But that unfortunate Vivian attachment stood in the way; Sir Harry
and his elder daughter ignored it entirely, but did not forbid Frank
the house; though Lady Tyrrell took care, as only she could do, that
Eleonora should never have ten minutes private conversation with
him, either at home or abroad. Even in a crowd, a ball, or garden-
party, the vigilant sister had her means of breaking into any kind
of confidence; and Frank was continually tantalized by the pursuit.
It could not but unsettle him, and draw him into much more gaiety
than was compatible with the higher pursuits his mother had expected
of him; and what was worse, it threw him into Sir Harry Vivian's
set, veteran roues, and younger men who looked up to their
knowingness and listened to their good stories.
What amount of harm it was doing Raymond could not guess. He had
known it all himself, and had escaped unscathed, but he did not fear
the less for his younger brother, and he only hoped that the
inducement to mingle with such society would be at an end before
Frank had formed a taste for the habits that there prevailed.
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