of new testimony there could be no doubt that the
suit would be successful--he diverted the captain from all disposition
towards perfidy, convinced him on which side his interest lay, and saw
him return to Paris, where very shortly afterwards he disappeared for
ever from this world, being forced into a duel, much against his will
(with a Frenchman whom he had attempted to defraud), and shot through
the lungs. Thus verifying a favourite maxim of Lord Lilburne's, viz.
that it does not do, in the long run, for little men to play the Great
Game!

On the same day that Blackwell returned, frustrated in his half-and-half
attempts to corrupt Mr. Jones, and not having been able even to discover
Mr. Smith, Mr. Robert Beaufort received a notice of an Action for
Ejectment to be brought by Philip Beaufort at the next Assizes. And,
to add to his afflictions, Arthur, whom he had hitherto endeavoured to
amuse by a sort of ambiguous shilly-shally correspondence, became so
alarmingly worse, that his mother brought him up to town for advice.
Lord Lilburne was, of course, sent for; and on learning all, his counsel
was prompt.

"I told you before that this man loves your daughter. See if you can
effect a compromise. The lawsuit will be ugly, and probably ruinous. He
has a right to claim six years' arrears--that is above L100,000. Make
yourself his father-in-law, and me his uncle-in-law; and, since we can't
kill the wasp, we may at least soften the venom of his sting."

Beaufort, still perplexed, irresolute, sought his son; and, for the
first time, spoke to him frankly--that is, frankly for Robert Beaufort!
He owned that the copy of the register had been found by Lilburne in a
secret drawer. He made the best of the story Lilburne himself furnished
him with (adhering, of course, to the assertion uttered or insinuated
to Philip) in regard to Fanny's abduction and interposition; he said
nothing of his attempt to destroy the paper. Why should he? By admitting
the copy in court--if so advised--he could get rid of Fanny's evidence
altogether; even without such concession, her evidence might possibly
be objected to or eluded. He confessed that he feared the witness who
copied the register and the witness to the marriage were alive. And then
he talked pathetically of his desire to do what was right, his dread of
slander and misinterpretation. He said nothing of Sidney, and his belief
that Sidney and Charles Spencer were the same; because, if his d