Bracebridge - A Memoir of a Gentleman

Mr. Simon Bracebridge was an old bachelor of a small independent income, which by careful management was sufficient for all his wants. He revolved through the family system, like a vagrant common in its orbit,. sometimes visiting one branch, and sometimes another quite remote. Of late years he had resided almost entirely with the squire, to whom he had become a fact-hodum. His frequent change of scene and company prevented his acquiring those rusty habits with which old bachelor's are so uncharitably charged.