Chapter 42

The Honorable General Denbigh was the youngest of three sons. His seniors,
Francis and George, were yet bachelors. The death of a cousin had made
Francis a duke while yet a child, and both he and his favorite brother
George, had decided on lives of inactivity and sluggishness.

"When I die, brother," the oldest would say, "you will succeed me, and
Frederick can provide heirs for the name hereafter."

This arrangement had been closely adhered to, and the two elder brothers
reached the ages of fifty-five and fifty-six, without altering their
condition. In the mean time, Frederick married a young woman of rank and
fortune; the fruits of their union being the two young candidates for the
hand of Isabel Howell.

Francis Denbigh, the eldest son of the general, was naturally diffident,
and, in addition, it was his misfortune to be the reverse of captivating
in external appearance. The small-pox sealed his doom;--ignorance, and the
violence of the attack, left him indelibly impressed with the ravages of
that dreadful disorder. Oh the other hand, his brother escaped without any
vestiges of the complaint; and his spotless skin and fine open
countenance, met the gaze of his mother, after the recovery of the two, in
striking contrast to the deformed lineaments of his elder brother. Such an
occurrence is sure to excite one of two feelings in the breast of every
beholder--pity or disgust; and, unhappily for Francis, maternal
tenderness, in his case, was unable to counteract the latter sensation.
George become a favorite, and Francis a neutral. The effect was easy to be
seen, and it was rapid, as it was indelible.

The feelings of Francis were sensitive to an extreme. He had more
quickness, more sensibility, more real talent than George; which enabled
him to perceive, and caused him to feel more acutely, the partiality of
his mother.

As yet, the engagements and duties of the general had kept his children
and, their improvements out of his sight; but at the ages of eleven and
twelve, the feelings of a father, began, to take pride in the possession
of his sons.

On his return from a foreign station, after an absence of two years, his
children were ordered from school to meet him. Francis had improved in
stature, but not in beauty; George had flourished in both.

The natural diffidence of the former was increased, by perceiving that he
was no favorite, and the effect began to show itself on manners at no time
engaging. He met his father with doubt, and he saw with anguish, that the
embrace received by his brother much exceeded in warmth that which had
been bestowed on himself.

"Lady Margaret," said the general to his wife, as he followed the boys as
they