All that is necessary to record of their conversation ended here. In a few minutes after, Phædra left the chamber to attend to her domestic affairs.
In the course of a few weeks, Mr. Waring hurried the completion of all the business to which his personal attention was indispensable; and then, attended by Valentine, he set out for his European travels, leaving the further settlement of his estate in the hands of Mr. Pettigrew.
CHAPTER III.
THE BOTTLE DEMON.
Oh! that men should put an enemy in
Their mouths to steal away their brains; that we
Should, with joy, pleasance, revel, and applause,
Transform ourselves into beasts!
Oh! thou invisible Spirit of wine,
If thou hast no name to be known by,
Let us call thee Devil!—Shakespeare.
After an absence of fifteen months, Oswald Waring and his inseparable companion, Valentine, returned home.
Not in all respects was the master or the man improved by travel, as circumstances soon demonstrated.
Mr. Waring brought back the same benevolent, careless, mirthful, yet occasionally arrogant temper, that had always distinguished him; and Valentine, the same affectionate, aspiring, quick, inflammable nature, that made his conduct so uncertain.
The character of Oswald might have been easily read in his personal appearance. He was a rather handsome specimen of a pure Anglo-Saxon; he was of medium height, of a stout and well-set form; with a round head, smooth, white, receding forehead, shaded with thickly clustered curls of auburn hair; prominent, clear, light-blue eyes, whose prevailing expression was that of frank mirthfulness; a straight nose; a well-curved, but rather sensual mouth; and a full, rounded chin, that, altogether, made up a countenance whose chief characteristics were good nature, sensuality and gayety. His dress was equally remarkable for the costliness of its material and the negligence of its arrangement; and left the point at issue, whether the costume were the more extravagant or the more slovenly. His manners were marked by habitual cheerfulness, good temper and love of merriment. And, though he rarely emitted a flash of wit, he was ever the quickest to appreciate that gift in others; and it must have been a dull jest, indeed, that his ready laugh did not hail. And it is not unlikely that to his sincere, hearty, contagious laughter he owed a great deal of his popularity among men, and women too. For who does not love a good laugher?