The Rovero family-old and distinguished-had struggled against the
misfortunes brought upon them by their son Lorenzo. Deeply involved,
they had allowed their difficulties to go on till they had found
themselves living by the favour of courtesy and indulgence. Lorenzo
and Franconia were only children; and since the departure of the
former the latter had been the idol of their indulgence. She was, as
we have before said, delicate, sensitive, endowed with generous
impulses, and admired for her gentleness, grace, and vivacity. To
these she added firmness, and, when once resolved upon any object,
could not be moved from her purpose. Nor was she-as is the popular
fallacy of the South-susceptible to the influence of wealth. Her
love and tenderness soared above it; she prized wealth less than
moral worth. But she could not appease the pride of her parents with
her feelings. They, labouring under the influence of their reduced
fortunes, had favoured and insisted upon the advances of the very
wealthy Colonel M'Carstrow, a rice-planter, who had a few years
before inherited a large estate. The colonel is a sturdy specimen of
the Southern gentleman, which combines a singular mixture of
qualities, some of which are represented by a love of good living,
good drinking, good horse-racing, good gambling, and fast company.
He lives on the fat of the land, because the fat of the land was
made for him to enjoy. He has no particular objection to anybody in
the world, providing they believe in slavery, and live according to
his notions of a gentleman.
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