Estates are troublesome,--Mr. Legard's was sold. On the purchase-money
the happy pair lived for some years in great comfort, when Mr. Legard
died of a brain fever; and his disconsolate widow found herself alone in
the world with a beautiful little curly-headed boy, and an annuity of one
thousand a year, for which her settlement had been exchanged. All the
rest of the fortune was gone,--a discovery not made till Mr. Legard's
death. Lady Louisa did not long survive the loss of her husband and her
station in society; her income of course died with herself. Her only
child was brought up in the house of his grandfather, the duke, till he
was of age to hold the office of king's page; thence, as is customary, he
was promoted to a commission in the Guards. To the munificent emoluments
of his pay, the ducal family liberally added an allowance of two hundred
a year; upon which income Cornet Legard contrived to get very handsomely
in debt. The extraordinary beauty of his person, his connections, and
his manners obtained him all the celebrity that fashion can bestow; but
poverty is a bad thing. Luckily, at this time, his uncle the admiral
returned from sea, to settle for the rest of his life in England.

Hitherto, the admiral had taken no notice of George. He himself had
married a merchant's daughter with a fair portion; and had been blessed
with two children, who monopolized all his affection. But there seemed
some mortality in the Legard family; in one year after returning to
England and settling in B-----shire, the admiral found himself wifeless
and childless. He then turned to his orphan nephew; and soon became
fonder of him than he had ever been of his own children. The admiral,
though in easy circumstances, was not wealthy; nevertheless, he advanced
the money requisite for George's rise in the army, and doubled the
allowance bestowed by the duke. His grace heard of this generosity, and
discovered that he himself had a very large family growing up; that the
marquess was going to be married, and required an increase of income;