They had all
been short-lived--the Eustaces. Consumption had swept a hecatomb of
victims from the family. But still they were grand people, and never were
afraid of death.
And then Sir Florian fell in love. Discussing this matter with his
brother, who was perhaps his only intimate friend, he declared that if the
girl he loved would give herself to him, he would make what atonement he
could to her for his own early death by a princely settlement. John
Eustace, who was somewhat nearly concerned in the matter, raised no
objection to this proposal. There was ever something grand about these
Eustaces. Sir Florian was a grand gentleman; but surely he must have been
dull of intellect, slow of discernment, blear-eyed in his ways about the
town, when he took Lizzie Greystock--of all the women whom he could find
in the world--to be the purest, the truest, and the noblest. It has been
said of Sir Florian that he did not believe in virtue. He freely expressed
disbelief in the virtue of women around him--in the virtue of women of all
ranks. But he believed in his mother and sisters as though they were
heaven-born; and he was one who could believe in his wife as though she
were the queen of heaven.
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