mother;
would sit apart, and not speak for a whole night, if she thought the boy
had a better fruit or a larger cake than hers; would fling away a ribbon
if he had one; and from the earliest age, sitting up in her little chair
by the great fireplace opposite to the corner where Lady Castlewood
commonly sat at her embroidery, would utter infantine sarcasms about the
favour shown to her brother. These, if spoken in the presence of Lord
Castlewood, tickled and amused his humour; he would pretend to love Frank
best, and dandle and kiss him, and roar with laughter at Beatrix's
jealousy. But the truth is, my lord did not often witness these scenes,
nor very much trouble the quiet fireside at which his lady passed many
long evenings. My lord was hunting all day when the season admitted; he
frequented all the cockfights and fairs in the country, and would ride
twenty miles to see a main fought, or