But, as it was, any of the towns above named would have suited him as well as Dresden, for he saw no society, and cared nothing for the outward things of the world around him.

He found Dresden to be very cold in the winter and very hot in the summer, and he liked neither heat nor cold; but he had made up his mind that all places, and indeed all things, are nearly equally disagreeable, and therefore he remained at Dresden, grumbling almost daily as to the climate and manners of the people.
Phineas, when he arrived at the hall door, almost doubted whether he had not been as wrong in visiting Lord Brentford as he had in going to Loughlinter.

His friendship with the old Earl had been very fitful, and there had been quarrels quite as pronounced as the friendship.

He had often been happy in the Earl's house, but the happiness had not sprung from any love for the man himself.

How would it be with him if he found the Earl hardly more civil to him than the Earl's son-in-law had been?
In former days the Earl had been a man quite capable of making himself disagreeable, and probably had not yet lost the power of doing so.