His
rent-roll exhibited a sum total, very neatly written, of two hundred
thousand pounds; but this was independent of half a million in the
funds, which we had nearly forgotten, and which remained from the
accumulations occasioned by the unhappy death of his father.
The late Duke of St. James had one sister, who was married to the Earl
of Fitz-pompey. To the great surprise of the world, to the perfect
astonishment of the brother-in-law, his Lordship was not appointed
guardian to the infant minor. The Earl of Fitz-pompey had always been on
the best possible terms with his Grace: the Countess had, only the year
before his death, accepted from his fraternal hand a diamond bracelet;
the Lord Viscount St. Maurice, future chief of the house of Fitz-pompey,
had the honour not only of being his nephew, but his godson. Who could
account, then, for an action so perfectly unaccountable? It was quite
evident that his Grace had no intention of dying.
The guardian, however, that he did appoint was a Mr. Dacre, a Catholic
gentleman of ancient family and large fortune, who had been the
companion of his travels, and was his neighbour in his county.
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