How does Brabantio feel about Othello before the outset of the play?

Prior to the action of the
play Othello, Brabantio had been kind
to the Moor.  Brabantio had been mesmerized by the stories
of the former slave.  He let his daughter and Othello discuss his past as well.  So says
Othello in his defense in court:

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Her father loved
me; oft invited me;
Still
question'd me the story of my life,
From year to year, the
battles, sieges, fortunes,
That I have
passed.

But, after
Roderigo and Iago reveal that his daughter has been "stolen" from his house, his
feelings change.  He thinks he is a
criminal:

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Do you
know
Where we may apprehend her and the
Moor?

Brabantio
then calls him a thief in the street, trying to provoke a fight.  He wants to throw him
in prison:

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O thou foul thief, where hast thou
stow'd my
daughter?

Later,
during his testimony in court, he will accuse Othello of being a
witchdoctor.  He says this of
Desdemona:

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She is abused, stol'n
from me, and corrupted
By spells and medicines bought of
mountebanks;
For nature so preposterously to
err,
Being not deficient, blind, or lame
of sense, Sans witchcraft could
not.

Brabantio
admits that his "house is not a grange," that he does not keep horses.  But once he
realizes his younger white daughter has eloped with an older black
man, his racist fears are realized.  He fears that the
offspring of their bestial relationship will sire
horses.

So, did Brabantio ever really love Othello?  Or was
he only fascinated by the pathos of his stories?  I think only the latter.  After all,
Brabantio never admits "love" himself.  Only Othello uses the word as rhetorical appeal
to convince the Duke of his innocence in court.

The very
night of Desdemona's elopement, Brabantio had been having bad dreams.  Dude was
paranoid.  One must wonder if Brabantio also thought all of these racist thoughts prior
to the action of the play as well.