ed; but,
until Sir Ferdinand no head of the house had abused the confidence
of his ancestors, and the vast possessions of the house of Armine had
descended unimpaired; and unimpaired, so far as he was concerned, Sir
Ratcliffe determined they should remain. Although, by the sale of the
estates, not only the encumbrances and liabilities might have been
discharged, but himself left in possession of a moderate independence,
Sir Ratcliffe at once resolved to part with nothing. Fresh sums were
raised for the payment of the debts, and the mortgages now consumed
nearly the whole rental of the lands on which they were secured. Sir
Ratcliffe obtained for himself only an annuity of three hundred per
annum, which he presented to his mother, in addition to the small
portion which she had received on her first marriage; and for himself,
visiting Armine Place for the first time, he roamed for a few days with
sad complacency about that magnificent demesne, and then, taking down
from the walls of the magnificent hall the sabre with which his father
had defeated the Imperial host, he embarked for Cadiz, and shortly after
his arrival obtained a commission in the Spanish service.

Although the hereditary valour of the Armines had descended to
their forlorn representative, it is not probable that, under any
circumstances, Sir Ratcliffe would have risen to any eminence in the
country of his temporary adoption. His was not one of those minds born
to command and to create; and his temper was too proud to serve and to
solicit. His residence in Spain, however, was not altogether without
satisfaction. It was during this sojourn that he gained the little
knowledge of life and human nature he possessed; and the creed and
solemn manners of the land harmonised with his faith and habits. Among
these strangers, too, the proud young Englishman felt not so keenly the
degradation of his house; and sometimes, though his was not the fatal
gift of imagination, sometimes he indulged in day dreams of its rise.
Unpractised in business, and not gifted with that intuitive quickness
which supplies experience and often baffles it, Ratcliffe Armine, who
had not quitted the domestic hearth even for the purposes of education,
was yet fortunate enough to possess a devoted friend: and this was
Glastonbury, his tutor, and confessor to his mother. It was to him that
Sir Ratcliffe intrusted the management of his affairs, with a confidence
which was deserved; for Glastonbur