“He is the best landlord,and the best master,”said she,“that ever lived; not like the wild young men nowadays, who think of nothing but themselves.There is not one of his tenants or servants but what will give him a good name. Some people call him proud;but I am sure I never saw anything of it.To my fancy, it is only because he does not rattle away like other young men.”
“Yes,sir,I know I am.If I were to go through the world,I could not meet with a better. But I have always observed, that they who are good-natured when children, are good-natured when they grow up; and he was always the sweetest-tempered, most generous-hearted boy in the world.”
“Yes, ma'am, that he was indeed; and his son will be just like him―just as affable to the poor.”
“I say no more than the truth, and everybody will say that knows him,”replied the other.Elizabeth thought this was going pretty far;and she listened with increasing astonishment as the housekeeper added,“I have never known a cross word from him in my life, and I have known him ever since he was four years old.”
There was certainly at this moment,in Elizabeth's mind,a more gentle sensation towards the original than she had ever felt at the height of their acquaintance.The commendation bestowed on him by Mrs.Reynolds was of no trifling nature.What praise is more valuable than the praise of an intelligent servant?As a brother,a landlord,a master,she considered how many people's happiness were in his guardianship!―how much of pleasure or pain was it in his power to bestow!―how much of good or evil must be done by him! Every idea that had been brought forward by the housekeeper was favourable to his character,and as she stood before the canvas on which he was represented, and fixed his eyes upon herself, she thought of his regard with a deeper sentiment of gratitude than it had ever raised before;she remembered its warmth, and softened its impropriety of expression.