without stain
upon the shores of Ostend or Boulogne.

To do this, however, he must not bear a plebeian name, nor pertain to
the undistinguishable herd of vulgar folk. He must belong to some family
of mark and note, with peers for his uncles and peeresses for cousins;
nor is he always safe if he himself be not a member of an hereditary
legislature. We have been led to these reflections by having to
chronicle the arrival in Florence of Lord Norwood; a vague and confused
murmur of his having done something, people knew not what, in England
having preceded him. Some called him "poor Norwood," and expressed
sorrow for him; others said he was a capital fellow, up to everything,
and that they were delighted at his coming. A few, of very tender and
languishing virtue themselves, wondered if they ought to meet him as
before; but the prevailing impression was charitable. The affair
at Graham's might have been exaggerated, the Newmarket business was
possibly a mistake. "Any man might owe money, and not be able to
pay it," was a sentiment pretty generally repeated and as generally
believed; and, in fact, if to be tried by one's peers be an English
privilege, the noble Viscount here enjoyed it at the hands of a jury
unimpeachable on the score of equality.

We are far from suggesting that Norwood's character as a "shot" had any
concern with this mild verdict; but certain it is, his merits in this
capacity were frequently remembered, and always with honorable mention.

"No man plays ecarte better," said Haggerstone, while as yet the
Viscount's arrival was unknown, and as he discussed the rumors upon him
before a group of listening Englishmen at the door of the "Club". "No
man plays ecarte better, nor with better luck!" added he, with a chuckle
that was intended to convey a meaning beyond the mere words.

"Has he been a large winner, then?" asked one of the bystanders,
respectfully, looking to the Colonel for information; for, in a certain
set, he was regarded as the most thoroughly conversant man with all the
faults and follies of high life.

"No man wins invariably, sir, except Brooke Morris, perhaps," replied
he, always happy at the opportunity to quote the name of a man of
fashion in a tone of familiarity.

"That was the Mo-Mo-Morris that ruined Hopeton, was n't it?" broke in
Purvis, quite forgetting that the individual he addressed was reported
to have a share in the transaction. Haggerstone, however, did not deign
a reply