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Page 39
CHAPTER II.
Five years have passed. Dr. John Adams was "settled" in a small
"showy" house in the vicinity of Mayfair; he had, the world said, made
an excellent match. He married a very pretty girl, "highly connected,"
and was considered to be possessed of personal property, because,
for so young a physician, Dr. Adams lived in "a superior style." His
brother Charles was still residing in the old farm-house, to which,
beyond the mere keeping it in repair, he had done but little, except,
indeed, adding a wife to his establishment--a very gentle, loving,
yet industrious girl, whose dower was too small to have been her only
attraction. Thus both brothers might be said to be fairly launched in
life.
It might be imagined that Charles Adams, having determined to reside
in his native village, and remain, what his father and grandfather
had been, a simple gentleman farmer, and that rather on a small than
a large scale, was altogether without that feeling of ambition which
stimulates exertion and elevates the mind. Charles Adams had quite
enough of this--which may be said, like fire, to be "a good servant,
but a bad master"--but he made it subservient to the dictates of
prudence--and a forethought, the gift, perhaps, that, above all
others, we should most earnestly covet for those whose prosperity we
would secure. To save his brother's portion of the freehold from going
into the hands of strangers, he incurred a debt; and wisely--while
he gave to his land all that was necessary to make it yield its
increase--he abridged all other expenses, and was ably seconded in
this by his wife, who _resolved_, until principal and interest were
discharged, to live quietly and carefully. Charles contended that
every appearance made beyond a man's means was an attempted fraud upon
the public; while John shook his head, and answered that it might
do very well for Charles to say so, as no one expected the sack that
brought the grain to market to be of fine Holland, but that no man in
a profession could get on in London without making "an appearance."
At this Charles shrugged his shoulders, and thanked God he lived at
Repton.
The brothers, as years moved rapidly on--engaged as they were by their
mutual industry and success in their several fields of action--met but
seldom. It was impossible to say which of the two continued the most
prosperous. Dr. Adams made several lucky hits; and having so obtained
a position, was fortunate in having an abundance of patients in an
intermediate sort of state--that is, neither very well nor very ill.
Of a really bland and courteous nature, he was kind and attentive
to all, and it was certain that such of his patients as were only in
moderate circumstances, got well long before those who were rich; his
friends attributed this to his humanity as much as to his skill; his
enemies said he did not like "poor patients." Perhaps there was a
mingling of truth in both statements. The money he had received for
his portion of the land was spent, certainly, before his receipts
equalled his expenditure; and strangely enough, by the time the farmer
had paid off his debt, the doctor was involved, not to a large amount,
but enough to render his "appearance" to a certain degree fictitious.
This embarrassment, to do him justice, was not of long continuance;
he became the fashion; and before prosperity had turned his head by
an influx of wealth, so as to render him careless, he got rid of his
debt, and then his wife agreed with him "that they might live as they
pleased."
It so happened that Charles Adams was present when this observation
was made, and it spoke well for both the brothers that their different
positions in society had not in the smallest degree cooled their
boyhood's affection; not even the money transactions of former times,
which so frequently create disunion, had changed them; they met less
frequently, but they always met with pleasure, and separated with
regret.
"Well!" exclaimed the doctor triumphantly, as he glanced around his
splendid rooms, and threw himself into a _chaise longue_--then a new
luxury--"well, it is certainly a charming feeling to be entirely out
of debt."
"And yet," said his wife, "it would not be wise to confess it in our
circle."
"Why?" inquired Charles.
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