“They have been obliged to shut up one of their theatres—cut short the run of the finest play that has been produced in the last decade, simply because their sans culottes object to any disparagement of Robespierre. There are a dozen incipient Robespierres in Paris at this day, I believe, only waiting for opportunity to burst into full bloom.”
He had been to Paris, then, thought Vansittart. He could afford to take his pleasure in that holiday capital, while his daughters were on short commons at Fernhurst.
“Was Paris very full?” asked Vansittart.
“I hardly know. I met a good many people I know. One meets more Englishmen than Parisians on the boulevards at this season. April is the Englishman’s month. Your neighbour, Mr. Sefton, was at the Continental—in point of fact, he and I went to Paris together.”
This explained matters to Vansittart. No doubt Sefton paid the bills for both travellers.
“Mr. Sefton is not a neighbour of mine, but of my sister’s,” he said. “My father and his father were good friends before I was born, but I know nothing of this gentleman.”
“A mutual loss,” replied the Colonel. “Sefton is a very fine fellow, as I told you the last time you were here. You can hardly fail to get on with him when you do make his acquaintance.”
“I saw him at the hunt ball, and I must confess that I was not favourably impressed by his manner.”
“Sefton’s manner is the worst part of him,” conceded Colonel Marchant. “He has been spoilt by Dame Fortune, and is inclined to be arrogant. An only child, brought up in the expectation of wealth, and taught by a foolish mother to believe that a landed estate and a fine income constitute a kind of royalty. Sefton might easily be a worse fellow than he is. For my own part, I cannot speak too warmly of him. He has been a capital neighbour, the best neighbour we had, until Lady Hartley was good enough to take a fancy to my girls.”
“I hope you don’t compare Lady Hartley with Mr. Sefton, father,” cried the impulsive Hetty. “There is more kindness in a cup of tea from Lady Hartley than in all the game, and fruit, and trout, and things with which Mr. Sefton loads us.”