As for Egremont it must be admitted that he was scarcely in a
more contented mood than his brother, though he had not such
insufficient cause for his dark humours. In quitting Mowbray,
he had quitted something else than merely an agreeable circle:
enough had happened in that visit to stir up the deep recesses
of his heart, and to prompt him to investigate in an unusual
spirit the cause and attributes of his position. He had found
a letter on his return to the Abbey, not calculated to dispel
these somewhat morbid feelings; a letter from his agent,
urging the settlement of his election accounts, the primary
cause of his visit to his brother.
Lady Marney left the dining-room; the brothers were alone.
Lord Marney filled a bumper, which he drank off rapidly,
pushed the bottle to his brother, and then said again, "What a
cursed bore it is that Grouse is not here."
"Well, I cannot say, George, that I particularly miss the
presence of Captain Grouse," said his brother.
Lord Marney looked at Egremont pugnaciously, and then
observed, "Grouse is a capital fellow; one is never dull when
Grouse is here."
"Well, for my part," said Egremont, "I do not much admire that
amusement which is dependent on the efforts of hangers-on.
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