That
was, as it were, in the bond when he had wedded my mother. Gregory was
lumpish and loutish, awkward and ungainly, marring whatever he meddled
in, and many a hard word and sharp scolding did he get from the people
about the farm, who hardly waited till my father's back was turned before
they rated the stepson. I am ashamed--my heart is sore to think how I
fell into the fashion of the family, and slighted my poor orphan step-
brother. I don't think I ever scouted him, or was wilfully ill-natured
to him; but the habit of being considered in all things, and being
treated as something uncommon and superior, made me insolent in my
prosperity, and I exacted more than Gregory was always willing to grant,
and then, irritated, I sometimes repeated the disparaging words I had
heard others use with regard to him, without fully understanding their
meaning. Whether he did or not I cannot tell. I am afraid he did. He
used to turn silent and quiet--sullen and sulky, my father thought it:
stupid, aunt Fanny used to call it.
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