So talked Cousin Richard to himself, in the calm of the night and in the tranquillity of his own soul.  There was much to be said on both sides.  It was a balance to be struck after the two columns were added up.  He struck the balance, and came to the conclusion that he would fall in love with Elsie Venner.

The intelligent reader will not confound this matured and serious intention of falling in love with the young lady with that mere impulse of the moment before mentioned as an instance of making love.  On the contrary, the moment Mr. Richard had made up his mind that he should fall in love with Elsie, he began to be more reserved with her, and to try to make friends in other quarters.  Sensible men, you know, care very little what a girl’s present fancy is.  The question is:  Who manages her, and how can you get at that person or those persons?  Her foolish little sentiments are all very well in their way; but business is business, and we can’t stop for such trifles.  The old political wire-pullers never go near the man they want to gain, if they can help it; they find out who his intimates and managers are, and work through them.  Always handle any positively electrical body, whether it is charged with passion or power, with some non-conductor between you and it, not with your naked hands.  —­The above were some of the young gentleman’s working axioms; and he proceeded to act in accordance with them.

He began by paying his court more assiduously to his uncle.  It was not very hard to ingratiate himself in that quarter; for his manners were insinuating, and his precocious experience of life made him entertaining.  The old neglected billiard—­room was soon put in order, and Dick, who was a magnificent player, had a series of games with his uncle, in which, singularly enough, he was beaten, though his antagonist had been out of play for years.  He evinced a profound interest in the family history, insisted on having the details of its early alliances, and professed a great pride in it, which he had inherited from his father, who, though he had allied himself with the daughter of an alien race, had yet chosen one with the real azure blood in her veins, as proud as if she had Castile and Aragon for her dower and the Cid for her grand-papa.  He also asked a great deal of advice, such as inexperienced young persons are in need of, and listened to it with due reverence.

It is not very strange that uncle Dudley took a kinder view of his nephew than the Judge, who thought he could read a questionable history in his face,—­or the old Doctor, who knew men’s temperaments and organizations pretty well, and had his prejudices about races, and could tell an old sword-cut and a ballet-mark in two seconds from a scar got by falling against the fender, or a mark left by king’s evil.  He could not be expected to share our own prejudices; for he had heard nothing of the wild youth’s adventures, or his scamper over the Pampas at short notice.  So, then, “Richard Venner, Esquire, guest of Dudley Venner, Esquire, at his elegant mansion,” prolonged his visit until his presence became something like a matter of habit, and the neighbors began to think that the fine old house would be illuminated before long for a grand marriage.