or venture in any
way among the mantraps of the law. He dared rob nobody but his mother.
And so he had to fall back on the genuine value there was in him--to be
content to pass as a good halfpenny, or, to speak more accurately, as a
good confectioner. For in spite of some additional reading and
observation, there was nothing else he could make so much money by; nay,
he found in himself even a capability of extending his skill in this
direction, and embracing all forms of cookery; while, in other branches
of human labour, he began to see that it was not possible for him to
shine. Fate was too strong for him; he had thought to master her
inclination and had fled over the seas to that end; but she caught him,
tied an apron round him, and snatching him from all other devices, made
him devise cakes and patties in a kitchen at Kingstown. He was getting
submissive to her, since she paid him with tolerable gains; but fevers
and prickly heat, and other evils incidental to cooks in ardent climates,
made him long for his native land; so he took ship once more, carrying
his six years' savings, and seeing distinctly, this time, what were
Fate's intentions as to his career. If you question me closely as to
whether all the money with which he set up at Grimworth consisted of pure
and simple earnings, I am obliged to confess that he got a sum or two for
charitably abstaining from mentioning some other people's misdemeanours.
Altogether, since no prospects were attached to his family name, and
since a new christening seemed a suitable commencement of a new life, Mr.
David Faux thought it as well to call himself Mr. Edward Freely.

But lo! now, in opposition to all calculable probability, some benefit
appeared to be attached to the name of David Faux. Should he neglect it,
as beneath the attention of a prosperous tradesman? It might bring him
into contact with his family again, and he felt no yearnings in that
direction: moreover, he had small belief that the "something to his
advantage" could be anything considerable. On the other hand, even a
small gain is pleasant, and the promise of it in this instance was so
surprising, that David felt his curiosity awakened. The scale dipped at
last on the side of writing to the lawyer, and, to be brief, the
correspondence ended in an appointment for a meeting between David and
his eldest brother at Mr. Strutt's, the vague "something" having been
defined as a legacy from his father of eigh