Tancred | Page 7

take. Next to his domestic hearth, all his being was
concentrated in his duties as a great proprietor of the soil. On these he
had long pondered, and these he attempted to fulfil. That performance,
indeed, was as much a source of delight to him as of obligation. He
loved the country and a country life. His reserve seemed to melt away
the moment he was on his own soil. Courteous he ever was, but then he
became gracious and hearty. He liked to assemble 'the county' around
him; to keep 'the county' together; 'the county' seemed always his first
thought; he was proud of 'the county,' where he reigned supreme, not
more from his vast possessions than from the influence of his sweet yet
stately character, which made those devoted to him who otherwise were
independent of his sway.
From straitened circumstances, and without having had a single fancy
of youth gratified, the Duke of Bellamont had been suddenly
summoned to the lordship of an estate scarcely inferior in size and
revenue to some continental principalities; to dwell in palaces and
castles, to be surrounded by a disciplined retinue, and to find every
wish and want gratified before they could be expressed or anticipated.
Yet he showed no elation, and acceded to his inheritance as serene as if
he had never felt a pang or proved a necessity. She whom in the hour of
trial he had selected for the future partner of his life, though a

remarkable woman, by a singular coincidence of feeling, for it was as
much from her original character as from sympathy with her husband,
confirmed him in all his moods.
Katherine, Duchess of Bellamont, was beautiful: small and delicate in
structure, with a dazzling complexion, and a smile which, though rare,
was of the most winning and brilliant character. Her rich brown hair
and her deep blue eye might have become a dryad; but her brow
denoted intellect of a high order, and her mouth spoke inexorable
resolution. She was a woman of fixed opinions, and of firm and
compact prejudices. Brought up in an austere circle, where on all
matters irrevocable judgment had been passed, which enjoyed the
advantages of knowing exactly what was true in dogma, what just in
conduct, and what correct in manners, she had early acquired the
convenient habit of decision, while her studious mind employed its
considerable energies in mastering every writer who favoured those
opinions which she had previously determined were the right ones.
The duchess was deep in the divinity of the seventeenth century. In the
controversies between the two churches, she could have perplexed St.
Omers or Maynooth. Chillingworth might be found her boudoir. Not
that her Grace's reading was confined to divinity; on the contrary, it
was various and extensive. Puritan in religion, she was precisian in
morals; but in both she was sincere. She was so in all things. Her nature
was frank and simple; if she were inflexible, she at least wished to be
just; and though very conscious of the greatness of her position, she
was so sensible of its duties that there was scarcely any exertion which
she would evade, or any humility from which she would shrink, if she
believed she were doing her duty to her God or to her neighbour.
It will be seen, therefore, that the Duke of Bellamont found no obstacle
in his wife, who otherwise much influenced his conduct, to the plans
which he had pre-conceived for the conduct of his life after marriage.
The duchess shrank, with a feeling of haughty terror from that world of
fashion which would have so willingly greeted her. During the greater
part of the year, therefore, the Bellamonts resided in their magnificent
castle, in their distant county, occupied with all the business and the

pleasures of the provinces. While the duke, at the head of the
magistracy, in the management of his estates, and in the sports of which
he was fond, found ample occupation, his wife gave an impulse to the
charity of the county, founded schools, endowed churches, received
their neighbours, read her books, and amused herself in the creation of
beautiful gardens, for which she had a passion.
After Easter, Parliament requiring their presence, the courtyard of one
of the few palaces in London opened, and the world learnt that the
Duke and Duchess of Bellamont had arrived at Bellamont House, from
Montacute Castle. During their stay in town, which they made as brief
as they well could, and which never exceeded three months, they gave
a series of great dinners, principally attended by noble relations and
those families of the county who were so fortunate as to have also a
residence in London. Regularly every year, also, there was a grand
banquet given to