ne. He himself recognized it as a fact that his son Mountjoy was
unfit to marry any young lady. Starvation would assuredly stare such
young lady in the face. But not the less was he acerbated and disgusted
at the idea that Augustus should endeavor to take the young lady to
himself. "What!" he had exclaimed to Mr. Merton; "he wants both the
property and the girl. There is nothing on earth that he does not want.
The greater the impropriety in his craving, the stronger the craving."
Then he picked up by degrees all the details of the midnight feud
between Harry and Mountjoy, and set himself to work to undermine
Augustus. But he had steadily carried out the plan for settling with the
creditors, and, with the aid of Mr. Grey, had, as he thought, already
concluded that business. Conjunction with Augustus had been necessary,
but that had been obtained.

It is not too much to say that, at the present moment of his life, the
idea of doing some injury to Augustus was the one object which exercised
Mr. Scarborough's mind. Since he had fallen into business relations with
his younger son he had become convinced that a more detestable young man
did not exist. The reader will, perhaps, agree with Mr. Scarborough, but
it can hardly be hoped that he should entertain the opinion as strongly.

Augustus was now the recognized eldest legitimate son of the squire; and
as the property was entailed it must no doubt belong to him. But the
squire was turning in his mind all means of depriving that condition as
far as was possible of its glory. When he had first heard of the injury
that had been done to Harry Annesley, he thought that he would leave to
our hero all the furniture, all the gems, all the books, all the wine,
all the cattle which were accumulated at Tretton. Augustus should have
the bare acres, and still barer house, but nothing else. In thinking of
this he had been actuated by a conviction that it would be useless for
him to leave them to Mountjoy. Whatever might be left to Mountjoy would
in fact be left to the creditors; and therefore Harry Annesley with his
injuries had been felt to be a proper recipient, not of the squire's
bounty, but of the results of his hatred for his son.

To run counter to the law! That had ever been the chief object of the
squire's ambition. To arrange everything so that it should be seen that
he had set all laws at defiance! That had been his great pride. He had
done so notably, and with astonishing astu