CHAPTER X.

The reader may possibly bear in mind that Mr. Titmouse had established

his right to succeed to the Yatton property, then enjoyed by Mr. Aubrey,

by making out to the satisfaction of the jury, on the trial at York,

that he, the aforesaid Mr. Titmouse, was descended from an elder branch

of the Aubrey family; that there had existed an unsuspected female

descendant of Stephen Dreddlington, the elder brother of Geoffrey

Dreddlington, through whom Mr. Aubrey derived his claim to the

succession; and that this obscure female descendant had left issue

equally obscure and unsuspected--viz. Gabriel Tittlebat Titmouse--to

whom _our_ friend Titmouse was shown to be heir-at-law. In fact, it had

been made out in open court, by clear and satisfactory evidence,

_First_, that the aforesaid Gabriel Tittlebat Titmouse was the direct

descendant, through the female line, of Stephen Dreddlington;

_Secondly_, had been shown the marriage of Gabriel Tittlebat Titmouse;

_Thirdly_, the birth of Tittlebat Titmouse, the first, and indeed the

only issue of that marriage. All these were not only proved, but

unquestionable facts; and from them, as far as _descent_ went, the

preferable right of Titmouse to that of Aubrey, resulted as an

inevitable inference, and the verdict went accordingly. But as soon as,

owing to the happy and invaluable suggestion of the Attorney-General, a

rigid inquiry had been instituted, _on the spot_, whence the oral and

documentary evidence had been obtained by Mr. Gammon--an inquiry

conducted by persons infinitely more familiar with such matters than

common lawyers, those acute and indefatigable inquisitors succeeded in

making the following remarkable discovery. It was found that the two old

witnesses who had been called to prove that part of the case, on the

trial, had since died--one of them very recently. But in pushing their

inquiries, one or two other old witnesses were met with who had _not_

been called by Mr. Gammon, even if he had been aware of their existence;

and one of these, an old man, while being closely interrogated upon

another matter, happened to let fall some expressions which startled the

person making minutes of the evidence; for he spoke of Mr. Titmouse's

mother under three different names, _Gubbins_, _Oakley_, and _Johnson_.

Now, the proof of the trial had been simply the marriage of Gabriel

Tittlebat Titmouse, by bans, to Janet Johnson, _spinster_. Either, then,

both the witnesses must be mistaken as to her having had other names, or

there must be some strange mystery at the bottom of it--and so it at

length turned out. This woman's maiden name had been Gubbins; then she

had married a rope-maker, of the name of Oakley, in Staffordshire, but

had separated from him, after two or three years' quarrelsome

cohabitation, and gone into Yorkshire, where she had resided for some

time with an aunt--in fact, no other person than old Blind Bess! She had

subsequently become acquainted with Gabriel Tittlebat Titmouse; and to

conceal the fact of her previous marriage--her husband being alive at

the time--she was married to Gabriel Tittlebat Titmouse under the name

of "_Johnson_." Two years afterwards, this exemplary female died,

leaving an only child, Tittlebat Titmouse. Shortly afterwards his father

came up to London, bringing with him his little son--and some five years

subsequently died, leaving one or two hundred pounds behind him for the

bringing up of Tittlebat decently--a duty undertaken by a distant

relative of his father, and who had been dead some years. Of course,

Titmouse, at the time when he was first presented to the reader, knew no

more than did the dead of his being in any way connected with the

distinguished family of the Aubreys in Yorkshire; nor of the very

unpleasant circumstances attending his mother's marriage, with which the

reader has just been made acquainted. Nothing can be easier than to

conceive how Mr. Gammon might have been able, even if acquainted with

the true state of the facts, to produce an impregnable case in court, by

calling, with judgment, only that evidence which was requisite to show

the marriage of Titmouse's father with Janet Johnson--viz. an examined

copy of an entry in the parish register of Grilston; of the fact of the

marriage under the names specified; and some other slight evidence of

the identity of the parties. How was the Attorney-General, or any one

advising him, to have got at the mystery attending the name of

"Johnson," in the absence of suspicion pointed precisely at that

circumstance? The defendant in an action of ejectment is necessarily in

a great measure in the dark as to the evidence which will be adduced

against him, and must fight it as it is presented to him in court; and

the plaintiff's attorney is generally better advised than to bring into

court witnesses who may be able, if pressed, to disclose more than is

necessary or desirable!

The way in which Mr. Gammon became acquainted with the true state of the

matter, was singular. While engaged in obtaining and arranging the

evidence in support of the plaintiff's case, under the guidance of Mr.

Lynx's opinion, Mr. Gammon stumbled upon a witness who dropped one or

two expressions, which suddenly reminded him of two little documents

which had been some time before put into his possession without his

having then attached the least importance to them. He was so disturbed

at the coincidence, that he returned to town that very night to inspect

the papers in question. They had been obtained by Snap from old Blind

Bess: in fact, (_inter nos_,) he had purloined them from her on one of

the occasions of his being with her in the manner long ago described,

having found them in an old Bible which was in a still older canvas bag;

and they consisted of, first, a letter from one James Oakley to his

wife, informing her that he was dying, and that, having heard she was

living with another man, he exhorted her to leave her wicked courses

before _she_ died; secondly, a letter from one Gabriel Tittlebat

Titmouse to his wife, reproaching her with drunkenness and loose

conduct, and saying that she knew as well as he did, that he could

transport her any day he liked;[17] therefore she had better mind what

she was about. This letter was written in the county jail, whither he

had been sent for some offence against the game-laws. Old Blind Bess had

been very feeble when her niece came to live with her; and, though aware

of her profligate conduct, had never dreamed of the connection between

the great family at the Hall and her niece's child. These were the two

documents which Mr. Titmouse had destroyed, on Gammon's having intrusted

them for a moment into his hands!--Though I do not attach so much

importance to them as Mr. Gammon did--since I cannot see how they could

have been made available evidence for any purpose contemplated by

Gammon--I am not surprised at _his_ having done so. They were infinitely

too dangerous documents to admit of his taking the opinion of counsel

upon; he therefore kept them entirely to himself, as also the discovery

to which they led, not trusting his secret, even to either of his

partners. Before the case had come into court, Mr. Gammon had been in

possession of the facts now laid for the first time before the

reader--contemplating, even then, the use to be thereafter made of the

prodigious power he should have become possessed of, in aid of his own

personal advancement. Thus was Titmouse base-born indeed--in fact,

doubly illegitimate; for, first, his mother had been guilty of bigamy in

marrying his father; and, secondly, even had that not been so, her

marrying under a false name[18] had been sufficient to make the marriage

utterly void, and equally of course to bastardize her issue.

Such, then, was the damning discovery effected by the ecclesiastical

commission, and which would by-and-by blazon to the whole world the

astounding fact, that this doubly base-born little wretch had been

enabled, by the profound machinations of Mr. Gammon, not only to deprive

Mr. Aubrey of the Yatton estates, but also to intermarry with the Lady

Cecilia, the last of the direct line of the noble Dreddlingtons and

Drelincourts--to defile the blood, and blight the honor, of perhaps the

oldest and the proudest of the nobility of England. Upon Mr. Gammon, it

lit like a thunderbolt. For many hours he seemed to have been utterly

crushed and blasted by it. His faculties appeared paralyzed. He was

totally incapable of realizing his position--of contemplating the

prodigious and appalling consequences which must inevitably and almost

immediately ensue upon this discovery of his secret. He lay upon the

sofa the whole night without closing his eyes, or having moved a muscle

since he had thrown himself down upon it. His laundress came in with his

bed-candle, trimmed the lamp, stirred the fire, and withdrew, supposing

him asleep. The fire went out--then the lamp--and when, about eight

o'clock the next morning, his laundress reappeared, he still lay on the

sofa; and a glimpse of his pale and haggard face alarmed her greatly,

and she went for a medical man before he was aware of her having done

so. On her returning, and informing him of what she had done, it roused

him from his lethargy, and, starting from the sofa, he desired her to

go back and request the medical man not to come, as it was unnecessary.

Heaving profound sighs, he proceeded to his dressing-room, got through

his toilet, and then sat down to the breakfast-table, and for the first

time made a very powerful effort to address his thoughts steadily to the

awful nature of the emergency into which he was driven. Mr. Quod soon

after made his appearance.

"This is a _very--very--ugly business_, Mr. Gammon!" quoth he, with a

gloomy countenance. "I look upon it there's an end to the suit--eh?"

"It is not likely that we shall stir further, certainly," replied Mr.

Gammon, with a desperate effort to speak calmly: then there was a pause.

"And I should think the matter can't end _here_," presently added Mr.

Quod. "With such evidence as this, of course they'll attack Yatton!"

"Then I am prepared to resist them," said Gammon; convinced in his own

mind that the sole object of Mr. Quod's visit was to see after the

payment of his bill--a reasonable anxiety, surely, considering the

untoward issue of the proceedings.

"How could all this have escaped _me_, in getting up the case for the

trial?" said Gammon, after a while, darting an anxious and furtive

glance at his companion.

"Ay--I hope this will teach you common-law fellows that there's a trick

or two worth knowing at Doctor's Commons!" replied Mr. Quod. "D'ye

remember what I told you at starting?--How was it, d'ye say, you

couldn't find it out? No one could, till we did!--But, by the way, do we

fight anymore in the cause? Because we must decide at once--it's no use,

I should say, going to the expense of a hearing"----

"I will give you an answer in the course of the day, Mr. Quod," replied

Gammon, with an air of repressed fury; and succeeded in getting rid of

his matter-of-fact but anxious visitor for the present; and then

reperused the whole of the evidence, and considered within himself, as

well as he was able, what course he ought to pursue. He had need, truly,

to do so; for he very shortly found that he had to deal with an enemy in

Mr. Runnington--uncompromising and unrelenting--whose movements were

equally prompt, vigorous, and skilful. That gentleman, following up his

blow, and acting under the advice of Sir Charles Wolstenholme, who had

just returned to town for the commencement of the legal year--viz.

Michaelmas Term--first of all gave notice, through Mr. Pounce, of his

intention to proceed with the suit for administration; but found that

the enemy in that quarter had struck; Mr. Quod formally notified his

abandonment of opposition on the part of Mr. Titmouse. So far so good.

Mr. Runnington's next step was to go down into Staffordshire and

Yorkshire, accompanied by Mr. Pounce, and by his own experienced

confidential clerk, in order to ascertain still more distinctly and

conclusively the nature of the evidence which was in existence

impeaching the legitimacy of Mr. Titmouse. His inquiries were so

satisfactory, that, within a week of his return to town, he had caused

an action of ejectment to be brought for the recovery of the whole of

the Yatton property; and copies of the "Declaration" to be served on Mr.

Titmouse, and on every tenant in possession upon the estate. Then he

served notices on them, calling upon each and every one of them not to

pay rent in future to any one except Charles Aubrey, Esquire, or his

agents by him lawfully appointed; and caused a formal demand of the

title-deeds of the estate to be forthwith made upon Mr. Titmouse,

Messrs. Bloodsuck and Son, and Messrs. Quirk, Gammon, and Snap; and also

advertisements to be inserted in the newspapers, to caution all persons

against advancing money on mortgage or on other security of the Yatton

property, "formerly in possession of, and now claimed by, Charles

Aubrey, Esq., but at present wrongfully held by Tittlebat Titmouse,

Esq., M.P., and for the recovery of which an action of ejectment has

been commenced, and is now pending;" and also from advancing money "on

the faith or security of a certain bond conditioned in the penalty of

£20,000 for the payment to Tittlebat Titmouse of £10,000, with interest,

on or before the 24th day of January next, and dated the 26th July,

18--, and signed by Lord De la Zouch and Charles Aubrey, Esq., the same

having been obtained by undue means, and on a false and fraudulent

pretence of money being due from the said Charles Aubrey, Esq., to the

aforesaid Tittlebat Titmouse." These advertisements, and certain

paragraphs relating to the same matter, which found their way into the

newspapers, to the consternation of Gammon, came under the eye of the

Duke of Tantallan, and struck him dumb with dismay and horror at so

decisive and public a corroboration of his worst fears. A similar effect

they produced upon Miss Macspleuchan, who, however, succeeded in keeping

them for some time from the observation of the unfortunate Earl of

Dreddlington. But there were certain other persons in whom these

announcements produced an amazing degree of consternation; viz. three

Jewish gentlemen, MORDECAI GRIPE, MEPHIBOSHETH MAHAR-SHALAL-HASH-BAZ,

and ISRAEL FANG, who were at present the depositaries of Mr. Titmouse's

title-deeds, with a lien upon them, as they had fondly imagined, to the

extent of nearly seventy thousand pounds--that being the amount of money

they had advanced, in hard cash, to Mr. Titmouse, upon mortgage of his

Yatton estates. The last of these unfortunate gentlemen--old Mr.

Fang--had advanced no less a sum than twenty thousand pounds. He had

been the first applied to, and had most fortunately taken a collateral

security for the whole sum advanced; viz. a bond--the bond of our old

friend, "THOMAS TAG-RAG, draper and mercer, of No. 375 Oxford Street,

and Satin Lodge, Clapham, in the county of Surrey." As soon as ever the

dismayed Israelite, by his attorney, had ascertained, by inquiry at the

office of Messrs. Quirk, Gammon, and Snap--where all was confusion--that

there really was a claim set up to the whole of the estates, on behalf

of him who had been so recently and suddenly dispossessed of them, he

exclaimed in an ecstasy, "Oh, ma Got! oh, ma _dear_ Got! Shoo Tag-rag!

Shoo on the bond! Looshe no time"----and he was obeyed. Terrible to

tell, two big bum-bailiffs the next day walked straight into the shop of

Mr. Tag-rag, who was sitting in his little closet at the farther end,

with his pen in his hand, busily checking some bills just made out, and

without the least ceremony or hesitation hauled him off, hardly giving

him time to put his hat on, but gruffly uttering in his ear some such

astounding words as "Thirty thousand pounds!" He resisted desperately,

shouting out for help; on which all the young men jumped over the

counters, and seemed to be coming to the rescue! while one or two female

customers rushed affrighted into the street. In short, there was a

perfect panic in the shop; though the young men merely crowded round,

and clamored loudly, without venturing upon a conflict with the two

burly myrmidons of the law, who clapped their prize into a coach

standing opposite--Mr. Tag-rag frothing at the mouth, and with

impassioned gesticulation, protesting that he would have them both

transported to Botany Bay on the morrow. They laughed at him

good-humoredly, and in due time deposited him safely in the lock-up of

Mr. Vice, who, on seeing that he was disposed to be troublesome, thrust

him unceremoniously into the large room in which, it may be recollected,

Mr. Aubrey had been for a few minutes incarcerated, and left him,

telling him he might write to his attorney. There he continued for a

long while in a state bordering on frenzy. Indeed, he must have fancied

that the devil had made it, just then, his particular business to worry

and ruin _him_; for what do you think had happened to him only two days

before? an event which had convulsed Clapham to its centre--so much, at

least, of Clapham as knew of the existence of the Tag-rags and the

Reverend Dismal Horror, his chapel and congregation. That young shepherd

of faithful souls having long cherished feelings of ardent fondness

towards one gentle lamb in his flock in particular--viz. Tabitha

Tag-rag--who was the only child of the wealthiest member of his little

church--took upon himself to lead her, nothing loath, a very long and

pleasant ramble--in plain English, Mr. Dismal Horror had eloped with the

daughter of his head deacon--to the infinite scandal and disgust of his

congregation, who forthwith met and deposed him from his pulpit; after

which his father-in-law solemnly made his will, bequeathing everything

he had to a newly-established Dissenters' college; and the next

day--being just about the time that the grim priest of Gretna was

forging the bonds of Hymen for the happy and lovely couple before him,

Mr. Tag-rag was hauled off in the way which I have mentioned--which two

occurrences would have the effect of enabling Mr. Dismal Horror to prove

the disinterestedness of his attachment--an opportunity for which he

vowed that he panted--inasmuch as he and she had become, indeed, all the

world to each other. He must now go into some other line of business, in

order to support his fond and lovely wife; and, as for Tag-rag, his

pious purposes were frustrated altogether. There was no impeaching the

validity of the bond held by the infuriate and inexorable Jew who had

arrested him, and who clearly had been no party to any fraud by

which--if any--the signature of Mr. Tag-rag had been procured. Mr.

Tag-rag's attorney, Mr. Snout, instantly called upon Messrs. Quirk,

Gammon, and Snap, to inquire into the particulars of the astounding

transaction by which his client had been drawn into so ruinous a

liability--but was very cavalierly treated; for he was informed that Mr.

Tag-rag must, in their opinion, have lost his senses--at all events his

memory; for that he had most deliberately executed the bond, after its

nature had been fully explained to him by Mr. Gammon--and his signature

was witnessed and attested in the usual way by a clerk in the office,

and also in the presence of all the three partners. On hearing all

this--and examining Mr. Amminadab, who stated without any hesitation, as

the fact in truth was, that he had been called in specially to witness

Mr. Tag-rag's execution of the bond, and had seen and heard him

sign,[19] and say he delivered it as his act and deed--Mr. Snout hurried

back to his frenzied client, and endeavored, for a long while, with

praiseworthy patience, to reason with him; explaining to him the glaring

improbability of his version of the affair. This led to very high words

indeed between them, and at length Mr. Tag-rag actually spit in his

face. Mr. Snout, being a very little man, and unable to resent the vile

insult effectually, instantly quitted the room, expressing his firm

belief that Mr. Tag-rag was a swindler, and he would no more be

concerned for a person of that description. Mr. Tag-rag could not

procure bail for so fearful an amount; so he committed an act of

bankruptcy, by remaining in prison for three weeks. Down, then, came all

his creditors upon him in a heap, especially the Jew; a rattling

bankruptcy ensued--the upshot of the whole being--to anticipate,

however, a little--that a first and final dividend was declared of three

farthings in the pound--for it turned out that friend Tag-rag had been,

like many of his betters, _speculating_ a great deal more than any one

had had the least idea of. I ought, however, to have mentioned that, as

soon as he had become bankrupt, and his assignees had been appointed,

they caused an indictment to be preferred against Mr. Titmouse, and

Messrs. Quirk, Gammon, and Snap, for fraud and conspiracy in obtaining

the bond from Mr. Tag-rag; and on the same grounds, made an application,

fortified by strong affidavits, to the Lord Chancellor, to strike the

last three gentlemen off the rolls. In addition to all this, the two

other unfortunate mortgagees, Mordecai Gripe, and Mephibosheth

Mahar-shalal-hash-baz--who had no security at all for their advances

except the title-deeds of the estate, and the personal covenant of Mr.

Titmouse--beset the office in Saffron Hill from morning to night, like

frantic fiends, and nearly drove poor old Mr. Quirk out of his senses.

Mr. Snap was peremptory and insolent; while Gammon seldom made his

appearance--and would see no one at his private residence, pleading

serious indisposition.

After anxious reflection, Mr. Gammon did not absolutely despair of

extricating himself from the perils with which he was personally

environed. As for certain fond hopes of political advancement, after

which, indeed, his soul had so long pined, he did not even yet abandon

the hope of being able to prevail on his friend at headquarters--to whom

he had undoubtedly rendered considerable political services at no little

personal risk--to overlook the accident which had befallen him, in the

adverse verdict for the bribery penalties, even should he fail in his

motion to defeat that verdict in the ensuing term. He had had indeed, a

distinct intimation, that--that one obstacle removed--a very important

and influential situation under government was within his reach. But,

alas! this last overwhelming misfortune--how could he possibly evade or

surmount it? What human ingenuity or intrepidity could avail to

extricate him from the consequences of his insane avowal to Miss

Aubrey--and his counter-statements to the Duke of Tantallan and Miss

Macspleuchan--to say nothing of the Earl of Dreddlington? He resolved to

risk it--to rely on his own resources, and the chapter of accidents. The

mere presence of difficulty strung his nerves to encounter it. He

resolved to rely on the impossibility of fixing him directly with a

knowledge of the rottenness of Titmouse's pretensions--at all events,

till a period considerably subsequent to the trial, and Titmouse's

marriage with the Lady Cecilia. It occurred to him, as calculated,

moreover, to aid his contemplated movements, if he could find a fair

pretext for throwing overboard his partners, especially Mr.

Quirk--satisfied that his own uniform caution had prevented him from

committing himself to them--or at least had deprived them of means of

proving it. He very soon met with an opportunity, of which he promptly

availed himself.

Some week or ten days after the commencement of the term, Mr. Quirk was

walking down Parliament Street, on his way to the Court of King's Bench,

hoping, among other things, to hear the court say whether they would

grant or refuse a rule _nisi_ for a new trial, in a certain cause of

WIGLEY _v._ GAMMON, which had been moved for on the first day of term by

Sir Charles Wolstenholme, and which Lord Widdrington had said the court

would take a day or two's time to consider. Mr. Quirk's eye caught the

figure of a person, a few steps in advance of him, whom he fancied he

had seen before. In a few minutes' time, the old gentleman was covered

with a cold perspiration; for in a young man, about thirty years old,

decently dressed--thin, sallow, and wearing a very depressed air--Mr.

Quirk recognized Mr. STEGGARS--a gentleman whom he had imagined to be at

that moment comfortably settled, and for some ten years yet to come and

unexpired, at Botany Bay! This was the individual, it may be

recollected, whose execrable breach of trust, when a clerk of Mr.

Parkinson's at Grilston, had led to Mr. Quirk's discovery of the

infirmity in Mr. Aubrey's title. The fact was, that Mr. Steggars had

quitted England, as the reader may recollect, horribly disgusted with

Mr. Quirk's conduct towards him; and had also subsequently experienced

some little remorse on account of his own mean and cruel conduct towards

a distinguished gentleman and his family, none of whom had ever given

him the slightest pretext for hostility or revenge. He had contrived to

make his feelings upon the subject known to an official individual at

Botany Bay, who had given him an opportunity of explaining matters fully

to the authorities at home--the principal of whom, the Home

Secretary--had been, and indeed continued to be, a warm personal friend

of Mr. Aubrey's. This minister caused inquiries to be made concerning

Steggars' behavior while abroad, which were so satisfactorily answered

as to procure a remission of the remainder of his sentence, just as he

was entering upon his fourth year's service at Botany Bay. Immediately

on his return--which had taken place only a few days before the

commencement of Michaelmas Term--he sought out Mr. Aubrey's attorneys,

Messrs. Runnington, and put them fully in possession of all the facts of

the case, relating to Mr. Quirk's grossly dishonorable conduct in

obtaining and acting upon a knowledge of the supposed defect in Mr.

Aubrey's title. Upon Mr. Quirk's coming alongside of this gentleman, and

looking at him with a most anxious inquisitiveness, he encountered a

fearfully significant glance--and then Mr. Steggars, in a very pointed

and abrupt manner, crossed over the street for the purpose of avoiding

him. Mr. Quirk was so dreadfully disconcerted by this occurrence, that

instead of going on to court, where he would have heard Mr. Gammon's

rule for a new trial _refused_, he retraced his steps homeward, and

arrived at the office just as a clerk was inquiring for him; and who, on

seeing him, put into his hands the following startling document, being a

_"Rule"_ which had been granted the day before, by the Court of King's

Bench:--

"On reading the Affidavit of JONATHAN STEGGARS, the affidavits of

James Parkinson and Charles Runnington, and the paper-writing

marked A, all thereunto annexed, It is ORDERED that Caleb Quirk,

Gentleman, an attorney of this Honorable Court, do, on Wednesday

next, in this present term, show cause why he should not forthwith

deliver up to Charles Aubrey, Esquire, the deeds and documents

specified in the paper-writing thereto annexed, marked A, _and

also, why he should not answer the matters contained in the said

Affidavits_.[20] Upon the motion of Sir Charles Wolstenholme.

"By the Court."

"Oh Lord!" exclaimed Mr. Quirk, faintly, and, sinking into his chair,

inquired for Mr. Gammon; but, as usual, he had not been at Saffron Hill

that day. Giving orders to Mr. Amminadab to have copies taken

immediately of the affidavits mentioned in the rule, Mr. Quirk set off

for Mr. Gammon's chambers, but missed that gentleman, who he learned,

had gone to Westminster. The next day Mr. Gammon called at the office,

but Mr. Quirk was absent; on going, however, into the old gentleman's

room, Mr. Gammon's eye lit on the above-mentioned "rule," and also on

the affidavits upon which it had been granted. Having hurriedly glanced

over them, he hastily replaced them on the desk, as he had found them,

and repaired to his own room, greatly flustered--resolved to wait for

Mr. Quirk's arrival, and appear to be informed by him, for the first

time, of the existence of the aforesaid formidable documents. While he

was really buried in a revery, with his head resting on one hand and a

pen in the other, his countenance miserably pale and harassed, Mr. Quirk

burst hastily into his room with the rule and affidavits in his hand.

"Oh Lord, Gammon! How are you, Gammon?" he stuttered. "Haven't seen you

this age!--Where have you been? How are you, eh?" and he grasped very

cordially the cold hand of Mr. Gammon, which did not return the

pressure.

"I am not very well, Mr. Quirk; but--you seem agitated!--Has anything

fresh hap"----

"Fresh?--Ecod, my dear Gammon! Fresh, indeed! Here's a _new_ enemy come

into the field!--D----d if I don't feel going mad!--Look, Gammon,

look!"--and he placed the rule and affidavits in Mr. Gammon's hands, and

sat down beside him.

"What!--_Answer the matters in the affidavit?_" quoth Gammon,

amazedly.--"Why, what have you been doing, Mr. Quirk? And--who upon

earth is--_Jonathan Steggars_?"

"Who's Steggars!" echoed Mr. Quirk, stupidly.

"Yes, Mr. Quirk--_Steggars_. Who is he?" repeated Gammon, intrepidly.

"Steggars, you know--Gammon! You recollect Steggars, of course--eh?"

inquired Mr. Quirk, with an apprehensive stare--"Steggars;

_Steggars_--you know! eh? You don't recollect! Oh, botheration! Come,

come, Gammon!"

"Who is he?" again inquired Gammon, somewhat sternly.

"Oh Lud! oh Lud! oh Lud!" exclaimed Mr. Quirk, despairingly--"What _are_

you after, Gammon? You don't intend--it can't be--that you're going

to--eh?--It's Steggars, you know--we defended him, you know--and he got

transported for embezzling that mortgage money of Mr. Parkinson's. You

recollect how we got hold of Mr. Aubrey's story from him?" While Mr.

Quirk was saying all this with feverish impetuosity, Mr. Gammon appeared

to be, for the first time, glancing eagerly over the affidavits.

"Why--good heavens, Mr. Quirk!" said he, presently, with a start--"is it

possible that these statements can have the slightest foundation in

fact?"

"Ay, drat it--that _you_ know as well as I do, Gammon," replied Mr.

Quirk, with not a little eagerness and trepidation--"Come, come, it's

rather late in the day to sham Abraham just now, friend Gammon!"

"Do you venture, Mr. Quirk, to stand there, and deliberately charge me

with being a party to the grossly dishonorable conduct of which you are

here accused upon oath--which, indeed, you admit yourself to have been

guilty of?"

"D----d if I don't, Master Gammon!" replied Mr. Quirk, slapping his hand

on the table after a long pause, in which he looked completely

confounded and aghast. "Why, you'll want, by-and-by, to persuade me that

my name isn't Caleb Quirk--why, zounds! you'll drive me mad! You're gone

mad yourself--you must be!"

"How dare you insult me, sir, by charging me with conniving at your

infamous and most unprofessional conduct?"

"Why--come!" cried Quirk, with a horrible laugh--"You don't know how we

first got scent of the whole thing?--Ah, ha! It dropped down from the

clouds, I suppose, into our office--oh Lud, Lud, Gammon! it isn't kind

to leave an old friend in the lurch at such a pinch as this!"

"I tell you, Mr. Quirk, that I never had the least idea in the world

that this wretch Steggars--Faugh! I should have scouted the whole thing!

I would rather have retired from the firm!"

"That's it, Gammon! Go on, Gammon! This is uncommonly funny! It is,

indeed, aha!" quoth Quirk, trembling violently.

"This is no time for trifling, sir, believe me. Let me tell you thus

much, in all candor--that I certainly had, from the first, misgivings as

to the means by which you became possessed of this information; but

considering our relative situations, I did not feel myself at liberty to

press you on the point--Oh, Mr. Quirk, I am really shocked beyond all

bounds! What will the profession say of"--

"D---- the profession! What d'ye suppose I must be just now thinking of

_you_? Why, you'd make a dog strike its father!"

"I may have been unfortunate, Mr. Quirk--I may have been imprudent; but

I have never been dishonorable--and I would not for the whole creation

have my name associated with this infernal transac"----

"Come, come--who wanted me to forge a tombstone, Gammon?" inquired Mr.

Quirk, glancing very keenly at his friend.

"Wanted you to forge a tombstone, sir!" echoed Gammon, with an astounded

air.

"Ay! ay! Forge a tombstone!" repeated Mr. Quirk, dropping his voice, and

slapping one hand upon the other.

"Upon my word and honor, Mr. Quirk, I pity you! You've lost your

senses!"

"You wanted me to forge a tombstone! D----d if you didn't!"

"You had better go home, Mr. Quirk, and take some physic to clear your

head, for I am sure you're going wrong altogether!" said Gammon.

"Oh, Gammon, Gammon! Aren't you ashamed of yourself? Come--honor among

thieves! Be honest for once"----

"Your conduct is so extraordinary, Mr. Quirk, that I must request you to

leave my room, sir"----

"I sha'n't--it's _mine_ too"--quoth Quirk, snapping his fingers with a

desperate air.

"Then I will, sir," replied Gammon, with a low bow; and, taking up his

hat, moved towards the door.

"You sha'n't, Gammon--you mustn't!" cried Quirk, but in vain--Mr.

Gammon had taken his final departure, leaving Mr. Quirk on the very

verge of madness. By-and-by he went into Snap's room, who sat there the

picture of misery and terror; for whereas it had always seemed to him

that he had never been fairly admitted into the confidence of his senior

partners in the very important matters which had been going on for the

last two years--now that all things were going wrong, he was candidly

given credit by Mr. Quirk and Mr. Gammon for having lent a helping hand

to everything from the very beginning! In fact, he was frightened out of

his wits at the terrible turn which matters were taking. 'T was he who

had to stand the brunt of the horrid badgering of the three frenzied

Jews; he was included in half-a-dozen indictments for fraud and

conspiracy, at the instance of the aforesaid Israelites, and of the

assignees of Mr. Tag-rag; and Heaven only could form a notion of what

other good things were in store for him! He wondered vastly that they

had not contrived to stick _his_ name into the affidavits which had that

day come in, and which seemed to have turned Mr. Quirk's head upside

down! Conscious, however, of his own innocence, he resolved to hold on

to the last, with a view, in the event of the partnership blowing up, of

scraping together a nice little practice out of the remnants.

Half recklessly, and half in furtherance of some designs which he was

forming, Gammon followed up, on the ensuing morning, his move with Mr.

Quirk, by sending to him and to Mr. Snap a formal written notice of his

intention to retire from the partnership, in conformity with the

provisions of their articles, at the end of a calendar month from the

date; and he resolved to take no part at all in the matter to which Mr.

Quirk's attention had been so sternly challenged by the Court of King's

Bench--leaving Mr. Quirk to struggle through it as best he might.

But what was Mr. Gammon to do?

He could not stir a step in any direction for want of money--getting

every hour more and more involved and harassed on this score. The

ecclesiastical suit he had given up, and Mr. Quod had instantly sent in

his heavy bill, requiring immediate payment--reminding Mr. Gammon that

he had pledged himself to see him paid, whatever might be the issue.

Here, again, was an action of ejectment, on a tremendous scale, actually

commenced, and being vigorously carried on--with evidently unlimited

funds at command--for the recovery of every acre of the Yatton property.

Was it to be resisted? Where were the funds? Here he was, again,

already a defendant in four indictments, charging fraud and

conspiracy--proceedings entailing a most destructive expense; and his

motion for a new trial, in the action for the bribery penalty having

failed, he was now liable to pay, almost instantly, a sum exceeding

£3,000 to the plaintiff, for debt and costs. As for the balance of their

bill against Mr. Aubrey, that was melting away hourly in the

taxing-office; and the probable result would be an action against them,

at the suit of Mr. Aubrey, for maliciously holding him to bail. Was it

possible, thought Gammon, to make the two promissory notes of Mr. Aubrey

available, by discontinuing the actions commenced upon them, and

indorsing them over at a heavy discount? He took an opinion upon the

point--which was to the effect, that such a step could not _then_ be

taken, so as to give any third party a better right against Mr. Aubrey

than Mr. Titmouse had. Even had this, however, been otherwise, an

unexpected obstacle arose in Mr. Spitfire, who now held Mr. Gammon at

arm's length, and insisted on going forward with the actions; but he, in

his turn, was, as it were, checkmated by a move of Mr. Runnington's in

the Court of Chancery; where he obtained an injunction against

proceeding with the actions on the notes, till the result of the pending

action of ejectment should have been ascertained; and, in the event of

the lessor of the plaintiff recovering, an account taken of the mesne

profits which had been received by Mr. Titmouse. No one, of course,

would now advance a farthing on mortgage of Mr. Titmouse's interest in

the Yatton property; and Mr. Gammon's dearly earned rent-charge of

£2,000 a-year had become mere waste parchment, and as such he destroyed

it. The advertisements concerning Lord De la Zouch's bond had

effectually restrained Mr. Gammon from raising anything upon it; since

any one advancing money upon the security of its assignment, must have

put it in suit against his Lordship, when due, in the name of Mr.

Titmouse, and any answer to an action by him, would of course operate

against the party using his name. Mr. Gammon then bethought himself of

felling the timber at Yatton; but, as if that step on his part had been

anticipated, before they had got down more than a couple of trees at the

extremity of the estate, down came an injunction from the Lord

Chancellor, and so there was an end of all resources from that quarter.

Should he try the experiment of offering to surrender Yatton without the

delay and expense of defending the ejectment? He knew he should be

laughed at; they must quickly see that he had no funds to fight with,

even had he the slightest case to support. Mr. Gammon saw that Mr.

Aubrey's position was already impregnable, and the notion of a

compromise utterly ridiculous. As for resources of his own, he had

none, for he had been exceedingly unfortunate in his dealings in the

British and foreign funds, and had suffered severely and unexpectedly

through his connection with one or two of the bubble companies of the

day. In fact, he was liable to be called upon at any moment for no less

a sum than £3,000, and interest, which had been advanced to him on

security of a joint and several bond given by himself and Mr. Titmouse;

and he lived in daily dread lest the increasing frequency of the rumors

to his discredit, should get to the ears of this particular creditor,

and precipitate his demand of repayment. To the vexation occasioned by

this direct pecuniary embarrassment, and by the impossibility of

retrieving himself by a move in any direction--being, in short, in a

complete _dead-lock_--were to be added other sources of exquisite

anxiety and mortification. To say nothing of the perilous legal and

criminal liabilities which he had incurred, the consciousness of his

appearing an atrocious liar, and indeed an impostor, in the eyes of the

Duke of Tantallan, of the Earl of Dreddlington, of Miss Macspleuchan, of

the Aubreys, of _Miss Aubrey_--in fact, of every one who saw or heard of

what he had done--stung him almost to madness; considerations of this

kind were infinitely more insupportable than all the others by which he

was oppressed, put together. And when he reflected that the Lord

Chancellor, to whose favorable notice he had ever fondly aspired--and to

a considerable extent, successfully--had been put in possession of all

the heavy charges made against him, on the score of fraud and

conspiracy, by means of the various motions made before his Lordship,

and the affidavits by which they were supported, he felt his soul

withered within him. In short, it must surely appear, by this time, that

the devil had, in his dismal sport, got his friend Mr. Gammon up into a

corner.

In like manner Mr. Titmouse had his lesser troubles--for he was all of a

sudden reduced very nearly to the verge of literal starvation. His

creditors of every kind and degree seemed actuated by the spirit of the

law of the Twelve Tables--which, when a debtor was insolvent, permitted

his creditors to cut him, bodily, physically, into pieces, in proportion

to the respective magnitudes of their claims against him. Actions were

commenced against him by the three Jews, on his covenants to repay the

principal and interest due on the mortgages; half-a-dozen more were

pending against him on bills of exchange and promissory notes, which he

had given for various sums of money which had been lent him, though he

had no means of proving the fact, on terms of the most monstrous usury.

Scarcely was there a single tradesman in town or country with whom he

had ever dealt, who had not sued, or was not about to sue him. Every

article of furniture both at Yatton and at his lodgings--great or small,

cabs, harness, horses--all had disappeared: and, but for the protection

afforded to his person by privilege of Parliament, he would have been

pounced upon by at least a hundred ravenous and infuriate creditors in

an instant, and never been seen or heard of any more, except on the

occasion of some feeble and vain cry for relief under the Insolvent

Debtors' Act. He had been obliged, on coming up from Yatton, to borrow

five pounds from poor Dr. Tatham!--who, though infinitely surprised at

the application, and greatly inconvenienced by compliance with it, lent

him cheerfully the sum he asked for; Titmouse, the little scamp,

pledging himself to enclose the doctor a five-pound note by the first

post after his reaching town. That, however, even had he ever intended

giving the matter a thought, he could no more have done than he could

have sent Dr. Tatham the mitre of the Archbishop of Canterbury; in

consequence of which the worthy little doctor was obliged to postpone

his long-meditated purchase of a black coat and breeches indefinitely.

The morning after Titmouse's return, he betook himself to Saffron Hill,

which he reached just as Mr. Quirk and Mr. Snap, deserted by Mr. Gammon,

were endeavoring, in great tribulation and terror, to concoct affidavits

in answer to those on which the rule in the Court of King's Bench had

been obtained. Mr. Amminadab, with a little hesitation, yielded to his

importunities, and allowed him to go into Mr. Quirk's room.

"Oh, Lud! Oh, Lud--you--you--you--infernal little villain!" cried out

Mr. Quirk, hastily approaching him, pale and stuttering with fury--and,

taking him by the collar, turned him out by main force.

"I say!--I say!--Come, sir! I'm a member of"----

"I'll _member_ you, you impostor! Get out with you!--get out!"

"So help me----! I'll go to some other attor"----gasped Titmouse,

ineffectually struggling against Mr. Quirk.

"Eugh!--Beast!" exclaimed Snap, who kept by the side of Mr. Quirk, ready

to give any assistance which might be requisite.

"What have I----eh?--What have I done--demme!--Come, come--hollo! hands

off"----

"If ever--if ever--if ever you dare show your cursed little face

here--again"--sputtered Mr. Quirk, trembling with rage.

"This is a breach of privilege!--On my life I'll--I really _will_--I'll

complain to the House to-night." By this time he had been forced through

the outer passage into the street, and the door closed furiously behind

him. A little crowd was instantly collected around him, and he might

possibly have thought of addressing it in terms of indignant eloquence,

but he was deterred by the approach of a policeman, with a very

threatening countenance, and slunk down Saffron Hill in a truly shocking

state of mind. Then he hurried to Thavies' Inn, pale as death--and with

a tremulous voice inquired for Mr. Gammon; but that gentleman had given

special orders to be invariably denied to him. Again and again he

called--and was again and again repulsed; and though he lingered on one

or two occasions for an hour at least, in order to waylay Mr. Gammon, it

was in vain. Letter after letter he sent, but with no better effect; and

at length the laundress refused to take them in.

Gammon _dared_ not see Titmouse; not because he feared Titmouse, but

himself.

The House of Commons was sitting, unusual as was such an occurrence at

that time of the year; but Parliament had been called together on a

special urgency, and a very fierce and desperate contest was carrying on

between the Opposition and the Ministers, whose very existence was at

stake, and almost nightly divisions were melting down their majority,

till they were within an ace of being in a positive minority. Under

these circumstances, although Mr. Titmouse's position had become a

matter of notoriety, and he could no longer exhibit in public even the

outside show and trappings of a man of fashion, beyond his mere personal

finery, (which had become very precious, because he saw no means of

replacing it,) and though he was _cut_, as a matter of course, by every

one out of doors, yet he found he had one friend, at least, in his

extremity, who scorned to imitate the fickle and perfidious conduct of

all around him. That frank and manly individual was no less a person, to

his honor be it spoken, than the Secretary of the Treasury--_and

whipper-in_--Mr. Flummery; who always spoke to him in the most cordial

and confiding manner, and once or twice even asked him to join his

dinner-table at Bellamy's. On one of these occasions, Mr. Titmouse

resolved to put Mr. Flummery's friendship to the test, and boldly asked

for a "_place_." His distinguished friend appeared certainly startled

for a moment, and then evidently felt inwardly tickled, as was evinced

by a faint twitching at the corners of his mouth. He proceeded, however,

in a very confidential manner, to ask Mr. Titmouse as to his familiarity

with financial matters; for (in the most sacred confidence) it did so

happen that, although no one knew it but himself and one other person,

there was sure to be a vacancy in a certain office within a fortnight at

farthest; and without saying anything further, Mr. Flummery laid his

finger on his lip, and looked steadfastly at Titmouse, who did

similarly; and within half an hour's time made one of a glorious

majority of four, obtained by the triumphant Ministry. Titmouse was now

in excellent spirits concerning his future prospects, and felt that, if

he could but contrive to hold on during the fortnight intervening

between him and his accession to office, all would be well. He therefore

conceived he had nothing to do but apply to some one or two friends,

whom he had accommodated with loans, for repayment. But, alas! Mr.

O'Doodle acknowledged that his exchequer was empty just then; and Mr.

M'Squash said he really fancied he had repaid Mr. Titmouse the hundred

pounds which he had lent him, but would look and see. Then Mr. Titmouse

ventured to apply to Mr. O'Gibbet--that gentleman being Titmouse's

debtor to the tune of some five hundred pounds. He called Mr. Titmouse

aside, and in the most delicate and feeling manner intimated the delight

it would have afforded him to respond to the call of Mr. Titmouse under

ordinary circumstances; but the fact was, he felt placed in a most

painfully embarrassing position, on account of the grave doubts which

had occurred to him, as to the right of Mr. Titmouse either to have

lent the money at all, or, consequently, to receive repayment of it. In

short, the lawyers would call this setting up the _jus tertii_; Mr.

O'Gibbet protesting that he looked upon himself, in point of conscience,

as a trustee of the money for the real owner; and, till _he_ should have

been discovered, bound to retain it--so pleasant is _sometimes_ the

performance of one's duty! Titmouse could not in the least appreciate

these exquisite scruples; but knowing Mr. O'Gibbet's influence over Mr.

Flummery, he feigned to acquiesce in the propriety of what was advanced

by Mr. O'Gibbet, who, on being pressed, _lent_ him five pounds.

Finding that those whom he had till then imagined bound to consider his

interests, had, in so unprincipled and ungrateful a manner, deserted

him, he resolved to be true to himself, and bent all the powers of his

mind to the contemplation of his present circumstances, and how he

should act with advantage. After due and deep reflection, a very

felicitous stroke occurred to him. He did not know the exact state of

the question with reference to the right to the possession of

Yatton--little dreaming that, in point of fact, Mr. Aubrey was at that

moment virtually reinstated in the enjoyment of that fine estate. Now,

it occurred to Mr. Titmouse as very probable, that his opponent would

catch at any fair offer of a compromise, since he--Titmouse--had

unquestionably the advantage over him at present, having nine-tenths of

the law on his side--viz. _possession_; and if he were to propose to

split their differences by making an offer of his hand and heart to Miss

Aubrey, it could do no harm, and _might_ be attended with the happiest

results. How was she to know the desperate shifts to which he was driven

at present? And if he could but contrive, consistently with his pledge

to Mr. Flummery, to give her an inkling of the brilliant prospects that

awaited him! In short, I am able to give the reader an exact copy of a

letter which, after infinite pains, two days being spent over it, he

sent to Miss Aubrey; and which was duly forwarded to her, and deposited

in her hands, as she alighted from her horse, on returning from a ride

with Mr. Delamere and Lord De la Zouch. Here follows that skilful and

touching performance:--

"House of Comons,

"_Wednesday_ Nov. --, 18--.

"(_Private._)

"Madam,--hoping That this Will not Disapoint you Through

Strangeness (which I own Looks Somewhat So) at First sight of my

adressing This Epistle to You, to Say Ever since I Have had The

unhapiness to be a Widdower Since the Death of Lady Cecilia

Titmouse of which There Is Many False accounts Every Thing Goes

Entirely Wrong (For the present) with me, all For Want of a Lady

Which w^d. feel That Conubial Interest in me That is So delightful

In the Married State. I was Honored With writing To You soon After

I was so Happy as to Get the Property But Supose you could not Have

Got It Seeing I got No Ans^r. And Natrally suposed There Was

obstacles In The Way For it Was Settled Soon as You might have

Heard That I was to Mary my Cousin (The Lady Cecilia) whom I Loved

Truly till Death cut Her Short On her Way To an Erly Grave, Alas. I

know It is In Dispute wh^r. y^r. respectable Brother or I are

Owners of Yatton You See The Law which Gave It me Once _may Give it

Me Again and No Mistake_--who knows (in this uncertain Life)

whatever Turns Up I can (Betwixt Ourselves) assure You There Is

_Something In The Wind_ For me w^h. dare not Say More Of at this

Present. But Suposing You & I shall Hit it what Say You if I should

Propose dividing The Estate betwixt Him & Me & _Settling All my

Half on You_ And as To the _Title_ (w^h. at present I Am Next to)

what say You To your Brother and I Tossing up for it When It comes

for I am Sorry to hear His Lordship is breaking, and I know _Who I

sh^d. Like To see Lady Drelincourt_, oh what a hapiness Only To

think Of, As They are dividing very soon (And they Do Run It

_Uncommon_ _Fine_, But Ministers Must Be Suported or The Country

Will Go to the Devil Dogs) Must Close Begging an Answer directed to

Me Here, And Subscribe myself,

"Hn^d. and dear Madam,

"Yr^s. Most Obediently,

"T. TITMOUSE.

"MISS AUBREY,

"Vivian Street."

"I hope, Kate, you have not been giving this gentleman encouragement!"

quoth Delamere, when he had read the above. It formed a topic of

pleasant merriment when they all met at dinner--a right cheerful party,

consisting solely of the Aubreys and Lord and Lady De la Zouch, and

Delamere. Mr. Aubrey had returned from town with important intelligence.

"Mr. Runnington is steadily and patiently unravelling," said he, as they

sat in unrestrained converse after dinner--(I must take the opportunity

of saying that Miss Aubrey looked as beautiful as ever, and in brilliant

spirits)--"one of the most monstrous tissues of fraud that ever was

woven by man! We sometimes imagine that Mr. Gammon must have had in view

the securing Yatton for himself! The firm of Messrs. Quirk, Gammon, and

Snap, are completely overwhelmed with the consequences of their

abominable conduct!--I understand they have terribly taken in the

Jews--to the amount of at least seventy or eighty thousand pounds of

hard cash; and one of them, it seems, on discovering that he has no real

and effectual security, very nearly succeeded in hanging himself the

other day."

"What's this I see in the paper about a Mr. Tag-rag?" inquired Lord De

la Zouch:--and Mr. Aubrey told him the miserable condition to which

Tag-rag had been reduced by the alleged chicanery of the firm of Quirk,

Gammon, and Snap.

"Mr. Runnington seems to be managing matters with great vigor and

skill," said his Lordship.

"Admirably! admirably! I never in my life saw or heard of such complete

success as attends every step he takes against the enemy; he is hourly

pressing them nearer and nearer to the verge of the precipice, and

cutting off all retreat. They would fight, but they have no funds! Look

at the administration suit!" Mr. Aubrey then proceeded to mention two

very important circumstances which had come to his knowledge since his

former visit to town. First, an offer was understood to have come direct

from Mr. Gammon, to abandon the defence to the ejectment, on condition

of his receiving, on behalf of Mr. Titmouse, the sum of two thousand

pounds; but Mr. Runnington had peremptorily refused to listen to any

proposal of the kind, and the action was, at that moment, in full

progress, with every prospect of there being no real defence even

attempted. The next piece of intelligence was, that Messrs. Screw and

Son, the solicitors to the Vulture Insurance Company, had called on

Messrs. Runnington, on learning that they were the solicitors of the

party to whom letters of administration had been granted, and intimated

that the directors--those discreet and candid gentlemen--"taking all the

circumstances of the case into their consideration," had determined to

offer no further opposition to the payment of the policy on the life of

the late Lady Stratton. Mr. Screw talked very finely about the high

principle and good feeling which ever actuated that distinguished

Company; but he did not tell Mr. Runnington what was the real cause of

their abandoning their opposition, which was this--that before their

"commission" to examine their sole witness, Dr. Podagra, could have

reached China, they had accidentally received authentic intelligence of

his death; he having been killed by a crowd for vaccinating the infant

of one of the Chinese! Under these circumstances, Mr. Runnington agreed

to the terms proposed on the part of the Company; viz. that the action

be discontinued forthwith, each party pay their own costs, and the whole

amount of the policy, minus the £2,000 which had been advanced to Lady

Stratton, be paid to Mr. Aubrey within a month from the day of

discontinuing the action. Though Kate very vehemently protested against

it, she was at length persuaded to allow her brother to act according to

the manifest intentions of the venerable deceased; and he in his turn

received a very gratifying assurance that she would have given him,

under the special circumstances of the case, no anxiety respecting his

bond for £2,000 given to Lady Stratton! Thus was Kate no longer a

dowerless maiden; having at her absolute disposal a sum of thirteen

thousand pounds, in addition to which, in the event of their being

restored to the possession of Yatton, she would be in the receipt of the

income left her as a charge upon the estate by her father; viz. five

hundred a-year.

While the cheering sunshine of returning prosperity was thus beaming

with daily increasing warmth and brightness upon the Aubreys,

"And all the clouds that lower'd upon their house,"

were,

"In the deep bosom of the ocean buried"--

the sun of that proud and weak old man, the Earl of Dreddlington, was

indeed going down in darkness. The proceedings which have been laid at

length before the reader, arising out of the extraordinary termination

of the inquiry set on foot by the ecclesiastical court, and quickly

ending in the adoption of measures for the immediate recovery of Yatton,

had attracted far too much of public attention to admit of their being

concealed from the earl, comparatively secluded from the world though

he was. But the frightful confirmation of his assertion concerning what

had occurred between himself and Mr. Gammon, respecting Titmouse,

appeared to make no commensurate impression upon a mind no longer

capable of appreciating it. He had been seized by a partial paralysis

shortly after the last interview between himself, Mr. Gammon, and the

Duke of Tantallan; and it was evident that his reason was failing

rapidly. And it was perhaps a merciful dispensation, for it appeared

that the cup of his misery and mortification was not even yet full. That

other monstrous fabric of absurdity and fraud, built upon public

credulity--the Gunpowder and Fresh Water Company--suddenly dropped to

pieces, principally on account of its chief architect, Mr. Gammon, being

unable to continue that attention and skill by which it had been kept so

long in existence. It suddenly exploded, involving everybody concerned

in it in ruin. The infatuated, and now dismayed, shareholders, and the

numerous and designing creditors, came crowding round the more prominent

of the parties concerned, clamorous and desperate. Meetings were called

from time to time--producing, however, no other results, than fearfully

extending the prospect of liability incurred. The shareholders had

fondly imagined that they could repose with confidence on the provision

inserted in the prospectus, and in the deed of settlement--viz. that no

one was to be liable beyond the amount of their shares actually

subscribed for: alas! how dreadful the delusion, and how quickly

dissipated! The houses of Lord Dreddlington, the Duke of Tantallan, and

others, were besieged by importunate creditors; and at length a general

meeting was called, at which resolutions were passed, strongly

reflecting upon the Earl of Dreddlington and Mr. Gammon; and directing

the solicitor concerned for the rest of the shareholders to file a bill

against the earl and Mr. Gammon, for the purpose of compelling them to

pay all the debts incurred by the Company! More than this, it was

threatened that unless satisfactory proposals were promptly received

from, or made on behalf of, the Earl of Dreddlington, he would be

proceeded against as a TRADER liable to the bankrupt-laws, and a docket

forthwith struck against him! Of this crowning indignity impending over

his head, the poor old peer was fortunately not conscious, being at the

moment resident at Poppleton Hall, in a state not far removed from

complete imbecility. The Duke of Tantallan was similarly threatened; and

alarmed and enraged almost to a pitch of madness, resolved to take

measures for completely exposing and punishing the individual, to whose

fraudulent plausibility and sophistries he justly attributed the

calamity which had befallen him and the Earl of Dreddlington.

"Out of this nettle danger, I'll yet pluck the flower _safety_"--said

Mr. Gammon to himself, as he sat inside one of the coaches going to

Brighton, towards the close of the month of November, being on the

morning after the explosion of the Gunpowder and Fresh Water Company.

Inextricably involved as he appeared, yet, conscious of his almost

boundless internal resources, he did not despair of retrieving himself,

and defeating the vindictive measures taken against him. His chambers

were besieged by applicants for admission--Titmouse among them; whose

senseless pertinacity, overheard by Gammon as he sat within, while his

laundress was being daily worried by Titmouse, several times excited

Gammon almost up to the point of darting out and splitting open the head

of the intruder; old Mr. Quirk also sent daily letters, in a piteous

strain, and called besides daily, begging to be reconciled to Gammon;

but he sternly turned a deaf ear to all such applications. In order to

escape this intolerable persecution, at all events for a while, and in

change of scene and air, unpropitious though the weather was, seek to

recruit his health and spirits, he had determined upon spending a week

at Brighton; telling no one, however, except his old and faithful

laundress, his destination; and instructing her to say that he was gone,

she believed, into Suffolk, but would certainly return to town within a

week. His pale and harassed features showed how much he required repose

and relief, but for these he sought in vain. He felt not a whit the

better after a two days' stay, though the weather had suddenly cleared

up, the sky become clear and bright, and the air brisk and bracing.

Whithersoever _he_ went, he carried about him a thick gloom which no

sunshine could penetrate, no breezes dissipate. He could find rest

nowhere, neither at home nor abroad, neither alone nor in company,

neither sleeping nor waking. His brow was clouded by a stern melancholy,

his heart was bursting with a sense of defeat, shame, exposure,

mortification; and with all his firmness of nerve, he could not

contemplate the future but with a shudder of apprehension. In fact, he

was in a state of intense nervous irritability and excitement from

morning to night. On the evening of the third day after his arrival, the

London paper, forwarded to him as usual from the neighboring library,

contained a paragraph which excited him not a little; it being to the

effect, that a named solicitor of eminence had been the day before

appointed by the Lord Chancellor to that very office--the one, in truth,

which Gammon knew his Lordship had all along destined for _him_; one

which he could have filled to admiration, which would have given him

permanent _status_ in society; the salary attached to it being,

moreover, £1,800 a-year! Gammon laid down the paper--a mist came before

his eyes--and a sense of desolation pervaded his soul. After a while his

eye lit on another part of the paper--gracious heavens!--there were

three or four lines which instantly roused him almost into madness. It

was an advertisement, stating that _he_ had "ABSCONDED," and offering a

reward of £200 to any one who would give information by which he might

be "_discovered and apprehended_!"

"_Absconded!_" he exclaimed aloud, starting up, and his eye flaming with

fury--"accursed miscreants! I'll quickly undeceive them!"--Instantly

unlocking his paper-case, he sat down and wrote off a letter to the

editor of the newspaper, giving his full name and address; most

indignantly denying his having attempted or dreamed of absconding;

stating that he should be in London within forty-eight hours; and

requiring an ample apology for the gross insult and libel which had been

perpetrated, to be inserted in the next number of his paper. Then he

wrote off to the solicitor, Mr. Winnington, who had conducted all the

town proceedings in the cause of _Wigley_ v. _Gammon_, alluding in terms

of indignation and astonishment to the offensive advertisement, and

assuring him that he should, within forty-eight hours, be found, as

usual, at his chambers, and prepared to make an immediate and

satisfactory arrangement in respect of the damages and costs which were

now due from him. In a similar strain he wrote to Mr. Runnington (who

had maintained throughout, personally, a cautious courtesy towards Mr.

Gammon)--begging him to postpone signing judgment in the action of _Doe

on the demise of Aubrey_ v. _Roe_, till the last day of term, as he had

a new and final proposal to make, which might have the effect of saving

great delay and expense. He added, that he had also a proposition to

offer upon the subject of Lord De la Zouch's bond and Mr. Aubrey's

promissory notes, and begged the favor of a line in answer, addressed to

him at his chambers in Thavies' Inn, and which he might find on his

arrival. To a similar effect, he also wrote to the solicitor who was

working the docket which had been struck against Mr. Tag-rag; and also

to the solicitor who was employed on behalf of the shareholders in the

Gunpowder and Fresh Water Company:--in all of them reprobating, in terms

of the keenest indignation, the unwarrantable and libellous use of his

name which had been made, and making appointments for the individuals

addressed to call at his chambers on the day after his arrival in town.

Having thus done all in his power to counteract the injurious effects

which were calculated to arise from so very premature and cruel a

measure as that which had been taken, in offering a reward for his

apprehension as an absconded felon, he folded up, sealed, and directed

the letters, and took them himself to the post-office, in time for that

night's post; and that he was really terribly excited, may be easily

believed. He did not touch the dinner which he found laid for him on his

return, but sat on the sofa, absorbed in thought, for nearly an hour:

when he suddenly rang the bell, ordered his clothes to be instantly got

ready for travelling, and his bill made out. He then went and secured a

place in that night's mail, which was starting for town at half-past

eight o'clock. At that hour he quitted Brighton, being the only inside

passenger--a circumstance which gave him an ample opportunity for

reflection, and of which doubtless he availed himself--at all events,

certain it is, that he closed not his eyes in sleep during the whole of

the journey. Greatly to the surprise of his laundress, he made his

appearance at his chambers between six and seven o'clock in the morning,

rousing her from bed. He had thus, it will be observed, reached town

contemporaneously with his own letters; and as all the appointments

which he had made, were for the day after that of his arrival, he had

secured a twenty-four hours' freedom from interruption of any sort, and

resolved to avail himself of it, by keeping within doors the whole of

the time, his laundress denying him, as usual, to any one who might

call. He asked her if she had seen or heard of the atrocious

advertisement which had appeared in yesterday's paper? She replied, in

tears, that she had; and added, that no doubt to that circumstance were

to be attributed the calls made yesterday from morning to night--an

announcement which seemed to heighten the excitement under which Mr.

Gammon was evidently laboring. As soon as his lamp had been lit, he

opened his paper-case, and wrote the following letter:--

"_Thavies' Inn, Wednesday Morning._

"DEAR HARTLEY,--As I have not missed an annual meeting of _our_

little club for these ten years, I shall be found at my place,

to-night, at nine to a moment: that is, by the way, if I shall be

admitted, after the execrable advertisement concerning me which

appeared in yesterday's papers, and the writer of which I will give

cause, if I can discover him, to repent to the latest day he lives.

I came up this morning suddenly, to refute, by my presence and by

my acts, the villanous falsehoods about my absconding. _Entre

nous_, I am somewhat puzzled, just now, certainly--but never fear!

I shall find a way out of the wood yet. Expect me at nine, to a

minute,--Yours as ever,

"O. GAMMON.

"HARRY HARTLEY, Esq.

"Kensington Square."

This he sealed and directed; and requesting his laundress to put it into

the office in time for the first post, without fail--he got into bed,

and slept for a couple of hours: when he awoke somewhat refreshed, made

his toilet as usual, and partook of a slight breakfast.

"_You_ did not suppose I had absconded, Mrs. Brown, eh?" he inquired

with a melancholy smile, as she removed his breakfast things.

"No, sir; indeed I did not believe a word of it--you've always been a

kind and just master to me, sir--and"--she raised her apron to her eyes,

and sobbed.

"And I hope long to continue so, Mrs. Brown. By the way, were not your

wages due a day or two ago?"

"Oh yes! sir--but it does not signify, sir, the least; though on second

thoughts--it does, sir; for my little niece is to be taken into the

country--she's dying, I fear--and her mother's been out of work for"----

"Here's a ten-pound note, Mrs. Brown," replied Mr. Gammon, taking one

from his pocket-book--"pay yourself your wages; write me a receipt as

usual, and keep the rest on account of the next quarter, if it will

assist you just now when you are in trouble." She took the bank-note

with many expressions of thankfulness; and but for her tears, which

flowed plentifully, she might have noticed that there was something

deadly in the eye of her kind and tranquil master. On her retiring, he

rose, and walked to and fro for a long time, with folded arms, wrapped

in profound meditation--from which he was occasionally unpleasantly

startled by hearing knocks at his door, and then his laundress assuring

the visitor that Mr. Gammon was out of town, but would return on the

morrow. It was a cheerless November day, the snow fluttering lazily

through the foggy air; but his room was made snug and cheerful enough,

by the large fire which he kept up. Opening his desk, he sat down, about

noon, and wrote a very long letter--in the course of which, however, he

repeatedly laid down his pen--got up and walked about, heaving deep

sighs, and being occasionally exceedingly agitated. At length he

concluded it, paused some time, and then folded it up, and sealed it.

Then he spent at least two hours in examining all the papers in his desk

and cabinet. A considerable number of them he burned, and replaced and

arranged the remainder carefully. Then again he walked up and down the

room. The cat, a very fine and favorite one, which had been several

years an inmate of the chambers, attracted his attention, by rubbing

against his legs. "Poor puss!" he exclaimed, stroking her fondly on the

back; and, after a while, the glossy creature sidled away, as it were

reluctantly, from his caressing hand, and lay comfortably coiled up on

the hearth-rug, as before. Again he walked to and fro, absorbed in

melancholy reflection for some time; from which he was roused, about

five, by Mrs. Brown bringing in the spare dinner--which, having barely

tasted, he soon dismissed, telling her that he felt a strange shooting

pain in his head, and that his eyes seemed sometimes covered by a mist:

but that he doubted not his being well enough to keep his appointment at

the club--as she knew had been his habit for years. He requested her to

have his dressing-room prepared by a quarter to eight, and a coach

fetched by eight o'clock precisely. As soon as she had withdrawn, he sat

down and wrote the following letter to the oldest and most devoted

personal friend he had in the world:

"MY DEAR----. I entreat you, by our long unbroken friendship, to

keep the enclosed letter by you, for a fortnight; and then, with

your own hand, and alone, deliver it to the individual to whom it

is addressed. Burn _this_ note--I mean the one which I am at this

instant writing to you--the instant you shall have read it; and

take care that no eye sees the enclosed but _hers_--or all my

efforts to secure a _little_ provision for her will be frustrated.

In the corner of the top drawer of my cabinet will be found, folded

up, a document referred to in the enclosed letter--in fact, _my

will_--and which I wish _you_, as an old friend, to take the very

earliest opportunity of discovering, _accidentally_. You will find

the _date_ all correct, and _safe_. But whether my fiendish

persecutors will allow it to have any effect, situated as are my

affairs, is more than doubtful. Still I will throw away no chance

in favor of the being who has occupied so much of my last thoughts.

Call here to-morrow--at any hour you please--and say that you have

called to see me, _according to my appointment_, and produce and

show the enclosed ordinary invitation, to any one who may inquire,

as being the only communication which you have received from me

since my return from Brighton. Bear all this in mind, by the value

you set upon my friendship: _whatever you may then see or hear, be

firm and prudent_.--O. G."

"_Wednesday_."

In this letter he enclosed the long letter and the note already

mentioned; and having sealed and directed the whole, with elaborate

distinctness, he threw his cloak round him, and went with his packet to

the post-office, and with his own hand, after an instant's hesitation,

dropped it into the box, and returned to his chambers.

Then he took another sheet of paper, and wrote thus:

"DEAR VIPER,--I doubt whether, after all, there will be a

Dissolution; but, at any rate, I will perform my promise, and be

ready with what you wish for Sunday week.--Yours ever,

"O. G.

"P. S.--I shall call upon you on Saturday, without fail."

This he folded up and directed, and proceeded to commence the

following:--

"_Thavies' Inn, Wednesday._

"DEAR SIR,--I have finally determined to make every sacrifice in

order to extricate myself, with honor, from my present

embarrassments. You will, therefore, as soon as you get this,

please to sell out all my"----

Here he laid down his pen; and Mrs. Brown presently announcing that

everything was ready in his dressing-room, he thanked her, and proceeded

to shave and dress. He was not more than a quarter of an hour over his

toilet. He had put on his usual evening dress--his blue body-coat,

black trousers, a plain shirt and black stock, and a white

waistcoat--scarcely whiter, however, than the face of him who wore it.

"I am going for the coach now, sir," said Mrs. Brown, knocking at the

door.

"If you please," he replied briskly and cheerfully--and the instant that

he had heard her close the outer door after her, he opened the secret

spring drawer in his desk, and took out a very small glass phial, with a

glass stopper, over which was tied some bladder to preserve its contents

from the air; then he carefully closed the drawer. His face was ghastly

pale; his knees trembled; his hands were cold and damp as those of the

dead. He took a strong peppermint lozenge from the mantelpiece, and

chewed it, while he removed the stopper from the bottle, which contained

about half a dram of the most subtle and potent poison which has been

discovered by man--one extinguishing life almost instantaneously, and

leaving no trace of its presence except a slight odor, which he had

taken the precaution of masking and overpowering with that of the

peppermint. He returned to get his hat, which was in his dressing-room;

he put it on--and in glancing at the glass, scarcely recognized the

ghastly image which it reflected. His chief object was, to complete the

deception he intended practising on the Insurance Company, with whom he

had effected a policy on his life for £2,000--and also to delude

everybody into the notion of his having died suddenly, but naturally.

Having stirred up the large red fire, and made a kind of hollow in it,

he took out the stopper, and dropped it, with the bladder, which had

been tied over it, into the fire. Then he took his pen in his right hand

with a fresh dip of ink in it; kneeled down on the fender, close to the

fire; faintly whispered "_Oh, Emma!_" poured the whole of the deadly

poison into his mouth, and succeeded in dropping the phial into the very

heart of the fire--falling down the next instant on the hearth-rug,

oblivious, insensible--_dead_. However it might have been, that the

moment after he had done this direful deed, he would have GIVEN THE

WHOLE UNIVERSE, had it been his, to have undone what he had done--he had

succeeded, _for the present_, in effecting his object.

Poor Mrs. Brown's terror, on discovering her master stretched senseless

on the floor--his hat pushed partly down over his eyes in the act of

falling--may be imagined. Medical assistance was called in, but only to

announce that "the vital spark had fled." It was clearly either

apoplexy, said the intelligent medical man, or an organic disease of the

heart. Of this opinion were the astute coroner and his jury, without

hesitation. The deceased had evidently been seized while in the very act

of writing to some broker. [Gammon had no more "_stock_" of any sort,

for all he had written that letter, than the cat which had unconsciously

witnessed, and been for a moment disturbed by, his death.] Mr. Hartley

came, and producing the note which he had received, spoke of the

disappointment which they had all felt on account of Mr. Gammon's

non-arrival. The other letters--the appointments which he had made for

the morrow--the evidence which he had taken care to enable his laundress

to give--all these things were decisive--it was really "scarcely a case

requiring an inquest;" but as they had been called, they returned a

verdict of "Died by the Visitation of God." He was buried, a few days

afterwards, in the adjoining churchyard, (St. Andrew's,) where he lies

mouldering away quietly enough, certainly; but whether (in the language

of the solemn and sublime burial-service which his successful fraud had

procured to be read over his remains) "_in sure and certain hope of the

resurrection to eternal life, through our Lord Jesus Christ_," is

another, and a fearful question.

His "friend" was faithful and discreet, obeying the injunctions of the

deceased to the letter. The "individual" alluded to in Mr. Gammon's note

to him, was a beautiful girl whom Mr. Gammon had seduced under a solemn

promise of marriage; who was passionately attached to him; whose name he

had uttered when on the eve of death; and to whom he had, some six

months before, bequeathed the amount of the policy--his will being

witnessed by Mary Brown, his housekeeper. Though his creditors were, of

course, entitled to every farthing of the £2,000, out of which he had so

artfully swindled the Insurance Company, they generously allowed her, in

consideration of her peculiar and melancholy situation, and of the will

which Mr. Gammon had made in her favor, to receive the sum of three

hundred pounds. It sufficed to support her during the few months of

suffering and shame which were allotted to her upon earth, after the

death of her betrayer; not far from whose remains were then deposited

the blighted beauty of her whom he had loved only to destroy.