loses or wins at the races, who boasts of Mary's favours and
mourns over Lucy's coldness almost in public, who issues
bulletins on the state of his purse, his stomach, his stable, and
his debts, could not with any amount of care keep from us the
fact that his father was an attorney's clerk, and made his first
money by discounting small bills. Everybody knows it, and Jones,
who like popularity, grieves at the unfortunate publicity. But
Jones is relieved from a burden which would have broken his poor
shoulders, and which even Ferdinand Lopez, who is a strong man,
often finds it hard to bear without wincing.

It was admitted on all sides that Ferdinand Lopez was a
'gentleman'. Johnson says that any other derivation of this
difficult word than that which causes it to signify 'a man of
ancestry' is whimsical. There are many who, in defining the term
for their own use, still adhere to Johnson's dictum;--but they
adhere to it with certain unexpressed allowances for possible
exceptions. The chances are very much in favour of the well-born
man, but exceptions may exist. It was not generally believed
that Ferdinand Lopez was well born;--but he was a gentleman.
And this most precious rank was acceded to him although he was
employed,--or at least had been employed,--on business which
does not of itself give such a warrant of position as is supposed
to be afforded by the bar and the church, by the military
services and by physic. He had been on the Stock Exchange, and
still in some manner, not clearly understood by his friends, did
business in the City.

At the time with which we are now concerned Ferdinand Lopez was
thirty-three years old, and as he had begun life early he had