mstances of the case, we need have
no delicacy in availing ourselves of this fortunate remittance. It will
at least save us time,' said Lord Montfort, ringing the bell. 'Send your
master here directly,' he continued to the waiter.

The sheriff's officer appeared; the debt, the fees, all were paid, and
the discharge duly taken. Ferdinand in the meantime went up stairs to
lock up his dressing-case; the little waiter rushed after him to pack
his portmanteau. Ferdinand did not forget his zealous friend, who
whispered hope when all was black. The little waiter chuckled as he put
his ten guineas in his pocket. 'You see, sir,' he said, 'I was quite
right. Knowed your friends would stump down. Fancy a nob like you being
sent to quod! Fiddlededee! You see, sir, you weren't used to it.'

And so Ferdinand Armine bid adieu to the spunging-house, where, in the
course of less than eight-and-forty hours, he had known alike despair
and rapture. Lord Montfort drove along with a gaiety unusual to him.

'Now, my dear Armine,' he said, 'I am not a jot the less in love with
Henrietta than before. I love her as you love Katherine. What folly to
marry a woman who was in love with another person! I should have made
her miserable, when the great object of all my conduct was to make her
happy. Now Katherine really loves me as much as Henrietta loves you. I
have had this plan in my head for a long time. I calculated finely; I
was convinced it was the only way to make us all happy. And now we shall
all be related; we shall be constantly together; and we will be brother
friends.'

'Ah! my dear Montfort,' said Ferdinand, 'what will Mr. Temple say?'

'Leave him to me,' said Lord Montfort.

'I tremble,' said Ferdinand, 'if it were possible to anticipate
difficulties to-day.'

'I shall go to him at once,' said Lord Montfort; 'I am not fond of
suspense myself, and now it is of no use. All will be right.'

'I trust only to you,' said Ferdinand; 'for I am as proud as Temple. He
dislikes me, and he is too rich for me to bow down to him.'

'I take it upon myself,' said Lord Montfort. 'Mr. Temple is a calm,
sensible man. You will laugh at me, but the truth is, with him it must
be a matter of calculation: on the one hand, his daughter's happiness, a
union with a family second to none in blood, alliances, and territorial
position, and only wanting his wealth to revive all its splendour; on
the other, his daughter broken-hearted, and a duke for his son