His Grace, charmed with the bonbons of his aunt and the kisses of his
cousins, which were even sweeter than the sugar-plums; delighted
with the pony of St. Maurice, which immediately became his own; and
inebriated by the attentions of his uncle,--who, at eight years of age,
treated him, as his Lordship styled it, 'like a man'--contrasted this
life of early excitement with what now appeared the gloom and the
restraint of Castle Dacre, and he soon entered into the conspiracy,
which had long been hatching, with genuine enthusiasm. He wrote to his
guardian, and obtained permission to spend his vacation with his uncle.
Thus, through the united indulgence of Dr. Coronet and Mr. Dacre, the
Duke of St. James became a member of the family of St. Maurice.
No sooner had Lord Fitz-pompey secured the affections of the ward than
he entirely changed his system towards the guardian. He wrote to
Mr. Dacre, and in a manner equally kind and dignified courted his
acquaintance. He dilated upon the extraordinary, though extremely
natural, affection which Lady Fitz-pompey entertained for the only
offspring of her beloved brother, upon the happiness which the young
Duke enjoyed with his cousins, upon the great and evident advantages
which his Grace would derive from companions of his own age, of the
singular friendship which he had already formed with St.
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