Unlike in person, talents,
heart, and disposition, from their very birth, they formed a striking
contrast to each other. Mark, the elder by half-an-hour, was an
exaggeration of his father, inheriting in a stronger degree all his
narrow notions and chilling parsimony; but, unlike his progenitor in one
respect, he was a young man of excellent natural capacity. He possessed
strong passions, linked to a dogged obstinacy of purpose, which rendered
him at all times a dangerous and implacable enemy; while the stern
unyielding nature of his temper, and the habitual selfishness which
characterised all his dealings with others, excluded him from the
friendship and companionship of his kind.
Tall and slightly made, with a proud and gentlemanly carriage, he looked
well though dressed in the most homely and unfashionable garb. Beyond
scrupulous cleanliness he paid little attention to the mysteries of the
toilet, for even in the bloom of youth, "Gallio cared for none of those
things." In spite of the disadvantages of dress, his bright brown
complexion, straight features, dark glancing eyes, and rich curling
hair, gave him a striking appearance. By many he was considered
eminently handsome; to those accustomed to read the mind in the face,
Mark Hurdlestone's countenance was everything but prepossessing.
The sunshine of a smiling heart never illumined the dark depth of those
deep-seated cunning eyes; and those of his own kin, who most wished to
entertain a favorable opinion of the young heir of Oak Hall, agreed in
pronouncing him a very disagreeable selfish young man.
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