e marked, unpardonable insult she had offered
her in not accompanying Allcraft on his visit; and had succeeded, in
short, in effectually driving from her husband's mind the little good
effect which had been produced by the partner's just remonstrance.
Ignorant and vulgar as she was, the woman had unbounded influence and
power. How much, may be guessed from the fact, that before Michael
Allcraft was ten miles on his journey to Lyons, she had prevailed upon
her husband to draw his first cheque upon his house to the tune of
L.500, and to prolong their holiday by visiting in succession the south
of France, Switzerland, and Italy. The fool, after an inane resistance,
consented; his cheque was converted to money--the horses were
ordered--and on they dashed.

CHAPTER IV.

A SPECULATION.

"When the cat is away, the mice begin to play." It is an old and a true
saying, and Michael, had he been an experienced mouser, would have
remembered it to his advantage, when he thought of leaving the
banking-house to the tender mercies of his colleagues. His confidence in
Planner was very great, and I will not say undeserved; still some
account should have been taken of his previous habits, and the positive
abiding infirmity of human nature. It was surely dangerous to surround a
man so fickle, and so easily led by the delusions of his sanguine
spirit, with every temptation to walk astray, and to remove every check
that had hitherto kept down the capricious movements of his most
unsteady will. The daily, almost hourly presence of Allcraft, his
vigorous and immediate superintendence of affairs, had subdued the
speculative soul of Planner, and rendered him a useful man of business.
He was, in truth, a good accountant, ardent in his pursuits, a faithful
friend, an honest man. With the needful restraints upon him, he proved,
as Allcraft had believed he would, a warm and active partisan. Had those
restraints been continued for any time--had he been trained, and so
reconciled and accustomed to his yoke, all might have prospered and been
well with him. His own happiness might have been secured, and the hopes
of his friend and patron would not have been blasted. It was the
misfortune of Allcraft, with all his long-sightedness, not to see far
enough. He was to blame, deeply to blame, for the desertion of a man
whom he knew to be at the mercy of his own wayward spirit, and utterly
incapable of self-defence. Yet, called abroad, what could he do? It