From this good cheer
Middlemas was doomed to retire to the homely evening meal of his master,
where not all the simple beauties of Menie were able to overcome his
disgust at the coarseness of the provisions, or his unwillingness to
answer questions concerning the diseases of the wretched peasants who
were subjected to his inspection.
Richard's hopes of being acknowledged by his father had long since
vanished, and the rough repulse and subsequent neglect on the part of
Moncada, had satisfied him that his grandfather was inexorable, and that
neither then, nor at any future time, did he mean to realize the visions
which Nurse Jamieson's splendid figments had encouraged him to
entertain. Ambition, however, was not lulled to sleep, though it was no
longer nourished by the same hopes which had at first awakened it. The
Indian Captain's lavish oratory supplied the themes which had been at
first derived from the legends of the nursery; the exploits of a
Lawrence and a Clive, as well as the magnificent opportunities of
acquiring wealth to which these exploits opened the road, disturbed the
slumbers of the young adventurer. There was nothing to counteract these
except his love for Menie Gray, and the engagements into which it had
led him. But his addresses had been paid to Menie as much for the
gratification of his vanity, as from any decided passion for that
innocent and guileless being.
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