fairs of the firm were wound up, and the shop in the hands of the
London man whom Mr. Brett had employed in the purchase.

Lawyer as he was, however, Mr. Brett had not been sharp enough for
Turnbull. The very next day, a shop in the same street, that had been
to let for some time, displayed above its now open door the sign, _John
Turnbull, late_--then a very small of--_Turnbull and Marston;_
whereupon Mr. Brett saw the oversight of which he had been guilty.
There was nothing in the shop when it was opened, but that Turnbull
utilized for advertisement: he had so arranged, that within an hour the
goods began to arrive, and kept arriving, by every train, for days and
days after, while all the time he made public show of himself, fussing
about, the most triumphant man in the town. It made people talk, and if
not always as he would have liked to hear them talk, yet it was talk,
and, in the matter of advertisement, that is the main thing.

When it was told Mary, it gave her not the smallest uneasiness. She
only saw what had several times seemed on the point of arriving in her
father's lifetime. She would not have moved a finger to prevent it. Let
the two principles meet, with what result God pleased!

Whether he had suspected her design, and had determined to challenge
her before the public, I can not tell; but his wife's aversion to
shopkeeping was so great, that one who knew what sort of scene passed
because of it between them, would have expected that, but for some very
strong reason, he would have been glad enough to retire from that mode
of gaining a livelihood. As it was, things appeared to go on with them
just as before. They still inhabited the villa, the wife scornful of
her surroundings, and the husband driving a good horse to his shop
every morning. How he managed it all, nobody knew but himself, and
whether he succeeded or not was a matter of small interest to any
except his own family and his creditors. He was a man nowise beloved,
although there was something about him that carried simple people with
him--for his ends, not theirs. To those who alluded to the change, he
represented it as entirely his own doing, to be rid of the interference
of Miss Marston in matters of which she knew nothing. He knew well that
a confident lie has all the look of truth, and, while fact and
falsehood were disputing together in men's mouths, he would be selling
his drapery. The country people were flattered by the confidence he
s