It appeared that young Dusautoy,
with his weak head and obstinate will, had never attempted to bend to
rules, but had taken every reproof as an insult and defiance. Young
men had not been wanting who were ready to take advantage of his
lavish expenditure, and to excite his disdain for authorities. They
had promoted the only wit he did understand, broad practical jokes
and mischief; and had led him into the riot and gambling to which he
was not naturally prone. Gilbert Kendal, with more sense and
principle, had been led on by the contagion around him, and at last
an outrageous wine party had brought matters to a crisis. The most
guilty were the most cunning, and the only two to whom the affair
could actually be brought home, were Dusautoy and Kendal. The
sentence was rustication, and the tutor wrote to Mr. Dusautoy, as the
least immediately affected, to ask him to convey the intelligence to
Mr. Kendal.
The vicar was not a man to shrink from any task, however painful, but
he felt it the more deeply, as, in spite of his partiality, he was
forced to look on his own favourite Algernon as the misleader of
Gilbert; and when he overtook the sisters on his melancholy way down
the hill, he consulted them how their father would bear it.
'Oh! I don't know,' said Lucy; 'he'll be terribly angry. I should
not wonder if he sent Gilbert straight off to India; should you,
Sophy?'
'I hope he will do nothing in haste,' exclaimed Mr.
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