The impression doubtless owed much of its vividness to the fact that
'twas made so early as to be the first realising of the existence of a
world where misery dwelt as a common thing, where men were coarse and
cruel, where women were tyrannised over and treated roughly, and where
children were unloved and neglected. Into this world he had previously
obtained no glimpse; but, once having realised its existence, he could
not easily forget it. Often as time passed he found himself haunted by
thoughts of the poor injured lady and her children, and being a
creature of strong imagination, there would rise before him mental
pictures of what a household might be whose master was a coarse rioter
before whom his wife and children cowered in fear.
So it happened in his conversing with Mistress Halsell he broached the
subject of the Gloucestershire baronet, and the good woman, seeing that
his speech did not arise from idle curiosity, told him what she knew of
this most unhappy family.
'Twas an old family and a good one in the matter of lineage, but
through the debaucheries of the last baronets its estates had become
impoverished and its reputation of an ill savour. It had ever been
known as a family noted for the great physical strength and beauty of
its men and women. For centuries the men of the house of Wildairs had
been the biggest and the handsomest in England. They had massive
frames, black eyes, thick hair and beards, and feared neither man nor
devil, but openly defied both.
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