the Styx so human as a niece."

"You seem to have no great predilection for our host."

"My dear Vaudemont, between our blunt, soldierly natures, and those
wily, icy, sneering intellects, there is the antipathy of the dog to the
cat."

"Perhaps so on our side, not on his--or why does he invite us?"

"London is empty; there is no one else to ask. We are new faces, new
minds to him. We amuse him more than the hackneyed comrades he has worn
out. Besides, he plays--and you, too. Fie on you!"

"Liancourt, I had two objects in knowing that man, and I pay to the toll
for the bridge. When I cease to want the passage, I shall cease to pay
the toll."

"But the bridge may be a draw-bridge, and the moat is devilish deep
below. Without metaphor, that man may ruin you before you know where you
are."

"Bah! I have my eyes open. I know how much to spend on the rogue whose
service I hire as a lackey's; and I know also where to stop. Liancourt,"
he added, after a short pause, and in a tone deep with suppressed
passion, "when I first saw that man, I thought of appealing to his heart
for one who has a claim on it. That was a vain hope. And then there came
upon me a sterner and deadlier thought--the scheme of the Avenger! This
Lilburne--this rogue whom the world sets up to worship--ruined, body
and soul ruined--one whose name the world gibbets with scorn! Well, I
thought to avenge that man. In his own house--amidst you all--I thought
to detect the sharper, and brand the cheat!"

"You startle me!--It has been whispered, indeed, that Lord Lilburne
is dangerous,--but skill is dangerous. To cheat!--an Englishman!--a
nobleman!--impossible!"

"Whether he do or not," returned Vaudemont, in a calmer tone, "I have
foregone the vengeance, because he is--"

"Is what?"

"No matter," said Vaudemont aloud, but he added to himself,--"Because he
is the grandfather of Fanny!"

"You are very enigmatical to-day."

"Patience, Liancourt; I may solve all the riddles that make up my
life, yet. Bear with me a little longer. And now can you help me to a
lawyer?--a man experienced, indeed, and of repute, but young, active,
not overladen with business;--I want his zeal and his time, for a hazard
that your monopolists of clients may not deem worth their devotion."

"I can recommend you, then, the very man you require. I had a suit
some years ago at Paris, for which English witnesses were necessary.
My avocat employed a solicitor here whose activity