1830] ANTECEDENTS 27
weigh the good qualities of any of his dependants against their defects. If the defects outweighed the virtues, " il faudrait les renvoyer de suite — si non, il faudrait les laisser aller." "When he was in his "colere" he never allowed his wife to come near him — "il avait peur de lui faire aucun mal."
The christening of Caroline was celebrated with great festivities., but it was like a fairy story, in that the old aunt Louisa Shipley, who was expected to make her nephew Francis her heir, then took an offence —something about being godmother, which was never quite got over. The poor little babe itself was very pretty and terribly precocious, and before she was a year old she died of water on the brain. Victoire, who doated upon her, held her in her arms for the last four-and-twenty hours, and there she died. Mrs. Hare was very much blamed for having neglected her child for society, yet, when she was dead, says Victoire, "Madame Hare avait tellement chagrin, que Lady Paul qui venait tous les jours, priait M. Hare de 1'amener tout de suite. Nous sommes alles & Bruxelles, parceque la M. FitzGerald avait une maison, — mais de 1&, nous sommes retourn^s bien vite en Angleterre a cause de la grossesse de Madame Hare, parceque M. Hare ne voulut pas que son fils soit n6 & 1'etranger, parcequ'il disait, que, £tant le troisieme, il perdrait ses droits de 1'heritage.1 C'est selon la loi anglaise — et c'etait vraiment temps, car, de suite en arrivant & Londres, Fra^ois naquit."
The family finally left Gloucester Place and went abroad in consequence of Lady Jones's death. After
1 Francis Hare and his father had both been born abroad-