"Nay, Sir Walter," cried Mrs Clay, "this is being severe indeed. Have

a little mercy on the poor men. We are not all born to be handsome.

The sea is no beautifier, certainly; sailors do grow old betimes; I

have observed it; they soon lose the look of youth. But then, is not

it the same with many other professions, perhaps most other? Soldiers,

in active service, are not at all better off: and even in the quieter

professions, there is a toil and a labour of the mind, if not of the

body, which seldom leaves a man's looks to the natural effect of time.

The lawyer plods, quite care-worn; the physician is up at all hours,

and travelling in all weather; and even the clergyman--" she stopt a

moment to consider what might do for the clergyman;--"and even the

clergyman, you know is obliged to go into infected rooms, and expose

his health and looks to all the injury of a poisonous atmosphere. In

fact, as I have long been convinced, though every profession is

necessary and honourable in its turn, it is only the lot of those who

are not obliged to follow any, who can live in a regular way, in the

country, choosing their own hours, following their own pursuits, and

living on their own property, without the torment of trying for more;

it is only their lot, I say, to hold the blessings of health and a good

appearance to the utmost: I know no other set of men but what lose

something of their personableness when they cease to be quite young."

It seemed as if Mr Shepherd, in this anxiety to bespeak Sir Walter's

good will towards a naval officer as tenant, had been gifted with

foresight; for the very first application for the house was from an

Admiral Croft, with whom he shortly afterwards fell into company in

attending the quarter sessions at Taunton; and indeed, he had received

a hint of the Admiral from a London correspondent. By the report which

he hastened over to Kellynch to make, Admiral Croft was a native of

Somersetshire, who having acquired a very handsome fortune, was wishing

to settle in his own country, and had come down to Taunton in order to

look at some advertised places in that immediate neighbourhood, which,

however, had not suited him; that accidentally hearing--(it was just as

he had foretold, Mr Shepherd observed, Sir Walter's concerns could not

be kept a secret,)--accidentally hearing of the possibility of

Kellynch Hall being to let, and understanding his (Mr Shepherd's)

connection with the owner, he had introduced himself to him in order to

make particular inquiries, and had, in the course of a pretty long

conference, expressed as strong an inclination for the place as a man

who knew it only by description could feel; and given Mr Shepherd, in

his explicit account of himself, every proof of his being a most

responsible, eligible tenant.




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