His nature abounded in contradictions, and as yet self-study--in itself the note of a mind striving for emancipation--had done little for him beyond making clear the manifold difficulties strewn in his path of progress.
You know already that it was no vulgar instinct of sensuality which had made severance between him and the respectable traditions of his family.
Observant friends naturally cast him in the category of young men whom the prospect of a fortune seduces to a life of riot; his mother had no means of forming a more accurate judgment.

Mr.Wyvern alone had seen beneath the surface, aided by a liberal study of the world, and no doubt also by that personal sympathy which is so important an ally of charity and truth.

Mr.Wyvern's early life had not been in smooth waters; in him too revolt was native, tempered also by spiritual influences of the most opposite kind.

He felt a deep interest in the young man, and desired to keep him in view.

It was the first promise of friendship that had been held out to Hubert, who already suffered from a sense of isolation, and was wondering in what class of society he would have to look for his kith and kin.