8 WYLDER'S HAJVD.
a miscreant, with a pretty evident vein of madness. There
was Sir Jonathan Brandon, for instance, who ran his own
nephew through the lungs in a duel fought in a paroxysm
of Cencian jealousy; and afterwards shot his coachman
dead upon the box through his coach-window, and finally
died in Vienna, whither he had absconded, of a pike-thrust
received from a sentry in a brawl.
The Wylders had not much to boast of, even in contrast
with that wicked line. They had produced their madmen
and villains, too; and there had been frequent intermar-
riages — not very often happy. There had been lawsuits,
frequent disinheritings, and even worse doings. The Wyl-
ders of Brandon appear very early in history; and the
Wylder arms, with their legend, " resurgam," stand in bold
relief over the great door of Brandon Hall. So there
were Wylders of Brandon, and Brandons of Brandon.
In one generation, a Wylder ill-using his wife and hating
his children, would cut them all off, and send the estate
bounding back again to the Brandons. The next genera-
tion or two would amuse themselves with a lawsuit, until
the old Brandon type reappeared in some bachelor brother
or uncle, with a Jezebel on his left hand, and an attorney
on his right, and, presto! the estates were back again
with the Wylders.
Here is Mark Wylder's letter; —
"Dear Charles — Of course you have heard of my
good luck, and how kind poor Dickie — from whom I never
expected anything — proved at last. It was a great wind-
fall for a poor devil like me; but, after all, it was only
right, for it ought never to have been his at all. I went
down and took possession on the 4th, the tenants very
glad, and so they might well be; for, between ourselves,
Dickie, poor fellow, was not always pleasant to deal with.
He let the roof all out of repair, and committed waste be-