w
himself. "You will be driven," said the Dean, "to express your belief,
whatever it may be; and if you think that there has been foul play, you
cannot deny that you think so." It was at last decided that Lord George
should write a letter to his brother, giving all the grounds, not of
his own suspicion, but which the world at large would have for
suspecting; and earnestly imploring that proper evidence as to his
brother's marriage and as to the child's birth, might be produced.
Then, if this letter should not be attended to, a lawyer should be
employed. The Dean named his own lawyer, Mr. Battle, of Lincoln's Inn
Fields. Lord George having once yielded, found it convenient to yield
throughout. Towards the end of the interview the Dean suggested that he
would "throw a few words together," or, in other language, write the
letter which his son-in-law would have to sign. This suggestion was
also accepted by Lord George.

The two men were together for a couple of hours, and then, after lunch,
went out together into the town. Each felt that he was now more closely
bound to the other than ever. The Dean was thoroughly pleased that it
should be so. He intended his son-in-law to be the Marquis, and being
sanguine as well as pugnacious looked forward to seeing that time
himself. Such a man as the Marquis would probably die early, whereas he
himself was full of health. There was nothing he would not do to make
Lord George's life pleasant, if only Lord George would be pleasant to
him, and submissive. But Lord George himself was laden with many
regrets. He had formed a conspiracy against the head of his own family,
and his brother conspirator was the son of a stable-keeper. It might be
also that he was conspiring against his own legitimate nephew; and if
so, the conspiracy would of course fail, and he would be stigmatised
for ever among the Germains as the most sordid and vile of the name.

The Dean's house was in the Close, joined on to the Cathedral, a
covered stone pathway running between the two. The nearest way from the
Deanery to the High Street was through the Cathedral, the transept of
which could be entered by crossing the passage. The Dean and his
son-in-law on this occasion went through the building to the west
entrance, and there stood for a few minutes in the street while the
Dean spoke to men who were engaged on certain repairs of the fabric. In
doing this they all went out into the middle of the wide street in
order