, did think a great deal about
it. He was not a man prone to assure himself of a lady's favour
without cause; and yet he did think that his cousin liked him. As to
that terrible difficulty to which Lord Altringham had alluded, he
knew that something must be done; but there were cruel embarrassments
on that side of which even Altringham knew nothing. And then why
should he do that which his friend had indicated to him, before he
knew whether it would be necessary? As to taking Sir Harry altogether
into his confidence about his money matters, that was clearly
impossible. Heaven and earth! How could the one man speak such
truths, or the other man listen to them? When money difficulties
come of such nature as those which weighted the shoulders of poor
George Hotspur, it is quite impossible that there should be any such
confidence with any one. The sufferer cannot even make a confidant of
himself, cannot even bring himself to look at his own troubles massed
together. It was not the amount of his debts, but the nature of them,
and the characters of the men with whom he had dealings, that were so
terrible. Fifteen thousand pounds--less than one year's income from
Sir Harry's property--would clear him of everything, as far as he
could judge; but there could be no such clearing, otherwise than by
money disbursed by himself, without a disclosure of dirt which he
certainly would not dare to make to Sir Harry before his marriage.

But yet the prize to be won was so great, and there were so many
reasons for thinking that it might possibly be within his grasp! If,
after all, he might live to be Sir George Hotspur of Humblethwaite
and Scarrowby! After thinking of it as well as he could, he
determined that he would make the attempt; but as to those
preliminaries to which Lord Altringham had referred, he would for the
present leave them to chance.

Lord Altringham had been quite right when he told George Hotspur that
he was deficient in a certain kind of pluck.

CHAPTER VI.

THE BALL IN BRUTON STREET.

Sir Harry vacillated, Lady Elizabeth doubted, and Cousin George
was allowed to come to the ball. At this time, in the common
understanding of such phrase, Emily Hotspur was heart-whole in regard
to her cousin. Had she been made to know that he had gone away for
ever,--been banished to some antipodes from which he never could
return,--there would have been no lasting sorrow on her part, though
there might have been some feel