ous, was it not?"

"Very, indeed," said Clarence; "and so Mr. de Warens has gone; how came
that?"

"Why, sir, you see, the boy was always of a gay turn, and he took to
frisking about, as he called it, of a night, and so he was taken up for
thrashing a watchman, and appeared before Sir John, the magistrate, the
next morning."

"Caractacus before Caesar!" observed Linden; "and what said Caesar?"

"Sir?" said Mr. Brown.

"I mean, what said Sir John?"

"Oh! he asked him his name, and Tom, whose head Mrs. Copperas (poor good
woman!) had crammed with pride enough for fifty foot-boys, replied, 'De
Warens,' with all the air of a man of independence. 'De Warens!' cried
Sir John, amazed, 'we'll have no De's here: take him to Bridewell!' and
so, Mrs. Copperas, being without a foot-boy, sent for me, and I supplied
her--with Bob!"

"Out of the late Lady Waddilove's wardrobe too?" said Clarence.

"Ha, ha! that's well, very well, sir. No, not exactly; but he was a son
of her late ladyship's coachman. Mr. Copperas has had two other servants
of the name of Bob before, but this is the biggest of all, so he
humorously calls him 'Triple Bob Major!' You observe that road to the
right, sir: it leads to the mansion of an old customer of mine, General
Cornelius St. Leger; many a good bargain have I sold to his sister.
Heaven rest her! when she died I lost a good friend, though she was a
little hot or so, to be sure. But she had a relation, a young lady; such
a lovely, noble-looking creature: it did one's heart, ay, and one's eyes
also, good to look at her; and she's gone too; well, well, one loses
one's customers sadly; it makes me feel old and comfortless to think of
it. Now, yonder, as far as you can see among those distant woods, lived
another friend of mine, to whom I offered to make some very valuable
presents upon his marriage with the young lady I spoke of just now, but,
poor gentleman, he had not time to accept them; he lost his property
by a lawsuit, a few months after he was married, and a very different
person now has Mordaunt Court."

"Mordaunt Court!" cried Clarence; "do you mean to say that Mr. Mordaunt
has lost that property?"

"Why, sir, one Mr. Mordaunt has lost it, and another has gained it: but
the real Mr. Mordaunt has not an acre in this county or elsewhere, I
fear, poor gentleman. He is universally regretted, for he was very
good and very generous, though they say he was also mighty proud and
reserved; but fo