II

Mr. Wood was a tenant of Noe Place, a fine estate within walking distance of Dido’s own more modest home, Five Corners. He had a small party of gentlemen staying with him there, a Mr. Keane and Mr. Small. Mr. Small excited the neighborhood’s notice for the first three days of his residence there, for he was known to be the eldest son of his family and in possession of very good income, until a rumor began to circulate that he was paying court to a young lady living in the North. The families of the -shire were then obliged to discover that though he was handsome, he was not so generally pleasing as Mr. Wood. As for Mr. Keane, though he was merely the son of an Irishman, his appearance and manners were so good that his society was very sought-after, and if he had had only half Mr. Wood’s income, he would have been welcome to pay his addresses to any young man in the neighborhood.