s a wallachized Hungarian lady, whom he married
for her wealth. It was not wonderful, therefore, if the noble baron
possessed the qualities of five distinct races. Thus he had something of
the voluptuousness of the Turk, the ostentation of the Hindu, the
flightiness of the Pole, the foolhardiness of the Hungarian, and the
obstinacy of the Wallach.

"For, I speak of his faults first," the lawyer proceeded, "because I
consider that they outweigh his good qualities. That the baron is a
rich man is evident from the accounts and inventories classed under
schedule E; that the baron is a handsome man is evident from the
photograph under schedule H; that the baron is physically sound is clear
from the certificates annexed to schedules I and K, one of which is
supplied by his physician and the other by his hunting comrades. Those
who require nothing from a man save health, wealth, strength, and
beauty, will of course consider him fit and proper to make a woman
happy. Yet having regard to the following facts (1) that the aforesaid
baron is not merely unstable in love affairs but capricious to the verge
of eccentricity, and a winebibber and gourmand to boot; (2) that he is
as vain as an Indian prince who takes unto him a wife for the mere pomp
and show of the thing; (3) that he is violent and brutal, sparing nobody
in his sudden fits of passion and, as the documents testify, has
frequently inflicted mortal injuries on those who have come in his way
while he was in an ill-humour; (4) that he has an odd liking for rowdy
adventures, which do not reflect much credit upon him; and (5) that,
according to the whispers of those nearest to him there is a strange
mystery pervading his whole life, inasmuch as mysterious disappearances,
which nobody can make head or tail of, occupy an incalculable number of
his days and weeks which remain unaccounted for, and make a pretty
considerable hiatus in every year of his life--taking all these things
into consideration, I am constrained to give it as my opinion that I do
not consider such a man a fit and proper husband for such a tender,
sympathetic young lady as the Miss Henrietta in question, and let the
world if it likes consider such a match as the greatest piece of good
fortune imaginable, I, for my part, would nevertheless call it a
calamity to be avoided at any price. And now would you do me the honour
to examine the original documents I have brought with me as exhibits in
corroboration of my