in
addition, to his usual diversions, by speculating in some German mines,
they came back to England. They went for a time to Spendall Lodge in
Yorkshire, on a visit to Sir Samuel Spendall, in order to be in the
vicinity of the Doncaster races. Thence they went to Scarborough, where
Howel left Netta, her child and maid in a lodging, whilst he attended
the various races in other parts of the country.

About this time, Sir John Simpson died, and his son came into his
fortune. Howel immediately bought a handsome house in Belgravia,
furnished it expensively, and began life as a London fine gentleman.

It is needless to describe how Howel's income and position in society
gradually dwindled down; or more properly, how his means fluctuated
according as his horses lost or won, or his various speculations
succeeded or failed. Long before his father died, he had mortgaged that
father's very mortgages; and had spent a large portion of his wealth in
paying off debts of honour, and freeing himself from the Jews, into
whose hands he had got before he went to live at Abertewey.

During his four years' residence in London, it was evident that his
means fluctuated in some wonderful way. His house was the rendezvous of
men of all ranks who were on the turf, and his life was passed in a
state of perpetual excitement. Netta did not see much of him, except at
their own table, or that of their acquaintances. When she was alone with
him, he was either quite silent, or abusive; the career of such a man
will be better understood by most of my readers, than described by me.
The resorts of black-legs, and the betting-books of men on the turf, the
dishonourable payment of so-called debts of honour, the trickery of
horse-dealers, horse-trainers, and horse-racers, and the wretched
madness of professed gamblers, are things we have all heard of, but of
which, happily, comparatively few of us know much, practically.

Howel managed to maintain his reputation as a gentleman and man of large
fortune, even when he was, from time to time, on the verge of ruin; and
the purchase of Sir Samuel Spendall's property in Yorkshire, when that
baronet was obliged to leave the country for debt, confirmed the opinion
of his wealth. Every one did not know that Sir Samuel, like Mr Simpson,
owed him an enormous sum of money, for various bets, loans, and even
mortgages, of which Howel kept quite as usurious an account as his
father would have done before him, and at whi