To her it was very manifest that
Honyman was afraid of the young man; and Honyman, though he might
not be as keen as some others, was at any rate honest. Honyman also
thought that if the brewery were given up to Rowan that thousand a
year which had been promised would be paid regularly; and to this
solution of the difficulty Mrs. Tappitt was gradually bending herself
to submit as the best which an untoward fate offered to them. Honyman
himself had declared to her that Mr. Tappitt, if he were well
advised, would admit Rowan in as a partner, on equal terms as
regarded power and ultimate possession, but with that lion's share of
the immediate concern for himself which Rowan offered. But this she
knew that Tappitt would not endure; and she knew, also, that if he
were brought to endure it for a while, it would ultimately lead to
terrible sorrows. "They would be knocking each other about with the
pokers, Mr. Honyman," she had said; "and where would the custom be
when that got into the newspapers?" "If I were Mr. Tappitt, I would
just let him have his own way," Honyman had replied. "That shows that
you don't know Tappitt," had been Mrs. Tappitt's rejoinder. No;--the
thousand a year and dignified retirement in a villa had recommended
itself to Mrs. Tappitt's mind. She would use all her influence to
attain that position,--if only she could bring herself to feel
assured that the thousand a year would be forthcoming.

As to Tappitt himself, he was by no means so anxious to prolong the
battle as he had been at the time of Rowan's departure. His courage
for fighting was not maintained by good backing. Had Honyman clapped
him on the shoulder and bade him put ready money in his purse,
telling him that all would come out right eventually, and that Rowan
would be crushed, he would have gone about Baslehurst boasting
loudly, and would have been happy. Then Mrs. T. and the girls would
have had a merry time of it; and the Tappitts would have come out of
the contest with four or five hundred a year for life instead of the
thousand now offered to them, and nobody would have blamed anybody
for such a result. But Honyman had not spirit for such backing. In
his dull, slow, droning way he had shaken his head and said that
things were looking badly. Then Tappitt had cursed and had sworn, and
had half resolved to go to Sharpit and Longfite. Sharpit and Longfite
would have clapped him on the back readily enough, and have bade him
put plenty of mon