ore agreeable."

"It might, Tom; but I cannot. The truth is, I am an unpopular man among
even the fashionable circles, and the consequence is, that I do not
mingle much with them. The disappearance of my brother's heir has
attached suspicions to me which your discovery will not tend to remove.
Then there is Lucy's approaching marriage, which your turning up at
this particular juncture may upset. Dunroe, I am aware, is incapable of
appreciating such a girl as Lucy."

"Then why, sir, does he marry her?"

"In consequence of her property. You perceive, then, that unless you
lie by until after this marriage, my whole schemes for this girl may be
destroyed."

"But how, sir, could my appearance or reappearance effect such a
catastrophe?"

"Simply because you come at the most unlucky moment."

"Unlucky, sir!" exclaimed the youth, with much affected astonishment,
for he had now relapsed into his original character, and felt himself
completely in his element.

"Don't misunderstand me," said his father; "I will explain myself. Had
you never appeared, Lucy would have inherited the family estates, which,
in right of his wife, would have passed into the possession of Dunroe.
Your appearance, however, if made known, will prevent that, and probably
cause Dunroe to get out of it; and it is for this reason that I wish to
keep your very existence a secret until the marriage is over."

"I am willing to do anything, sir," replied worthy Tom, with a very
dutiful face, "anything to oblige you, and to fall in with your
purposes, provided my own rights are not compromised. I trust you will
not blame me, sir, for looking to them, and for a natural anxiety to
sustain the honor and prolong the name of my family."

"Blame you, sirrah!" said his father, laughing. "Confound me, but you're
a trump, and I am proud to hear you express such sentiments. How the
deuce did you get such a shrewd notion of the world? But, no matter,
attend to me. Your rights shall not be compromised. A clause shall be
inserted in the marriage articles to the effect that in case of your
recovery and restoration, the estates shall revert to you, as the
legitimate heir. Are you satisfied?"

"Perfectly, sir," replied Thomas, "perfectly; on the understanding that
these provisions are duly and properly carried out."

"Undoubtedly they shall; and besides," replied his father with a grin of
triumph, "it will be only giving Dunroe a _quid pro quo_, for, as I told
you, he