'
'Did you tell them?'
'Not a word: I was afraid we might have had to go through it over
again.'
'I suppose old Bellamont is the devil's own screw,' said Lord Milford.
'Rich governors, who have never been hard up, always are.'
'No: I believe he is a very good sort of fellow,' said Lord Valentine;
'at least my people always say so. I do not know much about him, for
they never go anywhere.'
'They have got Leander down at Montacute,'said Mr. Cassilis. 'Had
not such a thing as a cook in the whole county. They say Lord Eskdale
arranged the cuisine for them; so you will feed well, Valentine.'
'That is something: and one can eat before Easter; but when the balls
begin----'
'Oh! as for that, you will have dancing enough at Montacute; it is
expected on these occasions: Sir Roger de Coverley, tenants' daughters,
and all that sort of thing. Deuced funny, but I must say, if I am to
have a lark, I like Vauxhall.'
'I never met the Bellamonts,' said Lord Milford, musingly. 'Are there
any daughters?'
'None.'
'That is a bore. A single daughter, even if there be a son, may be made
something of; because, in nine cases out of ten, there is a round sum in
the settlements for the younger children, and she takes it all.'
'That is the case of Lady Blanche Bickerstaffe,' said Lord Fitz-Heron.
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