not always find their way into the earl's pocket. When the late earl
had attained his sceptre, he might probably have been entitled to
spend some ten thousand a-year; but when he died, and during the
years just previous to that, he had hardly been entitled to spend
anything.

But, nevertheless, the Desmonds were great people, and owned a great
name. They had been kings once over those wild mountains; and would
be still, some said, if every one had his own. Their grandeur was
shown by the prevalence of their name. The barony in which they
lived was the barony of Desmond. The river which gave water to their
cattle was the river Desmond. The wretched, ragged, poverty-stricken
village near their own dismantled gate was the town of Desmond. The
earl was Earl of Desmond--not Earl Desmond, mark you; and the family
name was Desmond. The grandfather of the present earl, who had
repaired his fortune by selling himself at the time of the Union,
had been Desmond Desmond, Earl of Desmond.

The late earl, the friend of the most illustrious person in the
kingdom, had not been utterly able to rob his heir of everything, or
he would undoubtedly have done so. At the age of twenty-one the
young earl would come into possession of the property, damaged
certainly, as far as an actively evil father could damage it by long
leases, bad management, lack of outlay, and rack renting;--but still
into the possession of a considerable property. In the mean time it
did not fare very well, in a pecuniary way, with Clara, the widowed
countess, or with the Lady Clara, her daughter. The means at the
widow's disposal were only those which the family trustees would
allow her as the earl's mother: on his coming of age she would have
almost no means of her own; and for her daughter no provision