Mr Longestaffe was a tall, heavy man, about fifty, with hair and whiskers carefully dyed, whose clothes were made with great care, though they always seemed to fit him too tightly, and who thought very much of his personal appearance.  It was not that he considered himself handsome, but that he was specially proud of his aristocratic bearing.  He entertained an idea that all who understood the matter would perceive at a single glance that he was a gentleman of the first water, and a man of fashion.  He was intensely proud of his position in life, thinking himself to be immensely superior to all those who earned their bread.  There were no doubt gentlemen of different degrees, but the English gentleman of gentlemen was he who had land, and family title-deeds, and an old family place, and family portraits, and family embarrassments, and...