Augustine St.Clare seems to be a relic from the late Victorian era; he is hedonistic to the point of recklessness, eschewing church and the mundane profession of religion for the joy of drink and play. This is, of course, to be expected of someone who takes such great pleasure from material, sensual things. The intricacies of his character come about in his dealings with slaves; or, as he prefers to call them, servants. In his long conversation (or perhaps more fittingly, tirade) with Miss Ophelia, St. Clare asks Ophelia if she "ever [kept] doing wrong after [she'd] repented" (329). This neatly encapsulates a large portion of St. Clare's views on both slavery, religion and, in a manner, living; he recognizes the human need for comfort, even though the acquisition of that comfort may be detrimental to others. Though Marie detests it when he doesn't go to church, he feels better staying at home and enjoying his worldly pleasures, though it makes her upset. Similarly, he keeps "servants" not because he believes what he is doing is right, but because they remind him of the comforts of home and family. St. Clare does not use his slaves in the same way that others in this novel do; his slaves keep a messy kitchen, drive the carriage drunk, and do somersaults for unimpressed guests. However, this is beside the point for him. He is often depicted as looking on at their shenanigans and shortcomings with a sly grin, as if he is a biographer taking notes, or an eager child waiting to sit at the grownups table. His lack of structured religion, his downright disavowal of it, has sharpened his intuitive notion of pleasure. One might say that his voyeuristic tendencies with his slaves seems circusmaster-like, but I believe that he takes joy from them, especially when they are joyful. Of course, it is misguided, as he is unable to separate the joy one should take from a favourite scotch, and the joy one should take from another human being.