he discover that the property of which he had heard so much
was only a shadow, which had served to delude many another creditor; and
that they had made themselves responsible for a monstrous amount, for
which he was left alone to answer, while the first demand would be the
signal for a multitude of other claims. As they parted, Gardner
had finally thrown off the mask, and let him know that this was the
recompense of his wife's stories to the Brandons. She might say what she
pleased now, it mattered not; Mark was on his way to the rich widow of
Mr. Finch, and had wanted nothing of Arthur but to obtain the means of
going to her, and to be revenged on him.

So Arthur half-expressed, and his friend understood. Save for this
bodily condition, Percy could hardly have borne with him. His reckless
self-indulgence and blind folly deserved to be left to reap their
own fruit; yet, when he beheld their victim, miserable, prostrated by
illness and despair, and cast aside with scornful cruelty, he could
not, without being as cold-hearted as Gardner himself, refrain from kind
words and suggestions of consolation. 'Might not his father assist him?'

'He cannot if he would. Everything is entailed, and you know how my aunt
served us. There is no ready money to be had, not even the five thousand
pounds that is the whole dependence for the poor things at home in case
of my death, which may come soon enough for aught I care. I wish it was!
I wish we were all going to the bottom together, and I was to see none
of their faces again. It would be better for Violet than this.'

Percy could say little; but, though blunt of speech, he was tender of
heart. He did all in his power for Arthur's comfort, and when he helped
him on shore at Folkestone, recommended him to go to bed at once, and
offered to fetch Mrs. Martindale.

'She cannot come,' sighed Arthur; 'she has only been confined three
weeks.'

More shame for you, had Percy almost said; but he no longer opposed
Arthur's homeward instinct, and, finding a train ready to start, left
their luggage to its fate, and resolved not to lose sight of him till
he was safely deposited at his own house. Such care was in truth needed;
the journey was a dreadful one, the suffering increased every hour,
and when at length, in the dusk of the evening, they arrived in
Cadogan-place, he could hardly mount the stairs, even with Percy's
assistance.

It was the first time that Violet had left her chamber, and,