ned into friendship. When the time came
for parting, for Egremont had to take his seat in parliament, it was a
tender farewell on both sides.

Egremont, embarrassed by his deception, could not only speak vaguely of
their meeting again soon. The thought of parting from Sybil nearly
overwhelmed him.

When he met Gerard and Morley again it was in London, and disguise was
no longer possible. Gerard and Morley came as delegates to the Chartist
National Convention in 1839, and, deputed by their fellows to interview
Charles Egremont, M.P., came face to face with "Mr. Franklin."

The general misery in the country at that time was appalling. Weavers
and miners were starving, agricultural labourers were driven into the
new workhouses, and riots were of common occurrence. The Chartists
believed their proposals would improve matters, other working-class
leaders believed that a general stoppage of work would be more
effective.

Sybil, in London with her father, ardently supported the popular
movement. Meeting Egremont near Westminster Abbey on the very day after
Gerard and Morley had waited upon him, she allowed him to escort her
home. Then, for the first time, she learnt that her friend "Mr.
Franklin" was the brother of Lord Marney.

It was in vain Egremont urged that they might still be friends, that the
gulf between rich and poor was not impassable.

"Oh, sir," said Sybil haughtily, "I am one of those who believe the gulf
is impassable--yes, utterly impassable!"

_IV.--Plotting Against Lord De Mowbray_

Stephen Morley was the editor of the "Mowbray Phoenix," a teetotaler, a
vegetarian, a believer in moral force. The friend of Gerard, and in love
with Sybil, Stephen looked with no favour on Egremont. Although a
delegate to the Chartist Convention, Stephen had not forgotten the
claims of Gerard to landed estate, and had pursued his inquiries as to
the whereabouts of Hatton with some success.

First Stephen had journeyed to Woodgate, commonly known as Hell-house
Yard, a wild and savage place, the abode of a lawless race of men who
fashioned locks and instruments of iron. Here he had found Simon Hatton,
who knew nothing of his brother's residence.

By accident Stephen discovered that the man he sought lived in the
Temple. Baptist Hatton at that time was the most famous of heraldic
antiquaries. Not a pedigree in dispute, not a peerage in abeyance, but
it was submitted to his consideration. A solitary man was Baptist
H