Ah! what is there so fresh and joyous as a summer morn! That
spring time of the day, when the brain is bright, and the
heart is brave; the season of daring and of hope; the
renovating hour!
Came forth from his cottage room the brother of Lord Marney,
to feel the vigorous bliss of life amid sunshiny gardens and
the voices of bees and birds.
"Ah! this is delicious!" he felt. "This is existence! Thank
God I am here; that I have quitted for ever that formal and
heartless Marney. Were it not for my mother, I would remain
Mr Franklin for ever. Would I were indeed a journalist;
provided I always had a mission to the vale of Mowbray. Or
anything, so that I were ever here. As companions,
independent of everything else, they are superior to any that
I have been used to. Why do these persons interest me? They
feel and they think: two habits that have quite gone out of
fashion, if ever they existed, among my friends. And that
polish of manners, that studied and factitious refinement,
which is to compensate for the heartlessness or the stupidity
we are doomed to--is my host of last night deficient in that
refinement? If he do want our conventional discipline, he has
a native breeding which far excels it.
Pages:
288
289
290
291
292
293
294
295
296
297
298
299
300
301
302
303
304
305
306
307
308
309
310
311
312