'to permit no compromise, and to make my brother (his family of course
included) acknowledge a woman, of whose guilt they entertain not the
slightest doubt, you think you can gain your object by threatening
an exposure. Don't threaten any more! Make your exposure! Go to the
magistrate at once, if you like! Gibbet our names in the newspaper
report, as a family connected by marriage with Mr. Sherwin the
linen-draper's daughter, whom they believe to have disgraced herself
as a woman and a wife for ever. Do your very worst; make public every
shameful particular that you can--what advantage will you get by it?
Revenge, I grant you. But will revenge put a halfpenny into your pocket?
Will revenge pay a farthing towards your daughter's keep? Will revenge
make us receive her? Not a bit of it! We shall be driven into a corner;
we shall have no exposure to dread after you have exposed us; we
shall have no remedy left, but a desperate remedy, and we'll go to
law--boldly, openly go to law, and get a divorce. We have written
evidence, which you know nothing about, and can call testimony which you
cannot gag. I am no lawyer, but I'll bet you five hundred to one (quite
in a friendly way, my dear Sir!) that we get our case. What follows? We
send you back your daughter, without a shred of character left to cover
her; and we comfortably wash our hands of _you_ altogether.'"

"Ralph! Ralph! how could you--"

"Stop! hear the end of it. Of course I knew that we couldn't carry out
this divorce-threat, without its being the death of my father; but
I thought a little quiet bullying on my part might do Mr. Shopkeeper
Sherwin some good. And I was right. You never saw a man sit sorer on the
sharp edges of a dilemma than he did. I stuck to my point in spite of
everything; silence and money, or exposure and divorce--just which
he pleased. 'I deny every one of your infamous imputations,' said he.
'That's not the question,' said I. 'I'll go to your father,' said he.
'You won't be let in,' said I. 'I'll write to him,' said he. 'He won't
receive your letter,' said I. There we came to a pull-up. _He_ began
to stammer, and _I_ refreshed myself with a pinch of snuff. Finding it
wouldn't do, he threw off the Roman at last, and resumed the Tradesman.
'Even supposing I consented to this abominable compromise, what is to
become of my daughter?' he asked. 'Just what becomes of other people who
have comfortable annuities to live on,' I answered. 'Affection for m