The things we do!

The influence of his family's rank and
wealth acted more or less on all those simple folks, who would run on his
errands and vied with each other in winning the young nabob's favour. His
very goodness of heart rendered him a more easy prey to their flattery,
and his kind and jovial disposition led him into company from which he
had been much better away. I am afraid that artful young Moss, whose
parents dealt in pictures, furniture, gimcracks, and jewellery,
victimised Clive sadly with rings and chains, shirt-studs and flaming
shirt-pins, and such vanities, which the poor young rogue locked up in
his desk generally, only venturing to wear them when he was out of his
father's sight or of Mr. Binnie's, whose shrewd eyes watched him very
keenly.
Mr. Clive used to leave home every day shortly after noon, when he was
supposed to betake himself to Gandish's studio. But was the young
gentleman always at the drawing-board copying from the antique when his
father supposed him to be so devotedly engaged? I fear his place was
sometimes vacant.


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