180 THE SQUIRE AMONG HIS NEIGHBOURS. 



The Squire had been jilted, and breathing such an 

 atmosphere, no wonder he cast lingering looks to 



the time 



*' Ere one to one was cursedly confined," 



or that he never married. It is fortunate he did not, 

 for Yenus herself, we fancy, could not have kept him 

 by her side. His amours were notorious, and some 

 of his mistresses were rare sj)ecimens of rustic beauty. 

 Two daring spirits who followed the hounds were 

 regular Dianas in their way, and he spent much of 

 his time in the rural little cottages of these and 

 others which were dotted over the estate at no 

 great distance from the Hall. As rare Ben Jonson 

 has it : — 



" When some one peculiar quality 

 Doth so possess a man that it doth draw 

 All his effects, his spirits, and his powers, 

 In their confluction all to run one way, 

 This may be truly said to he a humour." 



Such a humour the old Squire had. Towards the 

 last he found that some of his mistresses gave him 

 a good deal of trouble ; for in carrying out his 

 desire to leave them comfortably provided for, his 

 best intentions created jealousy, and he found it 

 difficult to adjust their claims as regarded matters 

 of income, Phoebe Higgs, who survived the Squire 



