In spite of the hard usage that Uncle Alfred had received
from the world, he panted to mingle once more in its busy scenes, which
he described to his attentive pupil, in the most glowing terms.
Eager to secure for her darling Algernon those advantages which his
brother Mark had so uncourteously declined, Mrs. Hurdlestone laid close
siege to the heart of the old Squire, over whom she possessed an
influence only second to that of her eldest son. In this daring assault
upon the old man's purse and prejudices, she was vigorously assisted by
Uncle Alfred, who had a double object to attain in carrying his point.
Many were the desperate battles they had to fight with the old Squire's
love of money, and his misanthropic disposition, before their object was
accomplished, or he would deign to pay the least attention to their
proposition. Defeated a thousand times, they returned with unwearied
perseverance to the charge, often laughing in secret over their defeat,
or exulting in the least advantage they fancied that they had gained.
Time, which levels mountains and overthrows man's proudest structures,
at length sapped the resolutions of the old man, although they appeared
at first to have been written upon his heart in adamant. The truth is,
that he was a man of few words, and, next to talking himself, he hated
to be talked to, and still more to be talked at; and Mrs.
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