A skinhead being nice to his pitbull doesn't make him a nice person.
I never said he was a nice person I just said he could be nice. I'm sure many of those SOB's are nice to each other.
Also Nice and good are not the same thing. You can hero who is a complete insensitive jerk. And you can have a villain who is a nice guy as long as your not in his way of his goals. Heroes have depth they can get angry lose thier temper and say cruel things. Villains can also be nice and polite.
Farthington is the standard evil noble. He will tax his people to death, punish them when they don't produce enough crops even during a drought. Why can't he can have friends among the nobles.
In campaign I played in as an evil character, my blackguard didn't insult everyone he thought beneath him (which was most everybody) When he built his mountain stronghold above a gnomish village. He didn't march down and demand tribute. Or burn the city down to watch them scream. He just left the village alone. It was a farming community and served him better through trade. When the gnomish village was attacked he rode down in full armor and saved the town. He had some affection for the gnomes.
They often brought him minor gifts. They told passing adventures that he was a nice guy who didn't ask anything of them. (so the foolish adventures went on assuming the fortress couldn't belong to a half-fiend blackguard)
Despite being a villain he saved the gnomish village from destruction. In his mind the village was part of HIS domain. And all though served no real useful purpose he would not allow it to be destroyed. It was his after all. In the end the gnomish village was destoryed by a band of flesh eating half-lings (like the kind in the Planar Sphere) Only because the half-ling leader said that they'd worship him.
Farthington might be this caculating villan who just when to pretend to be nice and polite. But on the inside is always thinking of how can I kill or counqer that guy. But I doubt it. I don't give Farthington that much credit.