Eric thinks he's just God's gift to humanity, but all he is is a low-down, parasitical by-blow of a cockroach and a worm. |
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Ana, incidentally, is the acknowledged but illegitimate daughter of a powerful Spanish lord who offered the convent a large sum for accepting his by-blow as a new recruit. |
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The Vagabonds, in effect, buy off the by-blow of their hired man's romance, and the action of the novel consists of what the present generation makes of that earlier gift. |
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