very ungrateful,' said the ironical Clarence. 'Very!' reiterated
the good-hearted Sir Christopher. 'You cannot recommend me a valet,
Findlater,' renewed his lordship; 'a good, honest, sensible fellow,
who can neither read nor write?' 'N--o--o--that is to say, yes! I can;
my old servant, Collard, is out of place, and is as ignorant as--as--'
'I--or you are,' said Lord St. George, with a laugh. 'Precisely,'
replied the baronet. 'Well, then, I take your recommendation: send
him to me to-morrow at twelve.' 'I will,' said Sir Christopher. 'My
dear Findlater,' cried Clarence, when Lord St. George was gone, 'did
you not tell me some time ago, that Collard was a great rascal, and
closely _lie_ with Jefferies? and now you recommend him to Lord St.
George!' 'Hush, hush, hush!' said the baronet; 'he was a great rogue,
to be sure; but poor fellow, he came to me yesterday with tears in his
eyes, and said he should starve if I would not give him a character;
so what could I do?' 'At least, tell Lord St. George the truth,'
observed Clarence. 'But then Lord St. George would not take him!'
rejoined the good-hearted Sir Christopher, with forcible _naiveté_.
'No, no, Linden, we must not be so hard-hearted; we must forgive and
forget;' and so saying, the baronet threw out his chest, with the
conscious exultation of a man who has uttered a noble sentiment. The
moral of this little history is, that Lord St. George, having been
pillaged 'through thick and thin,' as the proverb has it, for two
years, at last missed a gold watch, and Monsieur Collard finished his
career, as his exemplary tutor, Mr. John Jefferies, had done before
him. Ah! what a fine thing it is to have a good heart. But, to return,
just as our wanderers had arrived at the further end of the park, Lady
Westborough and her daughter passed them. Clarence excusing himself to
his friend, hastened towards them, and was soon occupied in saying the
prettiest things in the world to the prettiest person, at least in his
eyes; while Sir Christopher, having done as much mischief as a good