nd sore puzzled which way to turn. Of course he could expose the real
parentage of Mary Bartley, and put both Bartley and Hope to shame, and
then the Cliffords would make Bartley disgorge the L20,000. But he,
Monckton, would not make a shilling by that, and it would be a weak
revenge on Bartley, who could now spare L20,000, and no revenge at all on
Hope, for Hope was now well-to-do, and would most likely be glad to get
his daughter back. Then, on the other hand, he could easily frighten
Bartley into giving him L5000 to keep dark, but in that case he must
forego his vengeance on Hope.

This difficulty had tormented Monckton all along; but now Mrs. Dawson had
revealed another obstacle. Young Clifford and Mary in love with each
other. What Mrs. Easton saw as a friend, with her good mother-wit, this
man saw in a moment as an enemy, viz., that this new combination dwarfed
the L20,000 altogether. Monckton had no idea that his unknown antagonist
Nurse Easton had married the pair, but the very attachment, as the
chatter-box of the Dun Cow described it, was a bitter pill to him. "Who
could have foreseen this?" said he. "It's devilish." We did not ourselves
intend our readers to feel it so, or we would not have spent so much time
over it. But as regards that one adjective, Mr. Monckton is a better
authority than we are. He had a document with him that, skillfully used,
might make mischief for a time between these lovers. But he foresaw there
could be no permanent result without the personal assistance of Mrs.
Braham. That he could have commanded fourteen years ago, but now he felt
how difficult it would be. He would have to threaten and torment her
almost to madness before she would come down to Derbyshire and declare
that this Walter Clifford was the Walter Clifford of the certificate, and
that she was his discarded wife. But Monckton was none the less resolved
she should come if necessary. Leaving him _varius distractum vitiis_, and
weighing every scheme, with its pros and cons, and, like a panther
crouching and watching before he would make his first spring, we will now
bring our other characters up to the same point, and that will not take
us long, for during the months we have skipped there were not many
events, and Mrs. Dawson has told the readers some of them, and the rest
were only detached incidents.

The most important in our opinion were:

1. That Colonel Clifford resumed his determination to marry Julia
Clifford to