Lady Jean

CHAPTER II
COLONEL STEWART OF GRANDTULLY
LADY JEAN had a cousin — John Stewart of
Grandtully — who was brother to a Baronet, and
known as Colonel Stewart. He had no title to that
rank, though he had been a subaltern in the English
Army. When the rebellion of 1 7 1 5 broke out he
joined the rebels, and had to fly to the Continent.
He lived for many years in France and Germany
and Holland, where he picked up acquaintances. He
quarrelled with his brother. He spoke French in a
sort of jargon in his rough-and-ready way ; he was
a sort of " table dhote major " — a gambler, also a
spendthrift — was said to owe ,£70,000 — and to be a
liar ingrained. He could not write or spell decently.
The Duke declared him to be " one of the worst of
men — a papist, a Jacobite, a gamester, a villain " — and
he was "all the ills in the world." In the law papers
he is described as a younger brother without estate
or profession, encumbered with debts. He had
gone to the Swedish Court, where he had found
employment in the army and obtained his rank.
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