Quiet Gentleman Part II

Gervase tries to get to know his younger brother but finds Martin is very spoiled, stormy and difficult. Theo tells him that Martin was reared as though he was the heir and that he and Lady St Erth half hoped or believed that Gervase would not survive the war. He is rather shocked to feel that his brother at least cared so little for him, and feels rather wary of him. Matters get worse when he meets Marianne Bolderwood, the pretty daughter of a local gentleman, who is an heiress, very beautiful and Marianne flirts a litlte with him, arousing Martin's jealousy. Lady St Erth has hoped that her son would marry Marianne when they are a little older, and Gervase finds her attractive though she is naive and young. This causes more tension between the brothers, and Theo remarks that Lord St Erth has left a lot of unentailed property to his favourite son. Drusilla Morville, the house guest, tries to smooth over the problems, and Gervase finds her soothing and pleasant to talk to though she is not a beauty. Her father is a member of the gentry but he has very radical views and wishes to live in a republican state. A friend of Gervase, Lucius, Lord Ulverston comes to visit. He has also been in the army but has sold out when his father inherited an earldom, and now he meets Marianne and falls in love with her. This arouses Martin's anger even more, seeing the girl he was enamoured of being courted by 2 older men who have titles. He gets into an argument with Lord Ulverston and challenges him to a duel. Gervase manages to smooth things over, telling Martin that Lord Ulverston has become engaged to Marianne and that he must respect that, and the duel is called off. But Gervase although he is naturally mild mannered is increasingly angry with his brother and regarding him as unstable and very foolish. He begins to wonder if Martin might wish to see him dead, and remembers that since he came to Stanyon there have been odd accidents to himself that could have been caused by the younger man. Drusilla Morville tries to keep the peace and Gervase grows increasingly fond of her, since she is calm and sensible, even if she's not so pretty as Marianne.