V 
 
 '/ 
 
 r 
 
 .//
 
 i
 
 AN UNEXPECTED INTERVIEW. 
 
 See chapter XX 1 1
 
 i THE LAWYER'S STORY: 
 
 OR, 
 
 THE ORPHAN'S WRONGS. 
 
 A MEMBER OF THE NEW-TORK BAR 
 
 NEW YORK: 
 H. LONG & BROTHEK. 
 
 4 8 ANN-STREET. 
 
 CINCINNATI: H. B. PEARSON A CO, 
 17 EAST FOUETII-ST.
 
 ENTEUED, according to Act of Congress, in the Year One Thousand Eitr'ht Hun- 
 dred find Fifty-three, by II. LONG & BROTHER, in the Office of tho 
 Clerk of the District Court of the United States, for the Southern District of 
 Ise\v York.
 
 OK, 
 
 THE ORPHAN'S 
 
 BY A MEMBER OF THE NEW-YORK BAR. 
 
 Xllustv ateO. 
 
 The publishers have great pleasure in introducing this work to the 
 oublic. As a family novel it is unexceptionable, while it will be found 
 equally interesting and amusing by the casual reader. No tale has ever 
 been written which has attained greater popularity or been HK re eagerly 
 sought for while in the course of serial publication. The perusal of the 
 introductory remarks will satisfy the reader that the Lawyer's Story con- 
 tains incident of more than common interest 
 
 SOME time ago, the following paragraph, copied from 
 an English provincial newspaper, appeared in the New 
 Y"ork Sunday Dispatch, and other journals of wide circu- 
 lation : 
 
 A MYSTERIOUS AFFAIR. We find the following 
 curious story in one of our English exchanges, and as it 
 relates to a couple of Americans, we give it a place : 
 " The quiet little town of Hemmingford Abbotts, near 
 St. Ives, Huntingtonshire, was recently visited by a 
 young lady and gentleman from the United States, 
 
 2200579
 
 IV PREFACE. 
 
 undot cir "I? mstances that have created considerable ex- 
 citement in the neighborhood. The parties are brother 
 and sister, and we believe are contestants for the large 
 property known as the Fitzherbert Manor Lands, situ- 
 ated in this county, which estates have for a long time 
 been iv dispute. As will be recollected, this property 
 was formerly Crown Land, and was given by George the 
 Fourth, when Prince Regent, to Herbert Fitzherbert, 
 Esq., who subsequently went to America. The right of 
 the Prince to bestow Crown Land was contested, and the 
 estate thrown into chancery. Herbert Fitzherbert died, 
 we believe, in the United States, and his heirs at law, 
 after the decision of the long contested suit, entered into 
 possession of the property. These heirs were a son and 
 daughter. The arrival of the new contestants for this 
 property created quite a stir among the fashionable cir- 
 cles. So far, however, but little has leaked out in refer- 
 ence to the real object of our trans- Atlantic visitors, who 
 created the unusual stir in the locality above indicated. 
 One of our reporters called at the Hotel at which the 
 strangers stopped, to gather the particulars, if possible, 
 but found the parties had taken their departure very 
 mysteriously, no one at the hotel having the slightest 
 intimation of their business or their present whereabouts. 
 It is said, upon what authority we know not, that a dis- 
 tinguished attorney from London accompanied thera, 
 and that some parties were subpoenaed to attend a pri- 
 vate examination, but failed to appear, and have not 
 since been heard of by their friends. Altogether there 
 appears to be considerable mystery about this affair." 
 
 Shortly afterwards, a letter was received by the editor 
 of the Dispatch from a Retired member of the New York
 
 PREFACE. % 
 
 B:ir, who stated that he was perfectly acquainted with 
 the history of the incident so mysteriously alluded to in 
 the English journals, and who is the author of the nar- 
 rative published by the title of the "Lawyer's Story," 
 or the " Orphan's Wrongs." 
 
 Few narratives have surpassed the Lawyer's simple 
 story in the intense interest it has excited. The atten- 
 tion of the reader is arrested immediately upon com- 
 mencing the first chapter, and once having been com- 
 menced, the tale is read on with continually increasing 
 interest to its conclusion. 
 
 The following is the letter alluded to, in which the 
 author gives permission to the Editor of the Dispatch to 
 publish the narrative : 
 
 To the Edi'ar of the . 
 
 SIR : Noticing in the last number of the Sunday Dis- 
 patch, a paragraph copied from a Huntingtonshire (Eng- 
 land) newspaper, headed a " Mysterious Affair," in which 
 two Americans, brother and sister, are spoken of 33 
 playing a prominent part, I beg to inform you that I 
 have had an intimate knowledge of the parties alluded 
 to for the last ten years, and that I was the first, person 
 to cause an investigation to be made into their claims. 
 For a short period also, I was professionally engaged in 
 the case. I therefore can partially clear up the "Mys- 
 tery " in which the matter, according to the reporter of 
 the English paper, is involved. If you think proper I 
 give you permission to publish the accompanying man- 
 uscript, containing the facts woven together in the form
 
 VI PREFACE 
 
 of a narrative. I have no interest in the matter ; but as 
 will be explained, my sympathies were from the first 
 naturally enough enlisted in behalf of the American con- 
 testants, whose claims I considered indisputable, and I 
 therefore watched every action pro and con that took 
 place regarding their cause. Having retired from active 
 practice, some six years since, I have made this case 
 my hobby, and have but lately returned from Europe, 
 where my services have voluntarily been rendered in be- 
 half of the brother and sister. I am happy to say that 
 the case has, after an arduous struggle, been decided in 
 their favor, and that, so far as I know, they are now in 
 secure and happy possession of the property it was 
 sought to deprive them of. However, as I presume you 
 will find the narrative to contain sufficient incident, and 
 to possess sufficient interest to justify its publication, 
 I will not anticipate the story. I give you my name in 
 order to satisfy you that my statements are to be relied 
 on.; but it is not perhaps necessary that you should 
 publish it, therefore I sign myself, 
 
 A KETIRED MEMBER OF THE NEW YORK BAR. 
 
 February 6th, 1853. 
 
 Tbe Lawyer's Story is published in one volume, paper covers, 50 cents, 
 or bound in clotb, 75 cents. Copies mailed, on receipt of price, (post paid) 
 addressed 
 
 H. LONG & BROTHER, 
 
 Publishers, 43 Ann street, New York,
 
 JJllu0trattons 
 
 I. LADY MARY IN THE DRAWING-ROOM AT ALTON CASTLE. 
 
 II. LADY MARY BESEECHING THE EARL TO FOREGO HIS DESIGNS REGARDING 
 HER MARRIAGE WITH LORD HENRY FITZHERBERT. 
 
 III. THE BROTHER AND SISTER IN CONVERSATION AT MR. HUGHES' HOUSE. 
 
 IV. AN UNEXPECTED INTERVIEW. 

 
 CONTENTS. 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 
 In which the reader is introduced to the Hero and Heroine of 
 the Story. A Newspaper Advertisement, and a fortunate 
 meeting with a former acquaintance. A base attempt frus- 
 trated. The Heroine of the Story disappears in an unaccount- 
 able manner. ......... 7 
 
 CHAPTER II. 
 
 Every search made for the Heroine is unsuccessful. A letter 
 from Philadelphia leads to a strange discovery. The rescue 
 of the Heroine. Mysterious explanations respecting the ab- 
 duction. .......... 24 
 
 CHAPTER III. 
 
 In which the reader is transported back half a century, and is 
 introduced to the acquaintance of some well known personages 
 of former days. ......... 45 
 
 CHAPTER IV. 
 
 In which the ancestors of the Hero and Heroine are introduced 
 to the reader 58 
 
 CHAPTER V. 
 
 A Royal Sensualist and a sad separation. A boyish resolve man- 
 fully fulfilled. A visit to England, and an introduction to a 
 lawyer of the Old School. The doubles of the Hero and 
 Heroine. . . . . . . . . . .68 
 
 CHAPTER VI. 
 
 The reader is introduced to an Old Bailey Lawyer. Also, to a 
 Counsellor of a too common, but not very reputable class. . 91
 
 yi CONTENTS. 
 
 CHAPTER VII. 
 
 The reader is introduced to Bachelor Apartments in the Albany, 
 and to a Life- Guardsman. Unpleasant intelligence from 
 abroad. An Aristocrat of the first water. A slight igno- 
 rance of Geography. Foul play is contemplated. . 99 
 
 CHAPTER VIII. 
 
 Gossip in an English village. What has become of the Hero 
 of the Story? 110 
 
 CHAPTER IX. 
 
 A Dissertation npon Novel Writing and History. Some New 
 and not uninteresting characters introduced to the notice of 
 the reader 115 
 
 CHAPTER X. 
 
 Several Persons of Consideration are Introduced in a Visit to 
 the " Cat and Bagpipes." A Yankee Lawyer finds himself 
 in rather a Ludicrous Situation, and is so found by his Friend. 
 Some suspicion is aroused as to the fate of the Hero. . 124 
 
 CHAPTER XL 
 
 Alton Castle. An Introduction to the Heiress of Alton. A 
 Noble Maiden's Soliloquy 134 
 
 CHAPTER XII. 
 
 Lady Mary in the Chapel of the Castle. An Interview with 
 the Confessor, Father Auselmo. Good advice in a matter of 
 extreme difficulty. A Parent's displeasure 143 
 
 CHAPTER XIII. 
 
 Conversation between a noble Lord and an ignoble Lawyer. 
 A re-introduction to the office of the Jew Money-lender in 
 the Minories 155 
 
 CHAPTER XIV. 
 
 A Sea-Lawyer on board her Majesty's Ship Thunderer. A 
 quarter-deck oration. A lady overboard, and a rescue from 
 peril. The heir's prospects brighten. A startling discovery. 163 
 
 CHAPTER XV. 
 
 A release from the Man-of-war. The Hero is introduced to 
 some newly discovered relatives. He gives a novel illustra- 
 tion of the old Press-gang system 170
 
 CONTENTS. Vll 
 
 CHAPTER XVI. 
 
 The Abduction of the Heroine. A little private transaction be- 
 tween a noble Lord and his Legal Adviser, and a Lawyer and 
 his man of All Work 178 
 
 CHAPTER XVII. 
 
 Cheatem shows his practical benevolence. A clever forgery, 
 and a slight altercation between two knaves. . . . 185 
 
 CHAPTER XVIII. 
 
 The Convent of St. Euphemia. The Lady Abbess receives a 
 visitor, who does not appear to be very welcome. . . . 193 
 
 CHAPTER XIX. 
 
 Cheatem appears in a new phase of villany. An Elopement, 
 but not to Gretna Green 202 
 
 CHAPTER XX. 
 
 Another visitor to the Convent of St. Euphemia. The Abbess 
 takes charge of a Novice, whom she believes better fitted for 
 a Lunatic Asylum 209 
 
 CHAPTER XXI. 
 
 A party visit the Convent. The unexpected meeting of the 
 Brother and Sister. Georgiana is released from the Convent. 
 Matters look badly for the Conspirators. .... 219 
 
 CHAPTER XXII. 
 
 The Confessor has an interview with the Earl. Its results are 
 unsatisfactory. The struggles of Ambition. . . . 227 
 
 CHAPTER XXIII. 
 
 Vague rumors afloat. A poor look-out ahead. "Hope springs 
 eternal in the human breast." 233 
 
 CHAPTER XXIV. 
 A man of the world in a desperate strait 239 
 
 CHAPTER XXV. 
 
 Bad news from abroad. " When rogues fall out," &c. Expla- 
 nations of rascally dealings. ...... 247 
 
 CHAPTER XXVI. 
 Village Gossip 855
 
 yiii CONTENTS. 
 
 CHAPTER XXVII. PAGE. 
 
 News from the Convent. The Confessor's advice and its re- 
 sults 262 
 
 CHAPTER XXVIII. 
 An unexpected arrival 271 
 
 CHAPTER XXIX. 
 
 The county court. The trial and the verdict set aside. The 
 Earl's death 276 
 
 CHAPTER XXX. 
 
 The return home. Preparations for travel. A serious discus- 
 sion. Cheatem preaches morality. A man of the world 
 again in difficulty. Matrimony the last resource. . . 306 
 
 CHAPTER XXXI. 
 
 Private conversation between a brother and sister, on matters of 
 an interesting and delicate nature. ..... 322 
 
 CHAPTER XXXII. 
 
 A lady's soliloquy. An unexpected rencontre, and an equally 
 unexpected offer and refusal 330 
 
 CHAPTER XXXIII. 
 Confidential disclosures . . 342 
 
 CHAPTER XXXIV. 
 
 The arrival of a stranger alters the aspect of affairs. I return 
 from my tour, and spend an evening with my friends. . . 351 
 
 CHAPTER XXXV. 
 Conclusion 362
 
 THE LAWYER'S STORY; 
 
 OR, 
 
 THE ORPHAN'S WRONGS. 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 
 In which the reader is introduced to the Hero and Heroine 
 of the Story A Newspaper Advertisement and a fortunate 
 meeting with a former acquaintance A base attempt frus- 
 trated The Heroine of the Story disappears in an unac- 
 countable manner. 
 
 IN the summer of 1843, having an extraordinary 
 quantity of deeds to copy, I engaged temporarily an 
 extra copying clerk, who interested me considerably, in 
 consequence of his modest, quiet, gentlemanly demeanor 
 and his intense application to his duties ; so much so, 
 indeed, that I was sorry when, at the expiration of a few 
 weeks, the business of my office growing slack, I no 
 longer had occasion for his services ; neither, at the time, 
 did I know of any vacancy that would suit him ; but I 
 desired him, at all events, should anything turn up, to 
 apply to me for a recommendation, assuring him that I 
 would do all in my power to afford him assistance. 
 While employed by me, he had occasion once or twice, 
 to be at my private residence late in the evening ; and 
 on one occasion, my wife when he was present, happen-
 
 8 THE LAWYER'S STORY; OR, 
 
 ing to observe that she wished she knew of some smart, 
 clever girl to assist her in making up some children's 
 dresses, he modestly said, that he believed his sister was 
 perfectly competent to the task, and would be most happy 
 to embrace the opportunity, for they were both very poor 
 and found great difficulty in getting along. My wife de- 
 sired him to bring her round with him early next morn- 
 ing; and on her presenting herself, her appearance and 
 manners were so satisfactory, that she was immediately 
 engaged. She was employed by us for perhaps a fort- 
 night, and during that time she won the favor of my wife 
 in an equal degree that her brother had mine. Both had 
 evidently seen happier days; but they were reserved as 
 regarded their past history ; and being so, neither I nor 
 my wife pressed them upon what appeared to be a dis- 
 agreeable subject. I must not omit to mention that their 
 names were respectively Adolphus and Greorgiana Fitz- 
 herbert. The young man might have been perhaps 
 twenty years of age, and his sister scarcely sixteen ; both 
 were good-looking but the young man's countenance 
 was shaded with constitutional or habitual melancholy 
 I judged the latter; because at times, when anything 
 deeply interested him, this expression disappeared and 
 left in its place an earnest and winning smile ; but the 
 sister possessed all the grace and artlessness of a Hebe. 
 
 After they had quitted us, I heard no more of them 
 until three years had passed away. In fact, I had en- 
 tirely forgotten them in the multiplicity of business, the 
 cares of a family and the duties of an arduous profession. 
 
 In the fall of 1849 I had occasion to visit Philadelphia, 
 where I put up at Jones' Hotel. While sitting in the 
 reading-room the morning after my arrival, my attention 
 was drawn to an advertisement in the columns of one of 
 the morning papers. It ran thus : 
 
 "INFORMATION WANTED OF ADOLPHUS AND GEORGIANS 
 1 FITZHERBERT, brother and sister, children of Herbert and Elizabeth 
 Fitzherbert, who, it is supposed, came to this country from England, in the 
 year 1825; and subsequently settled somewhere in the State of Pennsyl- 
 vania, where they are supposed both to have died in 1830. If this adver- 
 tisement should meet the eye of both or either of the parties mentioned,
 
 THE ORPHAN'S WRONGS. 9 
 
 and they will call upon or make their residence known to JAMES HART- 
 LEY, at the United States Hotel, Philadelphia, they will hear of something 
 that may accrue very much to their advantage. Any person giving informa- 
 tion where they or either of them may be found, or furnish satisfactory proof 
 of their decease, will be liberally recompensed for their trouble. Those know- 
 ing anything respecting them, are urgently requested not to withold it, as 
 the hereditary right of property in England and the United States, to a 
 very large amount is involved in the matter, and the presence of the parties 
 may save much litigation. 
 
 Now, excepting that the wording of this advertisement 
 was a little more earnest than usual, and that was ac- 
 counted for by the significant words, " the hereditary right 
 of property in England and the United /States, to a very large 
 amount is involved in the matter" there was nothing in it 
 to perplex the mind of a busy member of the New York 
 bar. Advertisements of a similar import are very often 
 to be found in the columns of the morning papers of half 
 the cities in the Union. Nevertheless, I could not get 
 this one out of my head the whole day. It haunted me 
 so much as to perplex me considerably in my business; 
 and yet, cogitate as I might, I could find no reason for 
 it. When I returned to the hotel in the evening, 1 took 
 up the paper again and referred to the column which 
 contained it, and spelt it over as if I were personally in- 
 terested in it. Whether it was the rather uncommon 
 names of the parties advertised, or whether the large 
 property said to be depending upon the life or death of 
 the parties mentioned, and the mention of the term " liti- 
 gation" had peculiar charms to the ear of a member of 
 the legal profession, I can't say ; but, smiling at the con- 
 ceit my mind had suggested to the prejudice of the cloth, 
 as regards their supposed cupidity, I threw the paper 
 aside and shortly afterwards retired to my_own room, 
 where a night's rest banished the recollection of the 
 advertisement from my mind, and I thought no more 
 about it. In a few days my business being finished, I 
 returned to New York. 
 
 About a month after my return from Philadelphia, I 
 was singularly struck with the features of a young fe- 
 male whom I met while walking in Broadway, on my 
 way to my place of business from my residence up-town.
 
 10 THE LAWYER'S STORY; OR, 
 
 I thought I recollected her, yet could not tell where I 
 had met her before. Her appearance was extremely 
 lady-like, but her attire, although scrupulously neat and 
 well fitting, was not of the material worn by persons in 
 the more wealthy circles of society. I should rather 
 have judged her to be one of the female operatives who 
 are employed in great numbers in the numerous book- 
 binding and publishing establishments located in Nassau 
 and Ann streets, and as I was not personally acquainted, 
 that I was aware of, with any of those industrious girls, 
 I dismissed the subject from my mind, merely supposing 
 that the girl bore one of those striking resemblances that 
 we sometimes find in the features of strangers, to some 
 one whom we are acquainted with, or whom we have 
 known at a distant period. 
 
 For some days I saw no more of her, but shortly after- 
 wards I was engaged in certain business of importance, 
 which detained me to a lat^r hour than usual down town, 
 and as I walked from my office I frequently found my- 
 self almost hemmed in in Nassau-street by the bevy of 
 fair operatives who were returning home from their day's 
 labor, laughing and chatting in the full flow of animal 
 spirits which honest labor and consequent independence 
 is sure to bestow upon the youthful and healthful. 
 Among these girls I again noticed the young female who 
 had attracted my attention some days before in Broad- 
 way, and every time I saw her I became more and more 
 impressed with the idea that I had met with her before. 
 
 I noticed likewise a shade of melancholy resting upon 
 her fair delicate features, which made me feel still more 
 interested in her, and one evening meeting her, without 
 a companion, I made free to accost her : 
 
 " Excuse me, Miss," said I, " but I have noticed you 
 several times passing up the street opposite my office, 
 and your features seem so familiar to me, that I cannot 
 believe that I have not had the pleasure of meeting with 
 you before, either at my house, or at the residence of 
 some of my friends ?" 
 
 The young woman shrunk back for a moment, with
 
 THE ORPHAN'S WRONGS. 11 
 
 a feeling of intuitive delicacy, on being thus accosted 
 by a stranger, but, recovering herself, she looked at 
 me earnestly for a moment and said : 
 
 " Can it be possible that this is Mr. ?" 
 
 " It is," replied I, as a sudden flash of memory passed 
 through my mind and, I thought how stupid I had been 
 not to have recollected the young woman before, " and 
 you," I continued, " if I recollect aright, are the young 
 woman who was engaged some two or three years ago 
 by my wife as a dress-maker for the children ?" 
 
 " I am," she replied, " and I have often thought how 
 kindly I was then treated by Mrs. " 
 
 "And what are you doing now," I asked, " if I may 
 take the liberty of an old acquaintance, in thus ques- 
 tioning you?" 
 
 " I am engaged as a book-folder and stitcher," she re- 
 plied, mentioning at the same time the place where she 
 worked a well known establishment in that part of the 
 city. 
 
 " Let me think. Had you not a brother who was 
 also employed for a short time at my office ?" 
 
 The young woman's countenance fell as she replied 
 in an agitated tone of voice : 
 
 " I had sir. Oh, that I knew where he is. He left 
 me to go to Boston, to accept a situation offered him 
 there, and I have never since heard of him, although he 
 promised to write to me, and I am sure he would have 
 written had he been well." 
 
 "Indeed," I replied, "that is a sad case. Have you 
 written to him ?" 
 
 " Finding I received no letter from Boston from him, 
 sir, I wrote to the gentleman who engaged him, direct- 
 ing the letter to be left at the Post-office, for I do not 
 know his address ; but to that letter I have received no 
 reply." 
 
 " What is your brother's name ?" I asked. 
 
 " Adolphus Fitzherbert, sir." 
 
 " A new light now see ned to break upon me. 
 
 " And your own baptismal name r"
 
 12 THE LAWYER'S STORY; OR, 
 
 " Is Georgiana. sir." 
 
 "By heaven!" said I, "it is the very name men- 
 tioned in the advertisement I read at Philadelphia, 
 and now I can perceive how it haunted me so much t> 
 I had an indistinct recollection of the names, yet could 
 not recall any circumstances connected with them to 
 my mind." So saying I took out my pocket book, 
 for I had had sufficient curiosity to cut out the ad- 
 vertisement, and to wafer it in a spare leaf of the 
 book. 
 
 The young woman appeared to be alarmed at the 
 earnestness I displayed ; but begging her to calm her- 
 self, I asked her to read the advertisement; she did 
 so, though her nervous system had been so excited 
 that she trembled violently. 
 
 " There is nothing to be alarmed at in that adver- 
 tisement, Miss Fitzherbert," said I, " on the contrary, 
 I believe from its tenor it bodes good both to you 
 and your brother; now tell me, are the names men- 
 tioned in the advertisement the baptismal names of your 
 parents?" 
 
 " They are, sir," she replied. 
 
 " And they died in Pennsylvania-in 1830 ?" 
 
 " Yes, sir. My mother died in the month of Janu- 
 ary of that year, just a week after I was born, at 
 Reading in Pennsylvania, and my father died at the 
 same place, of consumption, in the month of Novem- 
 ber of the same year. I never knew my parents, sir," 
 she added, while the tears sprang into her eyes. 
 
 "And were you reared in Reading?" I asked. 
 
 "Yes, sir, " she replied ; "a kind friend adopted and 
 educated us, but he and his wife died while we were 
 both young, and since then we have had to buffet with 
 the world, and have found the struggle arduous enough ; 
 but my brother has ever been more than a brother to 
 me." 
 
 " Of that," I said, ' from what I have seen of you both, 
 I can have no doubt. Now, will you oblige me by 
 calling at my residence to-morrow evening at 7 o'clock.
 
 LADY MARY IN THE DRAWING ROOM AT ALTON CASTLED 
 
 See chapter XI.
 
 THE ORPHAN'S WRONGS. 13 
 
 You know where it is. I still live where I did when 
 you were employed by my wife. Let me hear more of 
 your story ; and, as I am going on business to Boston, 
 in the course of a few days, I will do what I can to find 
 out your brother." 
 
 The } r oung woman thanked me, and promised to call 
 as I requested, and I wished her good evening. 
 
 As 1 walked home, it struck me that possibly her 
 brother's strange silence, might arise out of some cause 
 connected with the advertisement, for I had no doubt 
 they were the parties enquired after, and I mentioned 
 the circumstances to my wife in the evening. Her 
 curiosity was aroused as well as my own, and I went 
 home earlier the following evening, and waited with no 
 little impatience for Miss Fitzherbert's visit. 
 
 She came according to appointment, and was recog- 
 nized and kindly received by my wife, but she seemed 
 sadly cast down in consequence of her brother's inex- 
 plicable silence. In the course of the evening she re- 
 lated in a simple, straight-forward and artless manner, 
 the history of the joint adventures of her brother and 
 herself since they had quitted our employment, as well 
 as a brief outline, as much as she knew herself, of her 
 father's and mother's history. Her father and mother 
 were both English. Previously to the war of 1812 '14 
 her father, then a young man, having some little pro- 
 perty and good expectations, conceived the idea of visit- 
 ing the United States with the simple object of travel 
 and amusement, natural to young men. While travel- 
 ling in this country, he had purchased a considerable 
 area of land in Virginia ; but war ensuing, he found 
 himself compelled to quit the country, not having taken 
 out his naturalization papers, or even signified his in- 
 tention to do so ; perhaps having no immediate intention. 
 The consequence was, as the young woman said, his 
 property was claimed by some one, who, as her father 
 had asserted, had previously threatened to contest the 
 validity of the title deeds, although to the last he had 
 deemed his claims spurious. However, under the pecu-
 
 14 THE LAWYER'S STORY; OR, 
 
 liar circumstances of the case, the property was lost to 
 him, and he took no more trouble about it. In 1819, 
 he married, in England, a young lady of great personal 
 attractions and amiability of disposition, but, according 
 to the notions of his friends, beneath him in rank, 
 although the daughter of a poor, but worthy member of 
 the medical profession. His expectations were almost 
 altogether founded upon the good will of wealthy and 
 titled friends, who repudiated him after this marriage; 
 and disgusted with their aristocratic notions, and having a 
 little money of his own, he determined to emigrate to 
 the United States with his young wife, and to make 
 America his adopted country. Accordingly he em- 
 barked from England with his slender stock of worldly 
 goods and landing at Philadelphia, engaged in business. 
 For some time he was successful ; but at length fortune 
 failed him, and selling off the remains of his property, as 
 well as his household furniture, he removed to Heading, 
 Pennsylvania, where both the surviving children were 
 born ; and where the eldest child born in Philadelphia, 
 died. Miss Fitzherbert, as the reader is aware, had already 
 narrated the manner and cause of her father and mother's 
 death, so I need not repeat the story. She then went on 
 to relate what had transpired subsequently to my having 
 become acquainted with them in New York. Having 
 a friend in Harrisburgh, Pennsylvania, they had gore 
 thither, finding nothing that was likely to give them 
 permanent employment in this city, and the brother ob- 
 tained a situation in this friend's counting house, and for 
 a year or two he managed to maintain his sister and 
 himself in comfort and respectability ; but the failure 
 of his employer again cast him adrift in the world, 
 and after lingering in Harrisburgh until the little money 
 he had managed to save was almost expended, fruit- 
 lessly seeking employment, he had gone on to Phila- 
 delphia, where while seeking something to do, he had 
 fallen in with a gentleman from Boston, who appeared 
 to be favorably impressed by his appearance, and asked 
 him various questions relative to his family and con-
 
 THE ORPHAN'S WRONGS. 16 
 
 nections in England, and who eventually engaged him 
 as a clerk, at the same time introducing the sister to a 
 friend, who promised to procure her light and profitable 
 employment in New York. She would have preferred 
 much going to Boston with Adolphus, but she was 
 overruled by the gentleman who had engaged her bro- 
 ther, who, she thought, appeared anxious that she 
 should not go to Boston. However, she was unsuspi 
 cious of any evil, and as the gentleman appeared to fee. 
 so kindly towards them both, she, rather against her 
 brother's wish, decided to come to New York, where 
 the person who had accompanied her had been as good 
 as his word, and had procured her work at the estab- 
 lishment in which she was engaged at this time; 
 but she was in great distress in consequence of her 
 brother's strange silence. 
 
 From the nature of the questions which had been put 
 to her by the stranger in Philadelphia, I was more confi- 
 dent than ever that he was cognizant of the motives 
 which had led to the advertisement being inserted in the 
 Philadelphia paper, and I at once made up my mind to 
 take the case in hand and see if I could not ferret some- 
 thing out of it, even if I had to proceed to England. In- 
 deed that difficulty I cared little about ; for I had for 
 some time previously harbored a desire to visit Europe. 
 
 I accordingly begged Miss Fitzherbert to resign her 
 situation at the bookbinding establishment, and again to 
 assist my wife in dress-making, as she was then on the 
 look out for a young person to assist her in such matters, 
 and I resolved at once to visit Boston, and seek to disco- 
 ver what had become of the young man. 
 
 Miss Fitzherbert gladly consented, and having ar- 
 ranged matters satisfactorily, my wife showed her to the 
 apartment she had appropriated to her use. 
 
 The next morning as soon as I reached my office, I me- 
 chanically took up a file of Boston papers, scarcely ex- 
 pecting they would give me any clue to follow in my pro- 
 posed visit, yet still with that vague hope that we are all 
 wont to repose sometimes on the merest trifles, on such
 
 16 THE LAWYER'S STORY; OR, 
 
 occasions as that of which I am speaking. Turning to 
 the date on which Miss Fitzherbert had told me her bro- 
 ther had left Philadelphia for Boston, I carelessly glanced 
 over the columns of paper after paper, half smiling to my- 
 self at my own foolish occupation, when I was startled 
 on perceiving in the police news of one of the papers, a 
 report that one Adol-phus Fitzherbert had been commit- 
 ted to jail for trial on a charge of having embezzled mo- 
 ney from his employer. 
 
 At first I was somewhat shocked ; from what I had 
 formerly seen of the young man, I could not bring my- 
 self to believe that he was guilty of such a crime ; but I 
 determined to visit Boston the very next day, and see him 
 again, and thus form an opinion from what I could learn 
 there, of the nature of the charge against him. Accord- 
 ingly, having told Miss Fitzherbert that evening that I 
 had heard already of her brother, and that he was in good 
 health, I signified my intention of proceeding to Boston 
 on the following morning. I could perceive that Miss 
 Fitzherbert was not easy in her mind, notwithstanding 
 what I had told her; doubtless because she was confi- 
 dent, had it been so, her brother would have written to 
 her ; but she had the good sense to control her feelings 
 before me, however she might have given vent to them 
 in private. 
 
 On arriving at Boston, I went to the residence of a 
 friend and related to him the strange circumstances of 
 the advertisement which had so interested me, and my 
 subsequent meeting with the young woman, together with 
 the charge preferred against her brother, and said I could 
 not believe that he was really guilty. 
 
 My friend laughed at my interesting myself in a young 
 fellow who in all probability might turn out to be 
 a thorough scamp ; but, at my request, consented to ac- 
 company me to a magistrate, from whom we obtained 
 permission to visit the prisoner. 
 
 Young Fitzherbert immediately recognized me when 
 I entered the cell in which he was confined ; but poor 
 fellow ! I scarcely should have recognized him as the
 
 THE ORPHAN'S WRONGS. 17 
 
 youth I formerly befriended, so haggard and woebe- 
 gone was his appearance nevertheless, his features be- 
 trayed indignation rather than guilt, and as I looked 
 upon his frank, open countenance, I felt more than ever 
 assured that there had been foul play regarding him. I 
 entered into conversation with him, and he indignantly 
 repelled the idea that he had been guilty of so base a 
 crime as that he was charged with, and I at length learnt 
 from him the whole of the circumstances connected with 
 his visit to Boston and his subsequent incarceration in jail. 
 
 The stranger he had met with in Philadelphia, had 
 first met him at an intelligence office in that city whithei 
 he had gone in search of employment. He appeared al 
 first to be much interested in him, and had .held some 
 conversation with him respecting his parents, and hi? 
 present and future prospects, and at length, on leaving 
 him, requested him to call with his sister at his hotel on 
 the following day. He had called, as requested, accom- 
 panied by his sister, when the stranger made further sin- 
 gular inquiries respecting his affairs, and concluded by 
 offering him a situation in Boston, and also recommended 
 his sister to some employment in New York, as Georgi- 
 ana had told me. On arriving in Boston, this person, 
 whose name was Dorcas, had engaged a double-bedded 
 room at an hotel, and they had both retired to rest ; and 
 the young man was awakened in the morning by a po- 
 liceman, who arrested him on the charge of having rob- 
 bed the valise of Mr. Dorcas on the previous evening. 
 They searched his clothes, and a wallet containing a con- 
 siderable amount in bills, was found in his pocket, al- 
 though he solemnly asserted he knew not how it came 
 there. His assertions however, were of no avail, and he 
 was committed to jail for trial. He concluded with 
 saying, he had not the heart to let his sister know of his 
 unhappy situation. 
 
 The charge both to my friend and myself, appeared 
 to be perfectly extravagant for we could not believe, 
 had the young man actually robbed his employer, that 
 he would have retired to rest in the same room with him,
 
 18 THE LAWYER'S STORY; OK, 
 
 and with the proceeds of the robbery in his pocket, or 
 that the employer would, had the robbery actually 
 taken place, have procured the arrest of his future clerk, 
 without first awakening him and charging him with the 
 robbery, and we told our impressions to the youth, pro- 
 mising to use our best endeavors to investigate further 
 the nature of the charge. 
 
 We ascertained from young Fitzherbert the name of 
 the hotel at which Dorcas was stopping, and immediately 
 determined on paying him a visit ; and finding him in 
 the reading-room, I, without prelude, boldly asked on 
 what grounds Adolphus Fitzherbert had been imprisoned. 
 
 The man, who was a sinister-looking individual, was 
 evidently surprised at seeing two respectable strangers, 
 who were evidently interested in the prisoner : but he 
 recovered himself, and replied, haughtily 
 
 " On a charge of embezzlement." 
 
 " Indeed !" said I, assuming a confidant tone ; for, in 
 spite of his assumed boldness, I saw the fellow was 
 frightened. "It is strange that a young man, whom 
 you had engaged as a clerk, should have the unaccount- 
 able audacity to rob you, and then retire to rest in the 
 same room with you, with the money in his vest-pocket ; 
 and strange, also, that you should actually cause him 
 to be arrested, without charging him with the crime, or 
 even awakening him from sleep. To tell the plain truth, 
 sir, I believe the young man is innocent, and that you 
 have other reasons for causing him to be sent to prison, 
 and so put out of the way. You asked some singular 
 questions of him and his sister, in Philadelphia. Pray, 
 sir, do you know anything of this advertisement?" 
 showing him the slip, in my pocket-book. 
 
 The fellow became much agitated, but made no reply. 
 I continued : 
 
 " Now, sir, in the first place, I wish to know where 
 is your place of business in Boston, and what is the pro- 
 fession, to aid you in which, you were so eager to engage 
 the services of young Fitzherbert, after having gleaned 
 all you could from him respecting his family ; and why
 
 THE OEPHAN'S WRONGS. 19 
 
 did you recommend his sister not to come with him to 
 Boston, when you are well aware she could have got 
 employment near her brother, as well as at New York ? 
 You see, sir, I know all connected with this matter, and 
 am determined to sift it to the uttermost. I know that 
 no person of your name is carrying on business in this 
 city, for I have searched the Directory. The name of 
 Jeremiah Dorcas is not to be found there. I can tell 
 you, sir, you have got yourself into an awkward po- 
 sition." 
 
 The fellow trembled like an aspen-leaf, and I was now 
 confidant the whole charge was trumped up : but still 
 he did not reply ; and I was about to leave the hotel, 
 and make known my suspicions to a magistrate. This 
 I told him, when he confessed that he had placed the 
 money in the pocket of the young man, and that he had 
 been hired to do so by a person named Harley, whom 
 he had met at Jones' Hotel, in Philadelphia, who had 
 paid him liberally to get the young man out of the way. 
 He had shown him the advertisement, but further than 
 this he knew nothing of the business. I believed what 
 he said ; and he begged me to say nothing about the 
 matter, and he would withdraw the charge. 
 
 My friend was for causing him to be arrested, for ma- 
 king a false charge, but I saw that evidently there was 
 fraud and conspiracy at work respecting these young 
 people, as regarded some inheritance that was justly their 
 due ; arid I thought that the wisest plan to circumvent 
 the machinations of their enemies, would be to keep 
 things secret, the more especially as Dorcas had mention- 
 ed that Harley was in communication with others besides 
 himself, while he was in Philadelphia. I insisted, how- 
 ever, upon his delivering to Adolphus the amount he 
 had falsely charged him with stealing, as the price of 
 my forbearance, and commanded him to keep Harley 
 ignorant of the turn matters had taken. This the trem- 
 bling coward gladly promised to do. As to Harley, he 
 said he believed he had gone to England at all events, 
 he knew not where he could be found.
 
 20 THE LAWYER'S STORY ; OR, 
 
 "I am now going to the jail," I added; "you will 
 please to accompany me : the court is now sitting. Ex- 
 plain to the judge and committing magistrate, that you 
 were wrong in your suspicious ; that young Fitzherbert 
 is innocent, and, to the best of your knowledge, has not 
 a stain on his moral character or I will not answer for 
 the consequences." 
 
 The crest-fallen man did as I desired, and I had the 
 satisfaction to see young Fitzherbert a free man. 
 
 A few days afterwards, having completed my own 
 
 Private business, we left Boston together, for New York, 
 need not describe the joyous emotions of young Fitz- 
 herbert as we entered the railroad-cars, and he thought 
 how soon he should again see his sister, from whom he 
 had, until now, never been a day separated since child- 
 hood, nor the flood of gratitude he expressed towards 
 myself for my kindness to them both. 
 
 In due time we arrived at New York, and I made 
 all possible haste to get home, as I saw how anxious 
 Adolphus was to see his sister. Under the circumstan- 
 ces, it was not to be wondered at. 
 
 We reached my residence, and we were both welcomed 
 at the door by my wife. 
 
 We had hardly taken off our overcoats, when young 
 Fitzherbert asked for his sister. 
 
 " She must be up stairs in her room," said my wife; 
 " for Mary came in with the children a few minutes 
 since. I guess, had she heard you come in, she would 
 have been down before now." 
 
 " Has she been abroad, then ?" I asked. 
 
 "Yes," replied my wife; " the poor girl has been con- 
 fined so long, that I thought a little fresh air would do 
 her good ; and she was every day so anxiously expecting 
 a letter from her brother, that I let her go as far as the 
 post-office. Mary has been with her and two of the 
 children." 
 
 "Hasten, then, 'and call her down stairs, my dear," 
 I said ; "Adolphus is dying with impatience to see her." 
 
 My wife did as I desired her but there was no re-
 
 THE ORPHAN'S WRONGS. 21 
 
 gponse. She went up stairs to her room, but she was 
 not there. 
 
 " Where can she be ?" said she ; " I purely heard Mary 
 come in, and heard the children's voices in the passage. 
 Mary !" she called down the basement stairs ; and, in a 
 moment, the servant made her appearance. 
 
 " Where is Miss Fitzherbert, Mary ?" said I. 
 
 " I do not know, sir," replied the servant ; " I thought 
 she got home before me." 
 
 "Did you part company with her, then, in the street?" 
 
 " We were stopping at a picture shop in Broadway, 
 sir, after we had called at the post-office, where there was 
 no letter for Miss Fitzherbert, and she was showing one 
 of the pictures to the children, when the fire bells rang, 
 and a great crowd of people rushed by with the engines. 
 I took the hands of the children, and tried to escape the 
 crowd, by turning down one of the by-streets until it had 
 passed ; and when I looked round, Miss Fitzherbert was 
 not to be seen. She must have lost us in the crowd, and 
 I thought, perhaps, she had taken a stage, and got home 
 before us." 
 
 Poor Adolphus was in a sad state of excitement, and 
 to tell the truth my wife and I were little less alarmed. 
 
 " You should on no consideration have let her go out 
 of the house, Jane," said I to my wife, who appeared to 
 be quite stupefied at the turn matters had taken. 
 
 However, after a few moments consideration, I began 
 to think we were all viewing the affair too seriously, and 
 I said 
 
 "Miss Fitzherbert has no doubt missed Mary in the 
 crowd, and has perhaps staid behind in the hope of find- 
 ing her and the children again. I dare say she will be 
 here shortly ; for she knows the way from Broadway to 
 our residence." 
 
 We all hoped and thought this would be the case, 
 although we could not get rid of our uneasiness ; but at 
 length, when half-an-hour an hour had elapsed, and it 
 began to grow dusk, we got really and seriously alarmed, 
 and Adolphus was almost beside himself with mingled
 
 22 THE LAWYER'S STORY; OR, 
 
 feelings of excitement and fear. In the course of anothei 
 half-an-hour we walked out together, taking the direction 
 of Broadway, although utterly unable to devise any 
 means of learning any tidings of the lost one. " Had any 
 accident happened to her ? had she been run down and 
 injured by the crowd?" were questions that we asked 
 ourselves, and in the dreadful doubt whether or not this 
 had been the case, we actually proceeded to the city hos- 
 pital and asked if any one answering to her description 
 had been carried thither ? The answer was in the nega- 
 tive, and at our wits' ends what farther to do, we returned 
 to the house, hoping to find her there safe when we ar- 
 rived ; but it was now dark, and nothing had been heard 
 of her. Neither her brother or I could rest at home, and 
 we again went out this time going to the Chief of the 
 Police's office, where we stated what had occurred. 
 
 Again we returned home, and again heard the dismal 
 news that Miss Fitzherbert had not arrived. Neither of 
 us went to rest that night, and Adolphus was almost 
 driven by his feelings into a state of insanity. He flung 
 himself upon the chairs and sofas, and then rose and ra- 
 pidly paced the floor, with clenched fists and wild 
 gestures ; he went from room to room and searched in 
 the most ridiculous and impossible places, and I had 
 great difficulty in controlling him or keeping him from 
 again rushing out of the house and uselessly, at that 
 hour, renewing the search. 
 
 Morning carne at length, slowly enough it appeared to 
 us, and as soon as it was daylight I hurried down town, 
 accompanied by Adolphus, to the evening newspaper of- 
 fices and desired an advertisement to be inserted, and 
 then we pursued the same course at the offices of all the 
 daily papers. 
 
 However, the advertisements answered no purpose, and 
 days passed away and nothing was heard of the lost girl, 
 although the police were put on the alert and every means 
 we could devise employed to hear some tidings of her or 
 to discover her whereabouts. 
 
 Meanwhile, dispirited though I was, I learnt from the
 
 THE ORPHAN'S WRONGS. 28 
 
 young man at various times, for he was too agitated to 
 speak long on any subject, that his sister's version of the 
 history of her family was perfectly correct so far as she 
 knew. I also received a hint from him respecting the 
 relatives of his father's .family which I shall not at present 
 disclose, as it would interfere with the interest of the sub- 
 sequent narrative ; and in the vague hope that the sister 
 would eventually be found, I set about investigating as 
 far as I was able, the mystery of the advertisement. 1 
 learnt that it had been answered by two young persons, 
 representing their names and those of their parents to be 
 the same as those of my youthful proteges, and thus as 
 they had gained two months or more undisputed vantage 
 ground, 1 found that I should have to commence the 
 buttle with strong odds against me. My counter evi- 
 dence was, however, so conclusive that I had no doubt 
 whatever of the eventual success of my clients, could I 
 only find the poor girl, despite the tardiness and the 
 proverbial uncertainty of the law in such cases as these. 
 I soon had reason, however, to believe that the person 
 whose name had appeared in the advertisement as the 
 agent in the business was an Englishman, and was really 
 the agent of the parties who claimed, in England, the 
 right to the disputed property, and also that the parties, 
 wiio had personified the brother and sister were paid 
 agents themselves, employed for the purpose of carrying 
 out what turned out to be one of the most foul conspi- 
 racies to defraud that was ever plotted. I will, at present, 
 only observe that to those persons who recognize in the 
 name of Fitzherbert that of a character once somewhat 
 celebrated at the Court of St. James, some idea of the 
 hint given me by young Fitzherbert regarding the posi' 
 tion of his father's family may be arrived at; but the 
 whole affair is so mixed up with shameless trickery and 
 heartless duplicity on the part of some of the so-called 
 aristocracy, both of this country and Great Britain, that 
 it would be useless to say more at present. From the 
 incidents I learnt I shall weave the whole affair into a 
 narrative, which in my opinion, and that of all those
 
 24 THE LAWYER'S STORY; OR, 
 
 cognizant of any of the circumstances connected with it 3 
 will contain matter of the most thrilling interest, continu- 
 ing it up to the date of the paragraph taken from the 
 English paper, which, so far as it goes, is in the main 
 correct. 
 
 I proceeded to work busily, although much discon- 
 certed by the non-appearance of Miss Fitzherbert, whose 
 identity it would be necessary to substantiate, or at least 
 to have satisfactory proof of her death, and now we began 
 really to fear that something fatal had befallen her. I 
 was therefore hampered in commencing operations openly, 
 so as to give me any chance of success. Young Fitzher- 
 bert also was so completely paralyzed by the loss of his 
 sister that he appeared perfectly heedless regarding the 
 matter, and careless as to what became of him ; for three 
 long, anxious, weary weeks had now passed away, and 
 still nothing had been discovered respecting the missing 
 girl. 
 
 CHAPTER II. 
 
 Every search made for the heroine, is unsuccessful A letter 
 from Philadelphia leads to a strange discovery The res- 
 cue of the heroine Mysterious explanations respecting the 
 abduction. 
 
 WHAT a different estimation do we form of the value 
 of time according to the peculiar circumstances under 
 which we may be placed ! Time flies so rapidly, says he 
 or she whose mind is free from trouble ; whose prospects 
 are cheering, and whose future path appears strewn with 
 flowers. Time lags so wearily along, says another, whose 
 soul is beset with apprehensions; who is a prey to the 
 demon of anxiety or remorse, or whose spirits and health 
 are prostrated beneath that "hope deferred which maketh 
 the heart sick." 
 
 Thus it was with poor Adolphus ; thus, though in a 
 less painful degree, was it with myself; while my wife
 
 THE ORPHAN'S WRONGS. 25 
 
 was sorely distressed that she had, although unconsci- 
 ously, been the cause of all our trouble in consequence 
 of allowing Georgiana to go abroad on the ill-fated day 
 of her visit to the Post Office; besides which, as a woman, 
 she could but feel for the situation of the/orlorn, de- 
 sponding brother, as well as entertain mournful appre- 
 hensions regarding the sister whose mysterious disap- 
 pearance and prolonged absence almost banished any 
 hope that we had entertained of her return. 
 
 At the conclusion of the last chapter of this narrative, 
 I said three^weeks had passed away since I had returned 
 from Boston with young Fitzherbert," and learnt the 
 melancholy tidings of his sister's disappearance; but 
 three weeks did not put a period to our anxiety. Twice 
 that space of time had elapsed, and no intelligence had 
 been heard from or of her, although her strange disap- 
 pearance had been advertised throughout every state in 
 the Union. 
 
 Adolphus and I had our suspicions at first that 
 M , of Boston, the person whose evil designs re- 
 garding both the brother and sister, have already been 
 spoken of, had something to do with the matter; but he, 
 we learnt, had sailed a week or two previous for Eng- 
 land. He had been in New York about the time of 
 the disappearance of Miss Fitzherbert, it is true ; but 
 there was nothing, so far as we could learn, to fasten 
 suspicion directly upon him, or to lead us to believe he 
 knew any thing of the matter. 
 
 One strange piece of information we received which, 
 vague as it was, urged young Fitzherbert to the very 
 brink of despair, as regarded his sister's fate. It wa"s 
 this : Some weeks after we had advertised the disap- 
 pearance of the young lady, I received a reply, by letter, 
 from a Postmaster of a small town in Wisconsin, accom- 
 panied by a local newspaper, in the columns of which 
 was a paragraph relating to a young female whose ap- 
 pearance seemed to agree with that of Miss Fitzherbert, 
 and who had been in that neighborhood shortly after the 
 
 2
 
 26 THE LAWYERS STORY; OR, 
 
 date of her disappearance from New York, or, at least, 
 from her friends in this city.. This young female, the 
 Postmaster stated in his letter, had shown symptoms of 
 aberration of intellect, and had since been found drowned 
 in a creek in the neighborhood it was supposed by ac- 
 cident, as she had apparently stepped off a partially 
 opened draw-bridge. The features could not be recog- 
 nized, as the body when found, had been several days in 
 the water ; but a locket had been taken from her neck 
 which was sent on for me to identify if possible. Strange 
 enough, Miss Fitzherbert, as her brother said, had worn 
 a similar one, and though it was a counterpart of those 
 which may be found in a jeweler's store at all times, he 
 would not believe otherwise than that the unfortunate 
 girl described in the newspaper, and letter, was his 
 sister. 
 
 With regard to the advertisement respecting the pro- 
 perty, I was prevented from taking any prompt and de- 
 termined steps in the matter, for reasons, I have already 
 explained, and to add to my uneasiness on this score, I 
 read in a English newspaper, received by a late mail, 
 that the two persons, who, I had not the slightest doubt, 
 had wrongly personated the brother* and sister enquired 
 for in the advertisement, had arrived in London, and, to 
 the satisfaction of all interested parties, were proceeding 
 in a legal way to substantiate their claims. The evi- 
 dence of Adolphus would have thrown a considerable 
 obstacle in their way. This I was fully aware of; and I 
 strenuously endeavored to urge him to co-operate with 
 me, and to dispute the rights of the false claimants ; but 
 all my endeavors to arouse him to energy were futile. 
 I told him that duty, as well as justice to himself and 
 sister, required him to exert himself; that in the event 
 of his sister's reappearance, so much time would be irre- 
 vocably lost, and with it every anticipation of obtaining 
 future justice; for none knew better than I the intrica- 
 cies of laws suits, wherein the rights of property are con- 
 cerned, and often in the course of a long practice had I
 
 THE ORPHAN'S WRONGS. 27 
 
 experienced the truth of the axiom " Possession is nine 
 points of the law." 
 
 But when I mentioned the subject to him, he would 
 reply, while the sickly smile of hopelessness gave a 
 ghastly appearance to his wan features " The recovery 
 
 of my sister, Mr. 1 Can I, can you, or any one 
 
 now retain a hope of her return ? Supposing that the 
 Wisconsin Postmaster letter did not relate to her, where 
 could an innocent, helpless girl have been immured for 
 six weeks? No, no, Georgiana will return no more. 
 I cannot, dare not say what I fear has been her fate," 
 and as he spoke, a shudder pervaded his frame. " She 
 has gone from me forever, and with her has fled every 
 hope of my existence. What were the prospect of 
 wealth and the possession of rights and property that 
 may or may not be mine, provided she were not with 
 me to share my good fortune. Poor, dear girl, she 
 shared my evil fortune long enough, and her cheerful 
 voice and winning smile and clinging sisterly love, were 
 oftentimes, when I was most prostrated by misfortune, 
 the only spur that goaded me on to fresh exertion. 
 Hope for the future is dead within me. If wealth be 
 mine, let others enjoy it if they will and can, to me it 
 would be a source of perpetual rankling of soul. Could 
 / revel in luxury, enjoy pleasure, bask in the sunshine 
 of prosperity, witness the happiness of strangers, and not 
 feel a constantly recurring pang, wounding me to the 
 heart, and rendering each scene of enjoyment to others, 
 one of torture to me? Could I witness brothers and 
 sisters, aye, or lovers, mingling in the dance with those 
 they loved, or enjoy themselves in any social festivity, 
 without having the. image of my poor sister fair as the 
 fairest, and dearer to me than myself constantly before 
 my eyes; perhaps, in fancy, looking reproachfully upon 
 me as the cause of her death," and here his voice fal- 
 tered as he added " for I should not have left her. No, 
 
 Mr. , 1 feel all your kindness, but I have no motive 
 
 now to urge me to exertion. 
 
 " While I live, I feel that I must work for my sup
 
 28 THE LAWYER'S STORY; OK, 
 
 port, and the very necessity of exertion that feeling will 
 create, will prove a better balm to my sorrowing spirit 
 than all the allurements that wealth could bestow. 
 And this leads me to speak on a subject I have revolved 
 in iny mind this morning. I can live no longer on your 
 generosity. I have done so too long already ; but while 
 a vestige of hope remained, I was unwilling to quit your 
 residence. You will add one more favor to the many 
 you have accorded to me, if you. will, through your in- 
 fluence aid me in procuring even the humblest employ- 
 ment by means of which I can support myself and re- 
 pay your kindness. At all events to-morrow I shall 
 leave here. If my sister is lost to me, her brother shall 
 be no longer too long he has already been the reci- 
 pient of the charity of strangers." 
 
 There was a bitterness in the tone in which the young 
 man uttered these last words that I should have thought, 
 under other circumstances, savored of ingratitude ; but 
 in the irritated state of his nerves, I could easily over- 
 look and forgive it. I therefore replied: 
 
 " Air. Fitzherbert, you are, from what I have heard 
 from your own lips, corroborated, as it has been by the 
 information I have already received, by means of the 
 very slight investigation the sad circumstances in which 
 we have been placed have permitted rne to make, 
 aware as well as I, that you and your sister are in all 
 probability the heirs to wealth and rank compared with 
 which the position I hold is one of poverty ; therefore 
 the slight favors I have rendered you, since you have 
 made my house your home, cannot be placed to the score 
 of charity on my part. The services I rendered your 
 -sjster and yourself previously, were, only such as any 
 nonest, right feeling man would render to any human 
 beings placed in a similar position, therefore they have 
 left no obligation behind. I can, however, feel, myself, 
 the awkwardness of your position here, provided you 
 still determine to take no steps to aid me in my endea- 
 vors to restore to you the inheritance that should have 
 been your father's, without which all action on my part
 
 THE ORPHAN'S WRONGS. 29 
 
 would be worse than useless. But you shall not leave 
 me unprovided for. I have influence to obtain you em- 
 ployment which will give you the means of gaining 
 a comfortable livelihood, and it shall be employed in 
 your behalf. I again, however, urge you to view the 
 matter differently. You are a young man: brilliant 
 prospects may be before you ; happiness may yet await 
 you. Time will blunt the keenest pangs of the grief 
 you now feel on account of your sister's loss ; your sis- 
 ter even may yet be restored to you. If not, recollect 
 that others have suffered in a like degree, and if they 
 have temporarily given way to despondency, it has not 
 lasted forever. Excuse me for alluding to another sub- 
 ject, which perhaps may, under your present bereave- 
 ment, be unpleasant to you. It is this : It cannot be ex- 
 pected that because you have lost a sister, however dear 
 she was to you, you can remain indifferent to the fasci- 
 nations of the sex. The time will corne when some 
 gentle being will awaken other, different and stronger 
 emotions of love, and in her love you may be happy ; and 
 though the loss of your sister may never, will never be 
 obliterated from your recollection, Time, as I have already 
 said, the assuager of all mental grief, will enshrine her 
 memory in your breast as one of the sad but yet not 
 altogether painful recollections of the past ; for there are 
 moments in the lives of the happiest when there is a 
 mournful pleasure in recalling even the bitterest sorrows 
 of by gone days. Let me then once again entreat of 
 you to overcome what I must term this morbid disposi- 
 tion to court hopelessness and despair. To-night 1 will 
 say no more on the subject. Revolve what I have said in 
 your mind, and tell me your determination to-morrow." 
 
 Tears sprang into the young man's eyes, as he rose 
 and seized me by the hand. 
 
 "I am sensible," he said, "that I have spoken in. 
 words which might be construed into those of ingrati- 
 tude ; forgive me, and charge the fault to the distress 
 into which my mind has been plunged. Had I lost 
 Georgiana in any other manner, although I should feel
 
 30 THE LAWYER'S STORY; OK, 
 
 the loss bitterly, I should not so deeply grieve ; but to 
 lose her in this strange manner, brings heartrending 
 forebodings as to what may have been her fate. And in 
 reply to your remarks upon my distress of mind and 
 your allusions to future happiness, listen to me, while I 
 tell how it is that the cords of brotherly and sisterly love 
 were so closely woven around our hearts, and then say 
 if mine is a common case of sorrow. I am six years 
 older than my sister, and when our mother died I was 
 able to carry the little baby about and my father's 
 death occurring so shortly afterwards, although we were 
 kindly adopted by strangers, as soon as my sister was 
 out of her nurse's arms, I was naturally enough em- 
 ployed much in tending and amusing her. I, at the 
 time of our parents deaths, was old enough, child as I 
 was, to lament their loss, and to feel a harrowing sense 
 of our loneliness. Perhaps, I was prematurely inducted 
 into the cares and sorrows of existence for, such a loss 
 as that, to a child of my age at the time, generally leads 
 to precocity I might, like other boys, had my parents 
 lived, sought the society of my childhood's playmates, 
 and thought but little of a baby sister ; but as she began 
 to walk, and then to lisp the name of " brother," and to 
 dry up her childish tears and smile a welcome at my ap- 
 proach, can it be wondered at that she became all in all 
 to me; and, then, as she grew older, she whispered 
 in my ears all her childish joys and sorrows, and 
 made me the confidant of her little secrets and when I 
 came home from the day school to which I was sent, it 
 was my greatest delight to teach Georgiana her letters, 
 and, boy as I was, I felt the pride and joy of a parent 
 when she accomplished her tasks, and so applied herself 
 to the little studies I sat her to, purposely to win her 
 brother's smile and approbation and then, our books 
 laid aside, we would sit with our arms entwined about 
 each other's necks, and I would tell her about the father 
 and mother whom we both had lost, and kiss the tears 
 from her eyelids, as she w r ept over the decease of the pa- 
 rents she had never known. I was at a very early age
 
 THE ORPHAN'S WRONGS. 81 
 
 compelled to earn, in a great measure, my own living ; 
 at least, I was expected to supply my own clothing, and 
 it was my pride to supply my sister's too, and to furnish 
 her, out of my scanty earnings, with the little trifles, so 
 essential to the happiness of a child, which otherwise she 
 would never have possessed. I need not say she was the 
 constant companion of my leisure hours as we grew up, 
 for 1 had little opportunity and less leisure to seek other 
 society. You know how beautiful she was, and how 
 gentle was her disposition ; when we did mingle with the 
 youth of our own age, I compared her with others whom 
 I met, and was doubly proud to call her sister. Young 
 as I am, I have met, in consequence of the misfortunes 
 of those who were kind to me, with more trials than 
 usually fall to the lot of youth. When these trials oc- 
 curred, I found ample repayment for the love and care I 
 had bestowed upon my sister. I am naturally of an im- 
 petuous disposition. I should, in all probability, but for 
 her kind solicitude and constant cheerfulness, have reck- 
 lessly cast myself away, I should have sought other and 
 rougher scenes of employment, which might have given 
 me ample support, but which would have made me differ- 
 ent to what I am ; nay, more, the lessons of virtue, I 
 learnt from my mother's lips and taught to her, would, I 
 fear, have been eradicated, had she not again brought 
 them to my memory, and thus, by her gentle hopeful 
 love, doubly repaid my boyhood's care. Few have been, 
 placed in circumstances such as we have been. She 
 was sister, daughter all to me and thus to lose her ! 
 Mr. - , can you wonder at my grief or reproach me 
 fof succumbing beneath its weight? Believe me, sir, 
 those alone who have been placed in similar circum- 
 stances, can know the earnestness, the depth, the holy 
 purity of a brother's love." 
 
 lie sat down and buried his face in his hands, and I, 
 scarcely less affected at the touching picture he had 
 drawn, and knowing that obtrusive attempts at conso- 
 lation in moments of bitter mental suffering only add to 
 .is intensity, noiselessly quitted the room.
 
 32 THE LAWYER'S STORY; OK, 
 
 How very often do we find the atmospheric law, " The 
 Darkest hour is often that which ushers in the dawn," 
 applicable to the tide of human affairs. There are few 
 persons, young or old, who have not more than once in 
 their lives found that when their prospects were most 
 clouded, and when hope seemed to have whispered fare- 
 well, then the tide of trouble turned, and sunshine and 
 prosperity succeeded the darkness of doubt and of almost 
 despair. 
 
 I left Fitzherbert the evening on which the above 
 recorded conversation had taken place between us, in the 
 hope that he would think better of his determination, and 
 be brought to take a more hopeful view of his future 
 prospects. Consequently, I did not speak to him before 
 leaving home for the city, the next morning, in order 
 to give him as long as possible to arrive at his final de- 
 termination. 
 
 About midday my servant was despatched by my wife 
 to my office with a letter, which had been directed to me 
 at my private residence, bearing the Philadelphia post- 
 mark, and marked " Immediate" I broke the seal, and 
 found that the envelope contained another letter, directed 
 in a delicate female hand-writing, to Mr. Adolphus Fitz- 
 herbert. 
 
 The reader may imagine the feelings with which I 
 regarded this missive. I had never seen Miss Fitzher- 
 bert's hand-writing ; but, what other female was likely to 
 write to Adolphus, and to direct the letter, under cover, 
 to me ? was the question I put to myself. I turned over 
 again and again, the outside envelope, in hopes to find 
 some clue to the mystery, but not a word of explanation 
 had been written. I examined the hand-writing. It 
 was written in a bold, clerkly style ; but I could not; 
 recollect that I had ever seen it before ; at all events, 
 I could not recognize it. Under the circumstance.-, 1 
 thought it inadvisable to wait until I returned home at 
 night before 1 delivered the letter into the hands of Adol- 
 phus ; and I also thought that it would be better that 
 i. should be present when he opened it, as it might con-
 
 THE ORPHAN'S WRONGS. 38 
 
 tain matter of importance, even if it were not from his 
 sister. Perhaps, too, curiosity bad a little to do in the 
 matter ; for, alter all, let folks say what they may, curio- 
 sity is a failing not exclusively confined to the fairer por- 
 tion of the creation. At all events, although I was rather 
 pressed with business, after a little cogitation, I deter- 
 mined to be the bearer of the letter, myself, whether it 
 boded good or evil, so I got into the carriage with the 
 servant, and drove homewards. 
 
 On arriving at my house, I sent immediately for Adol- 
 phus, who was in his own room, and who shortly made 
 his appearance with a saddened countenance, but with 
 a spirit of determination impressed upon his features, 
 which showed me that he had fully made up his mind 
 as regarded his resolution of the previous evening. lie 
 was about to speak, thinking, no doubt, that I had sent 
 for him to learn the purpose he had arrived at ; but I 
 stopped him, by silently placing the letter in his hand. 
 He took it mechanically, but had no sooner glanced at 
 the superscription, than he exclaimed 
 
 "Good God ! this is the hand- writing of my sister!" 
 
 His nostrils quivered, and his lips trembled nervously, 
 as he sat down upon the sofa and hurriedly tore off tho 
 envelope. I watched his countenance as he read tho 
 letter, but his features did not change their expression ; 
 and, until he had read the last line, I could form no idea 
 whether the news he had received was good or bad. At 
 length he placed the letter into rny hand, saying 
 
 " My sister, thank God, is living, and is in Philadel- 
 phia. I must go thither immediately. Head the letter, 
 sir." 
 
 I did as he desired. It ran thus : 
 
 " Market- Street, Philadelphia. 
 "My DEAR BROTHER: 
 
 " God only knows whether this letter will reach 
 you, or, if it should reach you, whether it will do so in 
 time to be of any avail. I have no time to enter into 
 details, and can only say that I have, for the last six 
 
 o*
 
 34 THE LAWYER'S STORY; OR, 
 
 weeks, been immured in a chamber in the house from 
 which I now write. I was taken forcibly from New York, 
 and brought here, since Avhich time I have been permit- 
 ted to hold no communication with any one but those 
 connected with the family, who have, however, other- 
 wise treated me kindly, and paid every attention to my 
 comfort. Yesterday I was told by the lady for those 
 who have me in their power appear to be man and wife, 
 and both persons of education and good standing in so 
 ciety that I must prepare for a sea^voyage ; that they 
 were going to Italy, and that it was the desire of those 
 interested in my welfare, and who had a right to the dis- 
 posal of my person, that I should enter a convent there, 
 with the view of ultimately taking the veil. I was for- 
 bidden to ask any questions, and those I persisted in 
 asking, were unanswered. For the fiftieth time since 
 I have been immured in this house, I begged that pen 
 and ink might be given me, that at least I might relieve 
 
 your and my own anxiety, and also that of kind Mr. ; 
 
 but the indulgence was refused me. Dearest Adolphus, 
 I was even told you were not my brother, and that 1 had 
 relatives of rank in Europe, who claimed possession of 
 my person ! You cannot imagine the harrowing feelings 
 which have tortured me for weary days and sleepless 
 nights, ever since I was torn from you: my pen cannot 
 no words can describe them. To think that I must part 
 with you thus, and for ever, and without your knowing 
 what has become of me ! Great God ! the idea is too 
 terrible ; but this I know, should Heaven so ordain it, 
 I shall not long live to grieve over my brother's loss 
 and then, dear Adolphus, if we meet no more on earth, 
 we may surely hope, according to our dear mother's les- 
 sons, which I learnt from your lips, to meet in a happier 
 world But to this I cannot reconcile myself. As we 
 were in childhood, all to each other, so would I desire 
 that we should remain while life shall last. Can it be 
 possible that we should thus be compelled forcibly to 
 separate for ever in this world? I cannot believe it. 
 God is too good too just . The only being who
 
 THE Oltl'UANS WRONGS. 
 
 85 
 
 has expressed pity fur me, is the lady's maid, or com- 
 panion, and she is fearful of showing it ; but this evening 
 I conjured her to bring me writing materials, in order 
 that, at least, I might send you a line to tell you I am 
 still living. I so wrought upon her feelings, that she 
 complied, and even promised that her cousin, who is in 
 some situation in this city, should enclose my letter to 
 Mr. , for you. I need not say with what joy I re- 
 ceived the means of writing and now, by the glimmer 
 of a feeble lamp, while my keepers imagine that I am 
 sleeping, or tossing upon my uneasy pillow, (for who- 
 ever they be, they cannot be so dead to human feelings 
 as to believe I can sleep in quiet, separated from, the only 
 earthly tie I possess, and ignorant of the fate in reserve 
 for me), I am penning these unconnected lines, for I can- 
 not collect my thoughts to write as I would do, even to 
 you, dear Adolphus; and, perhaps, the lady's maid may 
 deceive rne, and not send the letter. Perhaps it is a 
 feint, to which her master and mistress are privy, in order 
 that they may read what I write. Oh ! I am the prey 
 of fearful imaginings ! but no, I will not mistrust Maria. 
 If she has deceived me, what faith can I place in any 
 human being? I understand, the vessel in which I arn 
 to leave the United States, will sail for Trieste on Wed- 
 nesday next four days hence. Dear Adolphus, if you 
 do receive this letter, there is yet time to save me. I 
 hear a footstep below, coming up the stairs, and must 
 put out my light and conceal this letter. Farewell, Adol- 
 phus and whatever happens, never cease to remember 
 
 "GEORGIANNA. 
 
 " P.S. The footstep I heard was Maria's. She called 
 for my letter, and says she will deliver it faithfully into 
 her cousin's hands. She speaks as though I may believe 
 her and I will. God bless her and may her kind 
 efforts in my behalf restore me to my brother. (( /-, 
 
 I perused the letter carefully, and then turned to Fitz- 
 hcrbert, who was watching me with features in which
 
 36 THE LAWYER'S STORY; OR, 
 
 earnestness and suppressed emotion were perceptible in 
 every lineament. 
 
 " I must go immediately to Philadelphia," he repeat- 
 ed, rising from the sofa, as he received back his sister's 
 letter. 
 
 ".We must both go and that immediately," I replied. 
 " This is Monday. If the vessel in which Miss Fitzher- 
 bert says she is to take passage, for Italy, sails on Wed- 
 nesday, and the letter itself be not a forgery, there is no 
 time to lose. We shall start this evening, and shall ar- 
 rive there early in the morning." 
 
 " The letter is no deception," said Fitzherbert, " and I 
 can swear to my sister's handwriting. Let us prepare to 
 start." 
 
 I could not help admiring the composure and steady 
 determination of the young man now that he had some 
 purpose in view. All his wavering fretful ness disap- 
 peared as if by magic. He expressed no violent emo- 
 tions of delight, for as yet neither of us knew how 
 matters might turn out, but calmly advised with me 
 what course we had best to pursue. We then packed 
 our carpet bags, and, in the course of an hour, were on 
 our way to the Sister City. Of the three parties inter- 
 ested, my wife was the most agitated when she was in- 
 formed of the result of our private conference. She could 
 scarcely restrain her emotion, for, poor woman, she had 
 never ceased to reproach herself for her heedlessness in 
 permitting Miss Fitzherbert to go abroad during our ab- 
 sence from the city. 
 
 Upon our arrival at Philadelphia, we put up at my 
 customary stopping place, Jones' Hotel, and then con- 
 sidered what would be the most advisable step for us to 
 take next. We had not learnt either the number of the 
 house in Market-street, nor the names of the persons who 
 had illegally obtained possession of the young lady, and, 
 therefore, to waste our limited time in the endeavor to 
 find the residence of Miss Fitzherbert would have been 
 useless ; besides, for aught we know, the poor girl might 
 have been misinformed as to the name of the street itself,
 
 THE ORPHAN'S WRONGS. 37 
 
 for it was very probable that the lady's maid, although 
 moved by compassion to procure the materials of .writing 
 for her, would hesitate ere she involved her employers 
 in trouble, and I thought it was very evident that she 
 was connected with the business, or with the principals 
 in the affair, in such a manner as to involve herself in 
 some difficulty should the parties be arrested. ' In fact, 
 accustomed as I was, through the nature of my profession 
 to scan narrowly and jealously the actions of mankind in 
 matters of difficulty or danger, I viewed the letter in the 
 same light as I should have done had it fallen into my 
 hands from one of the opposing party in a case in which 
 I was retained, who had from compassion or some other 
 cause, shown a desire to assist my client without involv- 
 ing himself further than he could avoid. I again care- 
 fully read the letter, -and coupled with the asseverations 
 of Fitzherbert that it was assuredly in his sister's hand- 
 writing, I could not, with all my caution, come to any 
 other conclusion than that it was genuine. " What, 
 then," said I to myself, " could -have been the motives 
 that prompted this woman to give Miss Fitzherbert the 
 means of communicating with her friends ? and why has 
 she delayed doing so, until almost the day appointed for 
 her departure for Italy. Compassion, I have no doubt, 
 was the moving cause, but why the delay if she has not 
 some object in view, and that most likely the safety of 
 herself and those with whom she is connected. That she 
 was in earnest, is shown by her prompt dispatch of the 
 letter; nor is it likely she sent it without knowing what 
 information it contained ; therefore she must be desirous 
 that the poor girl should be rescued. Her not giving 
 Miss Fitzhcrbert the number of the house is satisfactory 
 proof to me that she wishes to disguise her own action in 
 the matter, and her allowing it to be known to the young 
 lady's brother that she is to sail in a vessel bound to 
 Trieste is also proof that she desires he should be on 
 board the vessel on the day of her sailing, in order to 
 search the ship and claim his sister." 
 
 Having thus cogitated with myself, I came to the con-
 
 38 THE LAWYER'S STORY; OR, 
 
 elusion that the object was a rescue from the vessel at 
 the last moment in order to allow the escape of the ab 
 ductors. I mentioned this to Adolphus, who was of the 
 same opinion as myself, and our next step was to ascer- 
 tain whether any vessel was really on the point of sailing 
 for Trieste, rather an unusual thing at that period in 
 Philadelphia. We discovered from the shipping lists that 
 such was really the case, and that the Giovanni brig was 
 to leave on the following day. This was still further 
 corroboration of the truth and correctness of the state- 
 ments made in the letter, although I was still doubtful 
 whether it had not been all a feint of course, without 
 Miss Fitzherbert's connivance to throw us off the scent ; 
 "but then," I argued, " why allow her to write at all ?" 
 
 Desirous to avoid any movement that might lead to 
 suspicion, we made no further inquiries respecting the 
 vessel ; but contented ourselves with walking along the 
 wharves until we discovered at which pier she was lying, 
 and then we stood at the corner of Pine-street apparently 
 carelessly scanning her appearance, with the full deter- 
 mination of being on board in the morning with a war- 
 rant for her detention until we had ascertained she had 
 sailed without Miss Fitzherbert. 
 
 While thus standing just as it was growing dusk for 
 after having made the necessary arrangements, we had 
 again walked to the pier a young man with a slightly 
 foreign accent, asked Adolphus if his name was Fitz- 
 herbert ? 
 
 " It is," he replied. 
 
 "Then, sir," said the stranger, "I am to give you this 
 note," and placing a letter in Fitzherbert's hand, he 
 hastily withdrew and was lost to sight in a moment. 
 
 It struck us both immediately that this singular cir- 
 cumstance had some connection with the errand we had 
 come to Philadelphia upon, and as it was already too 
 dark to read in the streets, we immediately adjourned 
 to the nearest tavern. The letter was seemingly in a 
 woman's handwriting, and in broken English, evidently 
 in an Italian idiom, but it was perfectly easy to under-
 
 THE ORPHAN'S WRONGS. 39 
 
 stand, and I shall therefore render it into good English 
 for the benefit of my readers. It bore no date, but 
 simply said: 
 
 " After much consideration, my better feelings have 
 prevailed. On Saturday last I furnished Miss Fitzher- 
 bert with materials, in order that she might write to the 
 brother whom she so deeply mourns. I was still doubt- 
 ful whether to send the letter ; but the poor young lady's 
 pleading, trusting look, when she placed it in my hands, 
 at once overpowered me and I caused it to be sent. My 
 feelings of compassion once enlisted in her behalf, I could 
 not stop their current. She was confident that if her 
 brother was in New York and received the letter, he 
 would be here to save her. She told me this, and again 
 fears for myself and those to whom I am irrevocably 
 bound, almost overcame what our Order would consider 
 my criminal weakness. In fact I had laid myself open 
 to the penalty of death. I could still have prevented her 
 brother from obtaining possession of her; but my 
 woman's heart forbade me. I once, when little more 
 than a child in mia belto Italia, had a brother and other 
 earthly ties, whom I devotedly loved, and, alas ! who 
 loved me. That is past. I dare not think of it or my 
 heart would break. My duty now is due alone to the 
 superiors of my Order. I am the bride of Heaven. 
 Enough of this. I would save myself; I would release 
 Miss Fitzherbert, and I would prevent any evil befalling 
 my coadjutors. I trust then to her brother's honor. He 
 will not harm the woman who has restored to him his 
 sister. Miss Fitzherbert described her brother to me, 
 also a friend who she believed would be with him. I 
 have told my cousin to watch if such persons arrive, and 
 if so to give this letter to hi r n who answered to the name 
 of Fitzherbert. 
 
 "Take no violent steps. Miss Fitzherbert will be con- 
 veyed on board the vessel before da}'light to-morrow. 
 Beat this spot, and when you see a white 'kerchief wave 
 from a coach window, ibliow the coach to the pier. I
 
 40 THE ^AWYER'S STORY; OR, 
 
 shall be with her, and also one whom I can trust one 
 who is bound by oath to obey my will. Miss Fitzher- 
 bert will be delivered into your hands -when she leaves 
 the carriage. Hasten away immediately. For the rest 
 I have so managed that no suspicion shall attach to me. 
 Be silent for the present, the time may come when you 
 will know more. MARIA." 
 
 The perusal of this strange epistle gave us a fresh 
 clue to the object of Miss Fitzherbert's abduction. We 
 had no doubt that it was planned by the contestants of 
 the English property, although we were ignorant how 
 they became aware of her being in New York, at the 
 period of the abduction, and also of the method they 
 had employed. We determined, however, to act as we 
 had been directed to do, and considered ourselves 
 bound in honor, in consideration of the compassionate 
 feelings of the female who had assisted her, not to take 
 the violent measures which she deprecated. 
 
 We accordingly dispensed with the attendance of the 
 legal force we had requested to meet us on board the 
 vessel on the following morning, and, agreeably to our 
 instructions, were at the appointed rendezvous at a 
 very early hour; in fact, we procured a carriage to 
 await us there, and determined to remain on the spot 
 all night ourselves. 
 
 Ado]phus was much agitated, and I had much diffi- 
 culty in controlling my feelings. However, we sum- 
 moned all the patience we could to our aid. 
 
 About three o'clock we observed a close carriage 
 coming down Pine-street towards the wharf, and as it 
 passed the spot where we were standing, the window 
 was slightly raised, and a white handkerchief shown for 
 a moment. We rushed after the carriage, which stop- 
 ped a few rods further on, and we observed two females 
 and a stout built man alight from it. We were on the 
 spot in a second, and in another moment Georgiana had 
 fainted in her brother's arms. A closely veiled female 
 approached me, and placing her finger to her lips whisp-
 
 THE ORPHAN'S WRONGS. 41 
 
 ered, "Leave here quickly, and be silent." Her beard- 
 ed companion and herself then went on board the vessel 
 and the empty vehicle was driven away. Between us 
 we bore the fainting girl to the carriage, we .ourselves 
 had in waiting, and in a few minutes more Georgiana 
 was safe at our hotel. 
 
 It long was before she was sufficiently composed to 
 speak to us, and she almost franticly gave way to the 
 feelings of joy which her restoration to her brother had 
 given rise to. Poor Adolphus bore himself manfully 
 and endeavored to soothe the agitated girl as much as 
 possible, and when she became more composed, we in- 
 sisted, anxious as we were, that before any explanations 
 were given, she should retire and take some repose. 
 
 In the evening she had sufficiently recovered her 
 composure to state to us the circumstances of the ab- 
 duction : 
 
 u I was admiring and showing to the children," said 
 she, " a picture in a shop window in Broadway, when 
 the fire bells rang and a crowd shortly rushed past, with 
 an engine running on the sidewalk, compelling the 
 people to scatter in every direction. The servant girl 
 took hold of the children and I turned down a by street 
 to escape the crush. When the crowd had in some mea- 
 sure passed by, 1 looked about for the servant, but I 
 could not see her, and after waiting some time, I thought 
 I would find my way home alone. 'There was still a 
 number of people running to the fire in Broadway, and 
 to avoid them I pursued my way along a narrow street 
 which ran, as 1 thought, parallel to the great thorough- 
 fare, intending, ai'ter proceeding some little distance, 
 airain to turn into Broadway. The street I was in was 
 comparatively deserted ; but a man passed me, who 1 re- 
 cognized as having closely observed me when inquiring 
 at the Post-office for a letter from my brother. Ho 
 passed me at a rapid pace and stopped a short distance 
 ahead, at the corner of a cross street, and held some con- 
 versation with another man muffled in a cloak, who re- 
 sembled, as I thought, the individual who had persuaded
 
 42 THE LAWYER'S STORY; OR, 
 
 Adolphus to go to Boston. I could not be sure it really 
 was he, but I became alarmed and turned up the next 
 street I came to. They must have dodged me, some- 
 how or other, for in a few moments I again saw them 
 before me. I thought the better way would be to pass 
 them without appearing to observe them, as they wero 
 now sauntering slowly along ; but before I carne up 
 with them, the latter of the two, he whom I fancied 
 was my brother's persecutor, turned off in another di- 
 rection. The man with him stopped opposite a court- 
 yard, and as I was passing, he seized and dragged me 
 into it, covering my mouth with his hands, so as to pre- 
 vent me from giving any alarm. I struggled violently, 
 but I might as well have sought to wrestle with a giant, 
 and I was borne into a house in the court. I was as- 
 sured that no harm was intended me, provided I re- 
 mained quiet, and was left in the room with two el- 
 derly females until evening. 
 
 It must have been a very late hour of the night 
 when a lady and gentleman, apparently, were shown 
 into the room, and the two women who had kept ward 
 over me left us to ourselves. 
 
 My new visitors, who were the same persons who 
 have detained me for so many weeks in this city, spoke 
 to me kindly. They assured me that all they were doing 
 would be eventually for my benefit ; but that to attempt 
 to escape would be useless, and would only lead to rigid 
 treatment I should otherwise avoid. 
 
 " 1 was too distressed to utter a word further than to 
 beg of them to let me go home, for I partly hoped my 
 brother would be back from Boston that night, and I 
 knew what a state of agonizing suspense he would be in 
 were I not to return. All my entreaties, however, were 
 of no avail, and in the course of another hour, a coach 
 came to the door, and I was hurriedly placed in it by 
 the gentleman, who, after assisting the lady in, also en- 
 tered it himself. I attempted to call for assistance, but 
 was prevented from doing so by the gentleman. Avho 
 placed a muffler to my mouth, while the lady continued
 
 THE ORPHAN'S WRONGS. 43 
 
 to assure me that I would be well treated if I remained 
 quiet. I must have fainted, for I can recollect nothing 
 further, until, towards daylight, I found I had been 
 transferred to another vehicle, in which was seated a se- 
 cond female, whom, I afterwards .found was the com- 
 panion of the lady, and the same who allowed me to 
 make known my situation to my brother. I could sec 
 that we were on a country road, but not a word was 
 spoken to me by either of my three companions. After 
 some time we approached a large city, which I have 
 since learned. was Philadelphia, where we now are. 
 
 " As we entered, I was again warned, on peril of my 
 life, to make no attempt to escape, and not to utter a 
 word to any one ; and seeing how completely I was in 
 the power of my mysterious companions, I knew it would 
 be useless to do so, until some more favorable oppor- 
 tunity arrived. We stopped opposite a large house 
 which I was compelled to enter, and was shown by the 
 females into a room which I was told I was to consider 
 my own ; that I was to be supplied with books or any- 
 thing I required excepting that which I most desired, 
 the means of communicating with my brother. This 
 was resolutely denied me. My meals were sent up into 
 my room, but I seldom had any company but Maria, 
 who spoke English very imperfectly ; but who certainly 
 was a more desirable companion than her mistress, who 
 was taciturn and severe in the extreme. 
 
 So passed several weeks, during which period I was 
 u prey to the utmost distress of mind, arid the only one 
 who seemed any way to take an interest in me was 
 Maria. The lady seldom visited my apartment, which, 
 however, she always kept a key of, Maria having another, 
 neither, at any time leaving the door unlocked; the 
 gentleman I saw but twice after the evening of my ar- 
 rival at Philadelphia. 
 
 About a week ago the lady came into my room and 
 told me that I was not the brother of Adolphus, but was 
 related to several families of wealth and importance in 
 Europe; that it was the desire of those who were my
 
 44 THE LAWYER'S STORY; OR, 
 
 rightful guardians that I should enter a convent and be- 
 come a nun ; ' perhaps,' she said, ' eventually, an ab- 
 bess.' They had been long detained, she said, endeav- 
 oring to procure a vessel going direct to Italy, and 
 now, having procured one, they should sail in a few 
 days. Without waiting for any reply she left me with 
 Maria. 
 
 I was in an agony of distress, and I could perceive that 
 Maria was more than usually affected at the sight of my 
 grief. I besought her, by the love she bore her own 
 friends, to let me at least inform my brother that I was 
 living, and where was my destination. For a long time 
 she demurred at this ; but at length, I so _won upon her 
 feelings that she consented. 
 
 My letter will have informed you of all that occurred 
 until yesterday, the day fixed for our going on board the 
 vessel. Maria then told me that she would endeavor, if I 
 promised to follow her directions, to obtain my restora- 
 tion to my brother, and she begged me to describe his 
 appearance, should he come on to Philadelphia, on re- 
 ceiving the letter, which I did. This morning before day- 
 light, I was placed in a carriage with Maria and a strange 
 man whom 1 had not before seen ; and, as we drove off, 
 I heard the lady tell her maid that she and her husband 
 would be on board by daybreak. Thank God! this 
 last great sorrow has been spared me, and once again, 
 Adolphus, I am under your protection." 
 
 The Giovanni sailed for Trieste ; but what passengers 
 she carried, we took no pains to inquire. In a few days 
 we all returned to New York, and the brother and sister, 
 to the great relief of my wife, took up their temporary 
 abode at my house. 
 
 Nothing now laid in the way of my proceeding with 
 the investigation regarding the advertisement, which, on 
 account of the late attempt at a daring abduction, having, 
 I had no doubt, connection with it, considerably increas- 
 ed my opinion of its importance. Adolphus was now 
 most eager to assist me, and I wrote to an eminent Eng- 
 lish lawyer, asking his co-operation and advice. I sub-
 
 THE ORPHAN'S WRONGS. 45 
 
 sequently learned the cause of the attempt at abduction, 
 and the source whence the information regarding Miss 
 Fitzherbert had been received ; but as it will be made 
 known in its proper place in the course of the narrative., 
 it would destroy the interest to narrate it in this chapter. 
 In the next chapter I shall have to enlighten my rea- 
 ders as to the real parentage of the brother and sister : 
 the singular incidents connected with their parents' mar- 
 riage, and the actual nature of the claims they were about 
 to contest, as well as the character of the opposing claim- 
 ants, whom I suspected of having obtained partial pos- 
 session, through frauds and misrepresentations which 
 will be hereafter disclosed. 
 
 CHAPTER III. 
 
 In which the reader is transported back half a century, and 
 is introduced to the acquaintance of some -well known per- 
 sonages of former days. 
 
 I MUST now transport the reader, in imagination to 
 London, and go back in my narrative a period of half a 
 century. It will be as well to state that there were then 
 in London and indeed are now, a class of private club- 
 houses, differing from the magnificent establishments of 
 a more public character, such as "White's," and the 
 more modern "Reform Club," which are the resort of 
 the nobility and gentry of the capital in their leisure 
 hours and in which, indeed, many unmarried men 
 occupy suites of apartments and take up their town 
 residence. 
 
 The private club-houses are equally aristocratic in cha- 
 racter ; but in them a more perfect familiarity is ob- 
 served regarding the difference of rank and station. Here 
 all meet as gentlemen on an equal footing, and the for- 
 mula of addressing those present by their titles, is dis- 
 pensed with. The balloting which is necessary to per
 
 46 THE LAWYER'S STORY; OR, 
 
 mit the privilege of the entree to a new member, is, there- 
 fore, if possible, even more strict than at the great club- 
 houses, in order to prevent the possibility of the admit- 
 tance of persons not considered to be of sufficiently high 
 family, to become members, and in these places of com- 
 parative seclusion, some very strange projects have been 
 hatched and brought to a consummation, which if gen- 
 erally known to the world, would be considered as com- 
 promising the blood of many a family tracing their line- 
 age from the Norman conquest, and boasting to belong, 
 by the purest pedigree, to the ultra aristocracy of the 
 kingdom. 
 
 About the commencement of the present century, a 
 splendid mansion in Cavendish Square, London, was oc- 
 cupied as a private club-house, and one evening in De- 
 cember, a large assemblage of gentlemen were seated in 
 a magnificent drawing-room on the second floor, which 
 was brilliantly lighted with elegant chandeliers of cut 
 glass, suspended from the ceiling, in each of which was a 
 profusion of wax candles, the pendants reflecting their 
 light in all the colors of the prism, and the plate glass 
 mirrors, which, interspersed with beautiful paintings, co- 
 vered the walls, again reflecting the images of the chan- 
 deliers and appearing to quintuple their number. The 
 floor was covered with a Turkey carpet, soft as velvet to 
 the feet, and about the large apartment were strewn 
 chairs, lounging couches, and ottomans, without any ap- 
 parent order, while perhaps, a dozen tables of highly po- 
 lished mahogany were placed in different parts of the 
 room, at each end of which blazed a bright and cheerful 
 fire, the intense heat of which was modified to those who 
 were seated in too close proximity to it by a large plate 
 glass screen, pure and without blemish, allowing the 
 bright glow of the kennel coal to be seen without the 
 heat being disagreeably felt. 
 
 Around the table were seated groups of gentlemen, 
 some engaged in conversation, others perusing the news- 
 papers and periodicals of the day again others were 
 amusing themselves at chess or cards, or by throwing the
 
 THE ORPHAN'S WRONGS. 47 
 
 dice, or making up their betting-books for some aristo- 
 cratic sporting match that was shortly to come off. But 
 one or two tables were unoccupied, when a gentleman ap- 
 parently about thirty years of age, entered the room, and 
 nodding familiarly to two or three friends, without speak- 
 ing, he singled out one of the unoccupied tables, and 
 seated himself beside it, at the same time taking up a ma- 
 gazine which laid upon it and carelessly turning over its 
 pages. The new comer was attired in the very extreme, 
 of the somewhat grotesque fashion of the " bucks," as 
 they were then termed, of the day. A sky blue coat, 
 with gilt buttons, powdered hair tied up in a black silk 
 bag behind, a long flapped, embroidered vest and a pro- 
 fusion of shirt-frill, giving to his breast the form of a 
 pouter pigeon's, among which blazed a quantity of jew- 
 elry, comprised the upper portion of his attire, which was 
 completed by white plush small clothes, flesh-colored 
 silk stockings and low-quartered shoes, with diamond 
 buckles. His small clothes were also fastened at the 
 knee with buckles of the same description, and lace ruf- 
 fles of the finest and most rare quality, half covered his 
 hands, on the fingers of which glittered some half dozen 
 jewelled rings. 
 
 This somewhat remarkable personage having sat for a 
 quarter of an hour, looking over the magazine, glanced 
 somewhat impatiently at the ormolu clock which was 
 fixed on the wall of the room over the fireplace, and 
 compared its time with that of a large gold repeater 
 which he took from his fob and from which, attached to 
 a broad, black silk ribbon, bung a perfect labyrinth of 
 seals. The longer he sat, the more impatient and uneasy 
 he seemed to grow, and the watch was repeatedly con- 
 sulted, as though the inspection would cause time to fly 
 with greater rapidity. 
 
 " Strange, egad !" he muttered to himself, " that he does 
 not come. It is now growing close upon the hour, and 
 all my arrangements will be useless if we are not prompt 
 in attendance. He has got into some adventure again, 
 and with his usual recklessness, lias forgot all about our
 
 48 THE LAWYER'S STORY; OR, 
 
 appointment. Heigh ho ! they say the jackall feeds well 
 by smelling out game for the lion, and trusting to his su- 
 perior powers in hunting it down, afterwards banquetting 
 on the spoils. "Well, I don't do amiss, its true ; but after 
 all, this hanging on the skirts of others, is wearisome 
 work. All my trouble and persuasion in endeavoring to 
 bring that scheming money-lender, Mordecai, into rea- 
 sonable terms, thrown away. He'll want twenty per cent 
 more to-morrow ; and then, the appointment in Bond- 
 street. That was to be at ten o'clock, and now it's past 
 eight, and we must see Mordecai first ; too bad too bad. 
 Egad! here he comes at last," he added, as a stout, portly, 
 but remarkably handsome man, of perhaps thirty-five 
 years of age, entered the room, and glancing round it, 
 encountered the eyes of the speaker, and made his way 
 to the table at which he was seated. Several gentlemen 
 who were seated at the other tables, observed the en- 
 trance of the new comer; but as if by some preconcerted 
 arrangement, none appeared to notice him except those 
 to whom he bowed or said a few words of ordinary salu- 
 tation. These however, replied to them with more than 
 ordinary courtesy. 
 
 The attire of the gentleman who had just entered the 
 apartment was very different from that of the companion 
 by whose side he seated himself, although it was the 
 counterpart of that of several others in the room. He 
 would have been taken anywhere, so far as his drcts 
 went, for a wealthy country gentleman ; it consisting 
 simply of a^ brown coat, cut after the fashion of the 
 day, white buckskin breeches and yellow top boots, an 
 article of dress then much aifected by gentlemen in or- 
 dinary or walking costume. His hair was not disfigured 
 by powder, but was dressed with great care in curls all 
 over his head ; it was of a rich chestnut color and ad- 
 mirably set off his fair and somewhat florid complexion. 
 His features were good and even intellectual ; his figure 
 though, as 1 have said, somewhat stout, was also tall and 
 graceful and the rather nonchalant elegance of his deport- 
 ment and the easy simplicity of his manners bespoke
 
 K HROTIIKR AND SISTER IN CONVERSATION AT MR. HUGHES' HOUSE. 
 
 S chapter, XXX 1 1.
 
 THE ORPHAN'S WRONGS. 49 
 
 the perfect gentleman. The only fault that any one could 
 have found, was that his countenance already betrayed 
 that he indulged too freely in high living and the grati- 
 fication of the animal passions, but even this was only 
 apparent to a keen observer. 
 
 "All right, eh! All settled, Brummell, is it?" was 
 his salutation to the gentleman who had waited so im- 
 patiently for him. 
 
 " It may be, George, if we make haste," replied the 
 individual addressed, in a somewhat vexed tone of 
 voice, which however, was still marked by great 
 courtesy and even obsequiousness of manner. " But 
 surely you must have mistaken the time appointed to 
 meet me here. We have barely time to reach the 
 Minories by nine o'clock, and hard work I assure, you 
 I had to bring Mordecai to terms. He will put on a 
 fresh screw, depend upon it, if we fail in our appoint- 
 ment to-night and then there is the other appointment 
 in Bond-street at ten." 
 
 " Oh," replied the gentleman, whom he had ad- 
 dressed by the name of George, laughingly. " Eleanor 
 can wait till eleven ; but let's be off, Brummell. I have 
 a private cab at the corner of the square, waiting for us, 
 for I was so well engaged in Curzon-street that I was 
 not aware of the rapid flight of time and was really 
 quite alarmed when I looked at my repeater, for the 
 money is a sine qua non ; by hook or by crook, Mordecai 
 must hand it over to-night. What said the old fellow, 
 Brummell '/" 
 
 " More than ever he said before," was the reply : 
 " when I told him he must raise five thousand pounds 
 to-night, he at first said he was utterly unable to do so ; 
 that the interest of the last ten thousand was overdue, 
 and the whole amount, reckoning that now demanded, 
 was nearly sixty thousand pounds, for which he had no 
 security but your signature. He even went so far as 
 flatly to refuse at first, and threatened to acquaint your 
 lather of the claims he had upon you." 
 
 " What !" said the other, interrupting him, while a 
 3
 
 50 THE LAWYER'S STORY; OR, 
 
 flush came over his countenance, '' the villain dare not do 
 that. No security ! has he not my honor? Ah ! times 
 are sadly changed since the good old days when I could 
 have extracted a tooth from the head of the old rascal, 
 for every refusal he gave, if indeed he has any left in his 
 wizened gums. No security indeed ! what further se- 
 curity can he need ?" 
 
 A smile flitted across the features of Brummell, as 
 he muttered to himself something about putting ones 
 trust in princes ; but he did not allow his companion 
 to perceive it, and observing his ruffled temper, he 
 said 
 
 " Calm yourself, sir, calm yourself I managed to 
 make it all right before I left him; and now let us 
 away at once." 
 
 The two gentlemen then rose and quitted the room 
 together, apparently as unnoticed as they had entered. 
 The effects of irritation must have, however, been still 
 perceptible in the countenance of Brummeirs friend, 
 for after they* had left, one of the gentlemen present 
 said 
 
 " What's in the wind I wonder the prince seems 
 annoyed to-night ?" 
 
 " 1 fancy," said another, " he has met w r ith game 
 he'll find it hard to bring down. He is completely 
 fascinated with the handsome widow, Mrs. Fitzherbert ; 
 and the lady, forsooth ! aspires to matrimony ; and re- 
 fuses to treat with him on any other terms at least, 
 so the rumor goes. It was the common topic of con- 
 versation at White's to-day ; besides, I have my rea- 
 sons for thinking that his royal Highness is closely 
 pressed for raoney just now, and that's enough to vex 
 a saint ; as most of us have felt at one time or another." 
 
 A titter pervaded the immediate neighborhood of 
 the speaker, and the subject was dropped. 
 
 The reader must now follow me to a very different 
 portion of the great metropolis. The two gentlemen 
 whom it will be already seen, were no less personages 
 than the Prince of Wales subsequently George the
 
 THE ORPHAN'S WRONGS. 51 
 
 Fourth and the celebrated leader of the fashions and 
 jackall of the Prince, Beau Brummell, as he was termed, 
 on account of his singular fastidiousness in dress, en- 
 tered a hack carriage and were driven from the fash- 
 ionable locality they had just quitted, into the city, 
 where the vehicle stopped at a house in the Minories. 
 Here they got out, and Brummell led the way into a 
 low, dirty shop which appeared to be stocked with 
 second-hand goods of every possible description, from 
 jewelry apparently of enormous value to coats and vests 
 almost threadbare, and shoes and boots which certainly 
 needed the skill of the cobbler, to render them even 
 wearable. The housekeeper could have been supplied 
 here with every article of household furniture she de- 
 sired ; and, though most had seen service and were in 
 a dilapidated condition, there were many articles which 
 were still scarcely changed from their pristine splendor. 
 
 "Vat you buy?" was tbe salutation the two gentle- 
 men met with as they entered this dirty storehouse of 
 heterogeneous stock. 
 
 " Where's Mr. Mordecai?" said Brummell. 
 
 " Mr. Mordecai ish up stairs," was the rejoinder of 
 the dirty visaged, shabby-genteel dressed youth, who 
 was officiating in his master's absence. "Vat you have 
 to shell?" "Nothing," said Brummell, impatiently. 
 " Get along with you, you cur, and tell your master the 
 gentlemen who promised to meet him in private, this 
 evening, are waiting. Off with you, quick!" 
 
 Notwithstanding the impatient tone in which this last 
 order was uttered, the youth shuffled rather than 
 walked leisurely along towards the back part of the 
 shop, where he bawled down a dingy staircase, which 
 must have led to an apartment under ground " Ee- 
 becca, come up stairs a moment." 
 
 A good-looking girl enough, if her black hair -had 
 only been untangled and brushed into something like 
 decency and her face cleansed of the dirt which seemed 
 encrusted upon it, answered the summons, and was told 
 to stay and watch the shop while the youth carried the
 
 52 THE LAWYER'S STORY; OR, 
 
 message to his master. " And, mind, 'Becca," whisp- 
 ered he, as he passed her, "mind de shwells doesn't 
 valk off with none of de goods." 
 
 In a few moments he returned and requested the two 
 gentlemen to walk up-stairs to his master. 
 
 They followed him to a small room on the second 
 floor, or the first story, as it is called in England, which 
 was occupied, apparently, as an office by the money 
 lender. 
 
 It was a dingy, dusty looking place, the windows 
 appearing as though they had never felt the touch of 
 water since the glazier had first inserted the panes. 
 Around the room, affixed to the walls, were a num- 
 ber of shelves and pigeon holes which were loaded 
 with boxes, such as may be seen in a lawyer's office 
 for the purpose of holding copies of deeds, &c., and 
 with papers carefully arranged and labelled, and tied 
 up with red tape. 
 
 The room was dimly lighted by a solitary tallow 
 candle, which flickered upon a table at the further end 
 of the apartments at which was seated a man, perhaps 
 sixty years of age, as near as one could judge : but the 
 peculiarity of his dress consisting chiefly in a coarse 
 serge overcoat or surtout of a snuff color reaching to 
 his heels, and the long thick beard, slightly grizzled, 
 which descended to his waist, together with the black 
 skull cap he wore on his head, made him appear 
 older than he really was. His features, although 
 strongly marked with the expression of habitual cun- 
 ning, were regular, and in youth or in the prime of life 
 must have been considered handsome. 
 
 The old man did not rise from his chair as the stran- 
 gers entered the apartment, but motioned them to be 
 seated, saying : 
 
 " You can place chairs for the shentlemen, and leave 
 the room, Jacob. Vat ish you standing gaping there, 
 for ?" for the youth appeared, now that he had shown 
 the gentlemen up, to be in no hurry to go down stairs 
 again, no doubt seized with a laudable curiosity to know
 
 THE ORPHAN'S WRONGS. 63 
 
 what bargain they were about to strike with his master 
 at that hour of the night. However, on receiving this 
 order he left the apartment. 
 
 Mordecai, the wealthy Jewish money-lender, was a 
 man well-known to the fast portion of the young aristo- 
 cracy of England at the period of which I write, and 
 George, Prince of Wales, was deep in his books. In fact, 
 the prince never had sufficient money at his command 
 to satisfy his extravagant desires, notwithstanding the 
 weakness of the old king and the partiality of his mo- 
 ther, Queen Charlotte, who supplied him with a royal al- 
 lowance, exceeding that ever allowed the sons 'of royalty 
 before. In addition to this, the nation was taxed, from 
 the period of the prince's attaining his majority, to afford 
 him a princely annual income, and a very large revenue 
 was also drawn by him, in his own right, from the Duchy 
 of Cornwall ; but the coffers of England's treasury would 
 not have sufficed for the extravagances of the Prince of 
 Wales, had he had his own will in the expenditure of 
 that treasure ; consequently, he was always in debt, and 
 was deeply in the books of more than one of the London 
 usurers. 
 
 " Mordecai of the Minories," as he was familiarly termed 
 by his money-borrowing acquaintance, had advanced the 
 prince more money than any of the rest, and it was to 
 his seasonable aid he looked in cases of emergency. His 
 sudden and artlent admiration for Mrs. Fitzherbert, had 
 led him into unusual extravagances, even for him, and as 
 even princes sometimes find that the patience of trades- 
 men has its limits, he was under the necessity of procur- 
 ing ready money for the purposes of purchasing some 
 costly gifts he had promised the lady. He dared not let 
 his father or even the Queen know of his late unbounded 
 extravagance. Hence the immediate necessity he had for 
 five thousand pounds. 
 
 Hitherto his dealings with money-lenders had been 
 transacted through the medium of his go-between, Beau 
 Brummell ; but Mordecai had of late become extremely 
 hard to deal with, and at length positively refused to ad-
 
 54 THE LAWYER'S STORY; OR, 
 
 vance another penny unless he had an interview, at least 
 with the steward of the prince's household. It was no 
 part of the prince's policy to let this officer into his se- 
 crets, and therefore, as his person was unknown to the 
 Jew, he had promised to accompany Brummell, and him- 
 self personate the character of his own master of the 
 household. 
 
 " So you have called about de advance of dose mo- 
 nish?" said the money-lender, looking up at Brummell. 
 " It ish late, shentlemen eight o'clock wash de hour, 
 and it is now near nine. I shaid I would advance de 
 monish, though the times ish hard very hard, indeed, 
 and de monish seems all to have sunk in de ground, for 
 de sum of thirty per shent, provided you was here at 
 eight o'clock vid me a bargain ish a bargain; but now 
 1 shall vant more per shentage. This, I suppose ish de 
 gentleman vat vash to come vit you to sheal de bar- 
 gainsh?" 
 
 "It is," replied Brummell; "but my good Mordecai, 
 have you any conscience ? Consider thirty per cent. ; 
 money lent at compound interest too for the prince, I 
 believe, has not paid up the interest as it fell due to be 
 paid upon his royal highness's accession to the throne, if 
 not before. Why, my good sir, your gains will be in- 
 calculable." 
 
 " Very goot to talk of my gains vere ish my securi- 
 ty ? Dere is sixty tousand pound already, or near upon 
 it, besides interest, and no security but the signature of 
 the prince. It ish -a very goot prince hash a very pretty 
 notion of spending de monish ; but de prince may die, 
 and then vere is my securities ?" 
 
 "My dear Mordecai, the honor o,f the nation would 
 compel the government in case of such an unfortunate 
 event, to pay all claims acknowledged by the signature 
 of the prince. George the Third would drain the trea- 
 sury, before he would allow his son's name to be dis- 
 honored." 
 
 " Ah ! all dat ish very fine talk ; but de material se-
 
 THE OKPHAN'S WRONGS. 65 
 
 curities is better than all de fine words and signatures in 
 de world " 
 
 " Then," suddenly interrupted the prince himself, who 
 was getting disgusted with the conversation, " I am to 
 understand you refuse to accommodate the prince any 
 farther ? If so, our conference may as well be closed at 
 once." 
 
 " Nay, I did not shay dat; it ish a very goot princs, 
 and I would do all I can ; butde monish is scarce very 
 scarce. I should have to advance part in goods." 
 
 "Well then, sir," continued the prince, "let us hear 
 your terms at once, and bring the business to a conclu- 
 sion." 
 
 " Ah, dat ish fair and reasonable dat ish speaking 
 like a shentleman. Veil then, suppose we say 5000 at 
 30 per shent., one tousand to be advanced in wines. I 
 have some excellent wines in my cellar, fit for de king 
 himself." 
 
 " Confound your wines," exclaimed the prince, " such 
 a compound of vitriol and aloe leaves never was brewed, 
 as that which you sent to Carlton House, two months 
 ago." 
 
 " Yell den, if de vines is not agreeable, I can shend an 
 assortment of walking-sticks, guns and pistols, and little 
 trinkets of jewelry to de amount," said the Jew, no way 
 stirred from his composure. 
 
 "By heavens !" said the prince, laughing in spite of 
 himself, at the ridiculous idea of such a consignment 
 finding its way into Carlton House, "you are an amusing 
 
 fellow, Mordecai. What the d 1 would the prince 
 
 do with your walking-sticks and guns and cheap jew- 
 elry?" 
 
 " My jewelry ish goot," retorted the money-lender, 
 " and de prince had better buy cheap jewelry than costly 
 wares, de peoples ish to pay for." 
 
 " Are you aware, sir, in whose presence you are giv- 
 ing utterance to such sentiments?" said the prince, in his 
 anger, forgetting the character he was assuming. 
 
 A momentary flush passed over the cold, calculating
 
 66 THE LAWYER'S STORY; OB, 
 
 countenance of the money-lender, as he at once surmised 
 that it was the Prince of Wales, in propria personce. that 
 he had been speaking to, and his tone and demeanor as- 
 sumed an appearance of respect and submission, in which, 
 however, hypocrisy seemed equally blended with the / 
 other sentiments. 
 
 "I vash not aware that my small, humble abode had 
 received the honor of a visit from the Prince," said he 
 submissively. 
 
 " Enough, sir, enough," said the prince " state at once 
 whether you are willing to grant the accommodation or 
 not." 
 
 " Oh, certainly certainly ve vill shay four tousand 
 down, and de rest ve vill arrange another time. I vould 
 not be hard vid de honorable Prince." 
 
 The cash was necessary, and the Prince and his com- 
 panion were compelled to comply with the terms of the 
 old usurer, who begged them to remain a few moments, 
 while he went to see a friend from whom he could bor- 
 row the money. 
 
 The friend was his own strong box, which was in an 
 adjoining apartment, where, in anticipation of the result 
 of the interview, the bank notes had already been placed 
 early in the evening. To give color to his excuse of 
 absence, however, the Je$v seated himself in a chair in 
 his private closet, and indulged in the following solilo- 
 quy :- 
 
 "So, it ish de dirty Jew de willain Jew, vith de 
 Christians, till dey ish pinched for de monish, and den it 
 ish goot Jew mine goot friend lend me de monish and 
 I shall be eternally obliged. Psha!" and he spat on the 
 floor. " Thus," he continued, " would they spit on the 
 Jew, as he does on them the Prince ! yes, it ish de 
 people who pays veil, it ish all de same to me so I hash 
 my monish and dey think de Jews live in squalid po- 
 verty and misery to amass this wealth for them to spend. 
 The Jew hash no charity ! the Jew hash no compassion 1 
 the Jew hash none of earth's comforts. Faugh ! Let 
 them come to my house in Duke's Place let them see
 
 THE ORPHAN'S WRONGS. 57 
 
 ipe with my family let them ask themselves if they see 
 a Jew mendicant. How rarely a Jewish criminal how 
 seldom a Jew without education. Pshaw! the charity 
 of the Jew is active in good works that of the Christian 
 in empty sound." 
 
 The old man sat a few moments longer, and then rose, 
 and with the money in his hand, returned to his visitors. 
 The terms were agreed upon, and the Prince signed his 
 name to the contract. This signature the Jew compared 
 narrowly with some others attached to some documents 
 he kept in his pocket-book, and then, apparently satisfied 
 with the genuineness of the latter, of which perhaps he 
 had begun to entertain some doubt, he humbly bowed 
 his royal visitor from the room. 
 
 When the gentlemen had gone, he summed up an es- 
 timate of his probable gain from the transaction, and then 
 wrapping himself up in his cloak, he quitted his squalid 
 place of business in the Minories for his comfortable 
 nay, luxurious abode in Duke's Place. 
 
 "Ha, ha!" he muttered to himself, as he shuffled 
 along the slushy pavement; "he spends de monish 
 de people pays and de Jew is de gainer by de bar- 
 gainsh." 
 
 The two gentlemen, meanwhile descended the dark 
 staircase, passed through the shop and reached the street. 
 
 " By Jove, Brummell," said the prince, as he drew a 
 long breath of fresh air : " even the air of the Minories 
 is a luxury afteu one has so long been pent up in that vile 
 den. Now to Kandell & Bridge's to pay for that casket 
 of Jewelry, and then to Mrs. Fitzherbert's." A short walk 
 brought them to the celebrated jeweller's on Ludgate 
 Hill, and entering by a private door, for the shop had 
 long been closed, the casket containing a diamond neck- 
 lace and earrings, was secured and paid for with one 
 thousand pounds of the cash jnst received. Again re- 
 turning to the street, they entered a cab and ordered the 
 driver to set them down in Bond-street. 
 
 " Is your royal highness going to appear before Mrs. 
 Fitzherbert in that costume ?" asked Brummell. 
 
 3*
 
 58 THE LAWYER'S STORY; OR, 
 
 " And why not?" replied the prince, laughing. "Do 
 you think that I am like you, my prince of musk and 
 civet, never at ease unless Ajuste a toutes pointes. The 
 dress is well enough ; at all events it is too late to think 
 of dress now but here we are at Bond-street. I will not 
 trouble ypu to accompany me further. Au revoir my 
 dear Brummell. I will see you and report progress to- 
 morrow." 
 
 At this hint, Brummell descended from the vehicle 
 and directed his steps to his club, and the Prince of 
 Wales, ordering the driver to stop at a large confection- 
 er's shop, got out, paid the fare, and entering the house 
 by a private door, shortly found himself in the presence 
 of Mrs. Fitzherbert. 
 
 CHAPTEE IY. 
 
 In which the ancestors of the hero and heroine are introduced 
 to the reader. 
 
 MRS. FITZHERBERT, at the period she had so fascinated 
 the Prince, was a widow, and verging towards the forti- 
 eth year of her age. I have heard it said that she had 
 been twice married ; but this is somewhat doubtful. It 
 is also supposed, although, as is well known, she bore 
 issue to George, Prince of Wales, that she had no chil- 
 dren previously ; this the search it became necessary to 
 institute in order to endeavor to correctly trace back the 
 historv of the Fitzherbert orphans, and to substantiate 
 their claims, and through which I learnt the incidents I 
 have woven into a narrative form in the preceding chap- 
 ter, proved to be false. Whether or not she was twice 
 married and twice a widow, she had borne a child to her 
 husband, Captain Fitzherbert. 
 
 Although at this period past the age when female 
 charms are supposed to possess their greatest attractions, 
 she was still a most beautiful woman. Time had left no
 
 THE ORPHAN'S WRONGS. 59 
 
 wrinkled impress upon her countenance, and her fair 
 complexion was still as delicate as it had been in the days 
 of her girlhood. She had a slight tendency to embonpoint, 
 it is true ; but this was a style of beauty which the Prince 
 of Wales affected to admire, so long as it did not degen- 
 erate into too gross fulness. Her hair was .of a light 
 brown, and curled in short, luxuriant natural ringlets, 
 which, however, according to the fashion of the day, were 
 disfigured by the application of hair-powder; her fea- 
 tures were regular as those of a Grecian goddess, her 
 hands and feet small and symmetrical, and the charms 
 of her person enhanced by the richness, yet graceful sim- 
 plicity of her attire, which was so arranged as to display 
 all her perfections of person to the greatest possible ad- 
 vantage. She was also a remarkably accomplished wo- 
 man for that day, when the female mind was not culti- 
 vated as it now is. 
 
 At the death of her husband, who was of a highly re- 
 spectable and wealthy family, she had been left the mis- 
 tress of a very comfortable though not large income, de- 
 rived from property in the funds; and her society being 
 much courted by the fashionables of the day in conse- 
 quence of her rare endowments, she had at a soiree given 
 at a nobleman's mansion in Picadilly, fallen in with her 
 royal lover. Scandal almost immediately followed this 
 introduction for the prince that very evening had in- 
 sisted upon escorting her home in his own carriage, much 
 to the chagrin of many who would have given al- 
 most any thing for such a mark of favor; and the envi- 
 ous feelings towards the widow once having been aroused, 
 there was no limit to the looseness of the tongue of 
 scandal. 
 
 It was soon discovered that from that evening his royal 
 highness paid frequent private visits to the residence of 
 the new object of his fascination, and a ban was put upon 
 her admission as a" welcome guest in the circles she had 
 hitherto moved, alike courted, flattered and admired. 
 She, however, was a woman of spirit, and she determined, 
 possessing as she did, the consciousness of innocence, in
 
 60 THE LAWYER'S STORY; OE, 
 
 so far as the inuendos cast upon her reputation were con* 
 cerned, to treat with contempt and scorn those who had 
 insulted her. The* prince likewise, at that period, cared 
 little for anybody or anything that clashed with his own 
 pleasures or fancy, and Mrs. Fitzherbert was purposely 
 included in all the invitations to Carlton House ; the 
 prince likewise frequently made it the sine qua non as re- 
 garded his own visits, that Mrs. Fitzherbert should be 
 among the guests invited to meet him, and as few dared 
 to insult the heir apparent, those who wished to retain 
 his favor, were compelled, in spite of themselves, to 
 swallow their envy and indignation as best they might, 
 and to witness the most delicate attention paid to its 
 object, while they themselves .were comparatively 
 slighted. 
 
 The widow, however, could but feel the covert insults 
 which were offered to her no woman could do other- 
 wise and she determined upon revenge. It was to the 
 fostering of this feeling more than to anything else, that 
 the prince found the lady apparently so easily won to a 
 reciprocation of his own feelings towards her. In fact, 
 conscious of the power she possessed over the Prince, 
 she determined to become his wife, if not legally so ac- 
 cording to the constitution of the country, which de- 
 mands a royal and a Protestant alliance (and Mrs. Fitz- 
 herbert was a Roman Catholic,) for the princes of the 
 blood royal, at least his wife in the eye of heaven and 
 according to the rites and ceremonies of her own church, 
 and thus to still further excite the spleen and envy 
 of her detractors. 
 
 When the prince entered the apartment, she was re- 
 clining upon a sofa in a richly furnished parlor, look- 
 ing over the pages of a fashionable periodical. She 
 rose as he entered, although she retained her position 
 sufficiently long for him to observe the graceful negli- 
 gence of her attitude, which had been carefully studied. 
 
 " My dear prince," said she, as she advanced towards 
 him, extending both her hands which the prince took 
 in his own, " what a weary evening you have caused
 
 THE ORPHAN'S WRONGS. 61 
 
 me to pass. I expected you here an hour ago. It is 
 now eleven o'clock, and although I am aware that there 
 are reasons why you should visit me secretly in this 
 humble abode, you should not have caused me this dis.- 
 appointment." 
 
 "It has been unavoidable on my part, dear Eleanor," 
 replied the prince, " I came, as you well may believe, 
 as soon as I possibly could ; but do not call me by the 
 formal name of Prince, Eleanor : call me George. You 
 are my queen, I the most attached of your subjects and 
 admirers." 
 
 " Be it so, then, George," she replied, emphasizing the 
 name ; but you are aware that I can scarcely do so with 
 propriety considering the relations existing between us." 
 
 " Have you considered the proposition I made to you 
 on the occasion of my last visit, Eleanor ?" 
 
 " I have." 
 
 " And what determination have you arrived at?" 
 
 " My determination remains unaltered, dear George. 
 It is better since fate interposes a barrier to our union, 
 according to the absurd notion of courts, that this be our 
 last private interview. I grieve and deplore that it 
 should be unhappily necessary ; but you, George, cannot 
 deny that it will be best for us both." 
 
 "Can nothing alter your mind?" said the prince, 
 completely taken by surprise by this decision of the 
 lady's. 
 
 " Nothing nothing. The world could not tempt me 
 to an act of dishonor; my hand must be given with 
 my heart, or I will retain the affections of the latter 
 in my own keeping, ' though it break beneath the re- 
 straint.' " 
 
 There was an expression of mournful feeling in the 
 tone in which Mrs. Fitzherbert uttered these words, 
 which had the effect intended upon the heart of the 
 prince, while they were spoken in a manner so firm 
 and decided that he saw the lady was in earnest. He 
 tried new arguments, however, to induce her to alter 
 her resolve.
 
 62 THE LAWYER'S STORY; OR, 
 
 "I need not tell you," said he, "how willingly I 
 would embrace your wishes on this point ; but you as 
 well as I, are aware of the restraint imposed upon the 
 best and holiest affections of the sons of England's 
 sovereign. As my wife in the sight of heaven, you and 
 our offspring would never be acknowledged in the eye 
 of the law. What then would be your feelings, should 
 the country demand that I, upon ascending the throne 
 of my father, should conclude a royal alliance with the 
 daughter of some foreign Court ? Could I or you en- 
 dure the separation we must then submit to, or could 
 you see me ascend the throne of England, and virtually 
 deny, by refusing to declare you my queen, that you 
 were my wedded wife?" 
 
 " I could dare all, if I but retained the approving 
 smile of my own conscience. The affections and the 
 rites of holy Mother Church are decreed by God, and 
 his ministers on earth, to be the only ties that shall bind 
 true love in the bonds of wedlock, not the decrees dic- 
 tated by the ambition of earthly courts and kings. Once 
 again, dear George, though my heart may break beneath 
 the weight of its affliction, I aver solemnly, we must part 
 to-night forever, or if your love, as you avow, equals 
 my own, I must become your lawful wife." 
 
 " Then be it so," replied the prince, " I feel that I 
 cannot live without you; be mine my wife, by private 
 marriage, according to the rites of your own church, and 
 let this next week witness the ceremonies which shall 
 make us one ; and now, dear Eleanor, I must leave you ; 
 take this," said he, clasping the gorgeous, sparkling 
 necklace around the neck of his ajfiancee, and placing the 
 ear-rings in her hand, " as the first gift of your betrothed 
 husband. I had intended them only as a fresh proof of 
 my regard. Your decision has rendered the gift one of 
 another nature." 
 
 The compact was sealed, as I presume such compacts 
 usually are, and the prince left the house as secretly as 
 he had entered it, and walked to Carlton House, his own 
 roval residence.
 
 THE ORPHAN'S WRONGS. 63 
 
 Mrs. Fitzherbert sat for some moments in deep thought. 
 At length she gave utterance to the following soli- 
 loquy : 
 
 " And so, my end is all but gained. I have triumphed ; 
 but at what a cost ! To gratify pride and ambition, and 
 to punish envy and malice, I have consented to wed 
 one whom I do not can never love ; and I have sacri- 
 ficed a mother's love for her only child. Oh ! that I 
 now could recall the words I gave utterance to this 
 evening ; or rather, would to God I had never dared to 
 commence this fearful ordeal. My child, I must disown 
 him ; he must never in future know a mother's love 
 and care. Poor child ! but little has he known it since 
 I first became infatuated with the desire of conquering 
 this obdurate libertine and bringing him to my feet 
 now a year ago. To-morrow is my boy's fifth birth- 
 day, and I will see him then, perhaps for the last time. 
 How shall I bear the trial? Curse on the hapless hour 
 when my evil destiny first caused the prince to regard 
 me with interest ! Alas ! a curse, I fear, must ever at- 
 tach itself to the mother whose ambition led her to for- 
 sake aye, to deny her child." So saying, the unhappy 
 lady buried her face in her hands and burst into tears. 
 
 To understand the cause of this soliloquy, it is ne^ 
 cessary to inform the reader that Mrs. Fitzherbert when 
 she first conceived the idea of turning the evident ad- 
 miration of the prince, as she believed to her own ad- 
 vantage, had perceived that it was necessary to disguise 
 the fact of her having a child, and at length on the 
 question being put to her, perhaps on account of in- 
 formation the prince had surreptitiously received, she 
 had, urged at the moment by feelings of ambition 
 which absorbed all others, denied the fact and been, 
 of course, compelled to maintain the denial ; for she 
 was aware the prince would never consent to become 
 the father-in-law of the child of a humble subject of 
 his own father's. The child was nurtured in the house 
 of a brother of Mrs. Fitzherbert's, who was in com- 
 paratively humble circumstances, but who was seriously
 
 64: THE LAWYER'S STORY ; OR, 
 
 offended at the course of duplicity practised by his sis- 
 ter. When she had one day declared to him her design 
 as regarded the prince, he replied 
 
 "Eleanor, if you repudiate your own offspring to 
 gratify your own evil feelings, and your wicked ambi- 
 tion, the child is no longer yours. You can see him no 
 more. Let me but know that you dare after that to at- 
 tempt it and I will proclaim to your royal lover and to 
 the world, your falsehood and your unnatural cruelty. 
 You know me ; be assured that what I have said I 
 will do." 
 
 She did know him, and felt well assured that he 
 would be as good as his word ; by dint of bribes, how- 
 ever, when her future marriage with the prince became 
 town gossip, as it had been for some months though 
 but a few believed the rumor ; and when her brother 
 had put his threat into execution, by forbidding her the 
 house, she had often visited the child ; her brother's 
 housekeeper (he was unmarried) having privately ad- 
 mitted her after dark, Avhen the boy had retired to rest. 
 As the hour of the consummation of her ambitious pro- 
 ject drew nearer, her maternal affections had received a 
 new impulse, and her visits had been long and frequent. 
 Her brother, by some means suspected her, and had 
 again warned the housekeeper. The indulgence of her 
 affections had therefore become dangerous; and now, 
 knowing that they must cease, she determined to see 
 him once again, as her child and then, as such, to 
 know him no more. 
 
 For an hour, she sat in the position which I have de- 
 scribed; her frame at times convulsed with emotion. 
 At length she rose, bathed her forehead and her eyes, 
 cast the jewel'd bauble presented by her royal lover, on 
 the table almost with loathing, and retired to her 
 chamber. 
 
 Late on the evening following the events above re- 
 corded, a lady might have been seen, closely muffled, 
 threading her way amidst the maze of streets diverging 
 from Bloomsbury -square, London. At length, after
 
 THE ORPHAN'S WRONGS. 65 
 
 glancing cautiously around, as though afraid of being 
 seen, she approached a house of moderate pretensions in 
 Lamb's Conduit-street, and knocked timidly, three raps 
 at the door. In a few moments she was admitted by an 
 elderly female, who thus accosted her: 
 
 " Is that you, my lady? I expected you sooner, and 
 yet I am glad you did not come till now, for master has 
 but just retired to rest, and he has been raving furiously 
 about you. I am afraid if he should find out you were 
 here, something dreadful would happen." 
 
 " Good Martha," said the lady, " do not, I pray you, 
 waste words and time. I dare stay but a few minutes, ' 
 and I could not get* here sooner, for the prince has but 
 a short time since left my residence; take me to my 
 child, and, oh God ! for the last time, as my acknow- 
 ledged offspring, let me took upon him. Here, Martha," 
 she continued, placing in her hand a heavy purse ; 
 " take this, and be a mother to my boy, now that his 
 own unnatural parent is about to cast him off." 
 
 " Nay, lady, don't take on so," replied the old woman ; 
 " it makes me feel bad like. What does it signify, if the 
 child does not die and he is a hearty, healthy boy, so 
 there's no fear of that that you can't acknowledge him 
 as your child ? Sure he's your own flesh and blood all 
 the same. Come up stairs, ma'arm, and please to tread 
 softly past master's room. I wouldn't for the world he 
 should hear me." 
 
 Without uttering another word the lady followed the 
 old housekeeper up stairs into a small bedroom in the 
 upper story, where lay sleeping a beautiful boy of five 
 years of age. 
 
 The lady stepped gently to the bed and bent over the 
 child, while the tear-drops fell fast from her eyes. " My 
 poor babe," she said, " oh that I could recall the last 
 year of my life. What is the gratification of revenge ; 
 what the pride of successful ambition, to counterbalance 
 the anguish I now feel?" and she stooped still lower and 
 imprinted burning kisses on the cheeks, brow and lips of 
 the boy. He awoke, and while a smile of pleasure illu-
 
 66 THE LAWYER'S STORY ; OR, 
 
 mined his features, he exclaimed " Mama !" and laid his 
 hand in hers. " What makes you cry, mama?" he con- 
 tinued; "are you sorry to see me, or are you ill? 1 
 hope you are not ill. Let me come and live with you, 
 and I will take care of you and do everything you re- 
 quire of me." 
 
 " Dear Herbert," said the unhappy woman, " it will be 
 a long time before you see me again after to-night. I 
 weep, love, because I arn forced to bid you farewell for so 
 long a time. You will be a good child, will you not, 
 and do what Martha and your uncle tell you? And 
 dearest boy, never forget your mother." 
 
 "I will not never," said the child, himself beginning 
 to weep ; " but why must you go awa}^ mama ? Why 
 not take me with you? I love you better than Martha, 
 or my uncle, though you come to see me so seldom. Let 
 me go with you." 
 
 " It must not, cannot be, my darling Herbert. Would 
 to God, my dear child, I could take you with me and fly 
 to the uttermost part of the earth, to escape the fate in 
 reserve for me ." 
 
 " Mama," said the child, interrupting her, '' have you 
 done any thing wicked ? Uncle said to-night, I must not 
 think of you or speak about you ; but I will, though. 
 For ain't you my mother, still?" 
 
 "Good God! and has it come to this? Vilified by 
 my own brother, before my child," said the unhappy 
 lady, looking wildly around her and gasping for breath. 
 For some moments she made violent efforts to regain 
 her composure ; but each effort only increased her emo- 
 tion, and at length she gave vent to a piercing shriek, 
 and fell fainting to the floor. 
 
 While the terrified servant was endeavoring to restore 
 her to animation, amidst the loud lamentations of the boy, 
 who had risen from his bed and was weeping over the in- 
 pensate form of his only parent, a voice was heard in the 
 room below, demanding the cause of the uproar. The 
 woman was too much frightened to reply, and in another 
 minute, just as consciousness was returning to the faint-
 
 THE ORPHAN'S WRONGS. 67 
 
 ing female, the brother of Mrs. Fitzherbert entered the 
 room. She opened her eyes, and their first glance meet 
 his. The shock again caused her to faint ; but she soon 
 became conscious, and raising herself up, she said in a 
 deprecating tone of voice 
 
 " Dear Henry, you are my brother and once loved me. 
 I have come to take one last farewell of my child. You 
 would not refuse me that mercy?" 
 
 " Eleanor," he replied solemnly, "bid him farewell, 
 and forever, and on those conditions I will not inquire 
 by what means you gained admittance to my house in 
 this surreptitious manner," glancing sternly at the trem- 
 bling housekeeper. "Henceforward we are strangers. 
 You are my only sister, and as you say, I once loved you. 
 You have broken the bonds of affection between us not 
 I ; and another such visit as this, will lead to your expo- 
 sure, and render you the scorn and laughing stock of 
 the world. I leave you, and give you five minutes 
 longer to remain with your child ; then go, and be happy 
 if you can with the royal profligate whom, forsooth, 
 you have taken for a husband. Will the world so consider 
 him, or have you not reduced yourself to a level at which, 
 poor as I am, I will never acknowledge you as my sister. 
 Give me your hand," he added, with perceptible emotion ; 
 " never did I think to see my sister in this fallen condi- 
 tion. May you be happy, if you can be, arnid the scenes 
 of licentious splendor in which you will live, until some 
 day you will be cast aside, like a useless toy. Eleanor, 
 (taking her Land,) henceforward we are brother and sister 
 no longer." 
 
 He quitted the room, while a heart-rending scene en- 
 sued between the mother and child ; but at the expiration 
 of five minutes, she withdrew, and a week from that date, 
 George, Prince of Wales, and Mrs. Fitzherbert were pri- 
 vately married by,a Koniish priest. 
 
 I need scarcely add that Herbert Fitzherbert was the 
 father of the orphans whose claims to the advertised pro- 
 perty i was diligently investigating. ^1 shall in my next 
 chapter briefly narrate the events of his youth and his
 
 68 THE LAWYER'S STORY; OR, 
 
 marriage, and then return to the thread of the original 
 narrative of the persecutions to which the orphan brother 
 and sister were subjected, during the prosecution of this 
 vexatious law-suit. 
 
 CHAPTER V. 
 
 A royal sensualist and a sad separation A boyish resolve 
 manfully fulfilled A visit to JZngland, and an introduc- 
 tion to a lawyer of tJie old school The doubles of the hero 
 and heroine. 
 
 THE Prince of Wales, after his private marriage with 
 Mrs. Fitzherbert, maintained an establishment upon a 
 magnificent scale for her use and enjoyment, and in every 
 respect, except acknowledging her before the world, as 
 his wife, his manner towards her was that of a devoted 
 and loving husband, while the conduct of the lady was 
 marked with such circumspection, that even the ready 
 tongue of scandal scarcely dared to whisper a syllable to 
 the prejudice of her fair fame. She was generally re- 
 ceived in aristocratic and courtly circles, without a thought 
 being openly expressed regarding her equivocal connec- 
 tion with the heir apparent. 
 
 The constant attention of the prince to Mrs. Fitzher- 
 bert, had by degrees overcome the prejudice and even 
 dislike, that, in spite of her obstinate determination to 
 entangle him into an alliance, we have shown to have 
 existed in the early days of their union, and if she did 
 not love him with the devoted affection that should cha- 
 racterize the love of a wife, they probably got along to- 
 gether quite as respectably as many other couples, whose 
 union has been the result of circumstances over which 
 love has had little or no control. 
 
 The brother of Mrs. Fitzherbert, who had been an offi- 
 cer in the army, a^d who was dependent entirely upon 
 his slender half pay for support, was as the reader will
 
 THE ORPHAN'S WRONGS. 69 
 
 have seen, a man whose ideas of virtue partook of the 
 sternness of the Spartan character. He could make no 
 allowance for the frailties of human nature, and was 
 firmly fixed in the belief that every human being had 
 the power of restraining his passions and keeping them 
 within due bounds. Mrs. Fitzherbert resembled her bro- 
 ther in disposition, and under no other circumstances than 
 those we have described, would she have been induced to 
 deviate from the strict line marked out by duty ; but, 
 like most persons of her temperament, the fiery current 
 of passion once having found an outlet once having 
 burst the bonds of restraint, its course cannot be stayed, 
 whether it be urged onward by love, ambition, envy or 
 hatred. Like the waters of the cataract which are unre- 
 strumingly drawn, first by slow degrees, and then faster 
 and faster onwards, until they have taken the fearful leap 
 and can never again commingle with the placid stream 
 from which they have strayed, so the victim of this pas- 
 sion, let it be what it may, has, in giving himself up to 
 its strange fascination, been urged onwards onwards, un- 
 til he has at length taken the fatal step which has forever 
 banished the peace of mind he once enjoyed. We have 
 mentioned that Mrs. Fitzherbert was a Koman Catholic, 
 and although not bigoted, she was strict in regard to 
 matters of religion, and had she not unfortunately met 
 with the Prince of Wales, she would in all probability 
 have lived a quiet, happy, and retired life, and, dying, 
 left behind her the character of a strictly conscientious 
 and virtuous woman a model to her sex as regards the 
 duties of a widowed mother to an only child. 
 
 As it was, she was compelled to mingle in the vortex 
 of fashion ; while her feelings loathed the splendid misery 
 she endured, and to appear gay and happy, when her 
 heart was woepftg blood for the child whose very exis- 
 tence she had repudiated, in a moment when maddening 
 ambition held sway over her feelings. 
 
 For some three or four years she never again dared 
 visit the child ; and so determined was her brother to 
 adhere to his resolution, that all her attempts even tc
 
 70 THE LAWYER'S STORY; OR, 
 
 hear from the boy, were futile ; and thus, while the mo- 
 ther was reveling in wealth, and apparently in the enjoy- 
 ment of every luxury and pleasure that wealth can se- 
 cure, the boy was living upon the limited means of a 
 relative, who had barely sufficient for his own decent 
 subsistence. At the termination of this period, Lieut. 
 Crossly was drowned while crossing over from England 
 to Ireland, of which country he was a native and so ut- 
 terly was all communication between the brother and 
 sister suspended, that the first intimation of her brother's 
 death, received by Mrs. Fitzherbert, was through the 
 columns of the newspaper which recorded the melancholy 
 shipwreck of the packet in which he had sailed. The 
 shock for some minutes overpowered her ; for, separated 
 as they had been, she still loved her brother loved him 
 even, perhaps, the more, on account of his hard, stern, 
 but truly honest disposition; and then, she thought of 
 her boy left now without a protector perhaps without 
 a home. 
 
 The thought was more than a mother's heart could 
 endure, and she determined to seek him out, and at all 
 risks to tell the prince that she had deceived him ; that 
 she had a child by her former husband, besides the two 
 she had borne to him. 
 
 She did not find any difficulty in discovering the 
 child ; and for hours she allowed full scope to the flood 
 of maternal affection that had so long been pent up ; and 
 when restored to some degree of composure, she pro- 
 vided the old housekeeper of her brother's, who had 
 acted in the place of a mother to the boy, with ample 
 means for his and her own future support. 
 
 But now the cup of bitterness that she in her thought- 
 less ambition had filled, began to overflow, and she 
 found herself doomed to the wretchedness her brother 
 had foreboded ; and which her own heart had foresha- 
 dowed, through weary years, even from the moment 
 when she had proudly triumphed and brought the prince 
 a suitor at her feet. She met her husband that evening, 
 and determined at once to dare his anger ; perhaps hia
 
 THE ORPHAN'S WRONGS. 71 
 
 ntter repudiation, sooner than bear any longer the secret 
 pangs which racked her tortured breast. He was more 
 than usually affectionate in his words and demeanor ; 
 and the unhappy woman, time after time, when on the 
 point of speaking on the subject, checked her utterance; 
 as if she thought procrastination, though it prolonged 
 her misery, were better than at such a moment to sever, 
 perhaps forever, the ties that bound her to her royal hus- 
 band. The prince himself was in a melancholy mood ; 
 and like herself, it was apparent that he had some- 
 thing upon his mind he dared not give expression to. 
 
 Mrs. Fitzherbert at length observed this, and with 
 truly feminine instinct, her soul foreboded the nature of 
 the terrible disclosure which awaited her. Her heart 
 sunk within her, and she gasped for breath. Already 
 strange rumors had gone abroad, and had found thei 
 way to her unwilling ears, and she had closed them 
 to their cruel breathings ; but now the truth burst upon 
 her, and she could bear the torture that racked her 
 bosom and burned in her brain no longer. 
 
 "George," she said, in a tone the agony of which 
 caused the prince to turn pale, " you have something 
 dreadful to tell me. My husband, speak speak at once, 
 or my heart will break, and I shall fall a corpse at your 
 feet. The rumors I have heard and obstinately refused 
 to listen to, while my heart foreboded still they were too 
 true, are indeed correct. George, arrangements are in 
 preparation for your marriage with the Princess Caroline; 
 and I I your wife in the sight of heaven " She 
 could say no more ; a film came over her eyes ; she 
 gasped for breath, as though she were suffering strangu- 
 lation, and fell fainting in the arms of the prince. 
 
 He summoned assistance, and the unhappy lady was 
 borne to her couch. A night of hopeless agony followed 
 and in a succession of fainting fits, and wanderings of the 
 mind, she lay until morning. The prince was deeply 
 affected, and never lei't the side of the couch. Medical 
 aid had been called in, and towards morning her anguish 
 found vent in a copious flood of tears, for hitherto her
 
 72 THE LAWYER'S STORY; OR, 
 
 agony of mind had been too great to allow a tear to come 
 to her relief 
 
 She in some measure- recovered her composure and 
 besought her husband to tell her the worst at once 
 to hide nothing for longer suspense would surely 
 kill her. 
 
 "Dear Eleanor my wife the only woman I have 
 ever fixed my affections upon it is as you surmise. It 
 were useless now to attempt to deny it, or to offer conso- 
 lation only to render future anguish doubly bitter. I 
 am affianced to the Princess Caroline, and I dare not do 
 otherwise than follow the wishes the wishes, do I say 
 nay, the commands of my father and his ministers. As 
 for the princess, I have never seen more than her por- 
 trait ; it tells me she is fair, and they tell me she is 
 amiable. Unhappy w r oman ! I must call her wife while 
 I loathe her very name nay more, mast not only ac- 
 knowledge but live with her as such. Eleanor, we must 
 part. It were better for us both that we part at once 
 and forever. You you, my dearest wife, shall be amply 
 proyided for, and any boon you ask, no matter what it 
 be, shall be granted. Curse on the law which thus 
 places a restraint on the holiest affections of the heart 
 and makes the prince, oh how infinitely beneath the 
 poorest peasant. I dare not at this moment deny the 
 profligacy of my youth, but had not fate ordained that 
 I should be the son of England's King, it might not ever 
 have been thus with me, for on you my affections would 
 have been firmly fixed ; now I am reckless of the future, 
 as 1 have been of the past. Speak dear Eleanor," he 
 continued, as he felt the weight fall heavily upon the 
 arm that encircled the waist of his wife. " Speak say 
 one word, say that you can forgive me that you do not 
 spurn me from you. Oh, God ! she has fainted she is 
 dying I have killed her," and tears fell like rain drops 
 from the eyes of one whose conscience was seared by the 
 vile course of life he had led, prince though he was, and 
 those tears were perhaps the first he had wept since 
 manhood planted the beard upon his chin perhaps the
 
 THE ORPHAN'S WRONGS. 73 
 
 last that affection or any feeling akin to virtue ever 
 drew from his eyes. 
 
 Mrs. Fitzherbert again recovered her consciousness, 
 and in a. short time was restored to partial composure. 
 
 " It must be so," she said, "I have felt it for years. 
 The feeling has been gnawing at my heart-strings, even 
 at the moment when I seemed gayest. George, we must 
 part forever ; but 1 have a secret to disclose have de- 
 ceived you aye, and myself, too. In the madness of 
 ambition, I thought I could cast from me the holiestfeel- 
 ings of a mother the last chord which detaches itself from 
 the heart when life is departing, and the grave is already 
 opening to the view. George, I have another child besides 
 those I have borne you, and last night, ere I heard the 
 terrible tidings from your own lips, I had determined 
 to disclose a secret which, to keep longer locked in 
 my breast, would have shortly worn away my life/' 
 
 " Another child !" said the prince, in a tone of amaze- 
 ment. 
 
 " Yes," she continued feebly, " a child by Captain 
 Fit/,herbert, as you, I fancy, once partially suspected, 
 and whose existence I unnatural parent hat I am 
 denied." 
 
 The prince was evidently relieved, for a strange sus- 
 I cion had crossed his mind. 
 
 " A child by Capt. Fitzherbert," he replied. " Why 
 d:d you hide this from me, Eleanor?" 
 
 u Because, had I told you the truth, I could not have 
 compassed my ends, and become your wife. We both 
 have much to answer for ; but I have the greatest bur- 
 then to bear. Perhaps it is just, for my sin has been 
 the greatest. Dear George, I have one favor to ask 
 before we part for ever, not for myself, but for my 
 poor, long forsaken boy. I shall retire from this busy 
 scene, and by fasting and prayer, and in the penances 
 enjoined by my church, shall endeavor to make my 
 peace with Heaven. I have a small private fortune*, 
 (sufficient for myself, but for the love you bear me, 
 dear George this is the last time I shall call vou by 
 
 4
 
 74 THE LAWYEE'S STOEY; OR, 
 
 that name provide for my fatherless child as the child 
 of one who has been the wife and has borne children 
 to his future sovereign should be provided for? Do 
 this, and Heaven will bless you his mother will bless 
 you with her latest breath." 
 
 " I swear that I will," replied the prince. 
 
 " Then, now, farewell ; henceforward forget Eleanor 
 Fitzherbert. She will soon be laid in her grave, for- 
 get that she ever existed." 
 
 The husband and wife parted then and forever ; but 
 the prince kept his word with regard to the boy, upon 
 whom and his heirs forever he settled valuable crown 
 lands in the interior of England. It was well, perhaps, 
 that this was done on the spur of the moment, for the 
 Prince of Wales soon forgot her he had once so ardently 
 loved, and relapsed into the inherent profligacy which 
 had marked his career from boyhood, and which he 
 continued until age and infirmity forbade his further 
 indulgence in sensual pleasures. 
 
 This property had at one period belonged to the 
 Church ; but by some means, the nature of which I 
 know not, had reverted to the crown, and the estate 
 was among the royal gifts, though it could not be held 
 by any prince of the blood royal. It had long been 
 matter of litigation between the Church and the Crown, 
 and the decision had only lately been given in favor 
 of the latter. When I speak of the good fortune, as 
 far as Herbert was concerned, that the prince acted on 
 the spur of the moment, I mean that had the prince 
 given himself time to reflect, he would, in all probabi- 
 lity have sold the estate privately to the highest bidder, 
 instead of thus placing it altogether out of his control, 
 without having received any pecuniary benefit from it. 
 
 Young Fitzherbert was at this period in the tenth 
 year of his age. He was tall for his age, and slightly 
 but firmly built. Although naturally of a bold disposi- 
 tion, the privacy in which he had been brought up by 
 his uncle, had rendered him apparently timid and bash- 
 ful, especially in the presence of strangers. His educa-
 
 THE ORPHAN'S WRONGS. 75 
 
 ' 
 
 tion had been well cared for, and though he hnd not 
 been as yet inducted into the rudiments even, of any 
 showy accomplishments, he was as well grounded in 
 ihe first principles of substantial and useful knowledge 
 as most boys of his age who had had twice his oppor- 
 tunities. 
 
 When the Prince of Wales had presented to his 
 newly -discovered step-son the extensive manor lands 
 we have alluded to, he had done so with the proviso 
 that until of age the boy should remain under the 
 joint guardianship of his mother and a distant relative 
 of her family, the Earl of Shropshire. The rent roll of 
 the estate amounted to fifteen thousand pounds per an- 
 num, out of which the expenses of the boy's education 
 at Eton and Oxford were to be paid, and a liheral annual 
 allowance afforded him, the balance of the annual in- 
 come to accumulate in the Bank until he was twenty- 
 one years old, or to be otherwise emploj^ed for his 
 benefit, with the joint concurrence of his mother and his 
 male guardian. 
 
 The alteration in the circumstances of young Herbert 
 Fitzherbert, soon effected a complete change in his cha- 
 racter. Like most persons of a naturally impulsive 
 temperament who have been in early youth subjected to 
 too great restraint, the long pent-up passions soon deve- 
 loped themselves with uncontrollable strength. He had 
 little that was really vicious in his disposition, but the 
 timid, bashful lad of ten years old, was, at the age of 
 sixteen, the leader of every mischievous project at Eton 
 College, the dread of under ushers, and the admiration 
 of his school-fellows, especially of those younger than 
 himself who took him as their model, and humbly strove 
 to imitate alike his good and bad qualities. 
 
 The very liberal allowance of pocket-money he re- 
 ceived, gave him a great advantage over his, in this re- 
 spect, less fortunate school-fellows, while at the same 
 time it afforded him the opportunity of indulging in 
 every freak of fancy that seized hold of his imagination
 
 76 THE LAWYER'S STORY; OR, 
 
 and which notunfrequently led him into excesses which 
 he afterwards bitterly lamented. 
 
 I do not, however, intend to linger over the school- 
 boy days of Herbert Fitzherbert. At the age of eighteen, 
 he was entered a gentleman commoner at Christ Church 
 College, Oxford, and previously to his entering the Uni- 
 versity, he paid a short visit to his mother and his guar- 
 dian. Mrs. Fitzherbert's health had been slowly de- 
 clining for some years. She lived in the strictest seclu- 
 sion, never receiving company and fulfilling all the 
 duties of a religious devotee. What portion of her in- 
 come she could spare, and but a small portion of it was 
 expended on her own subsistence and that of a single 
 servant, was devoted to acts of charity, and only in the 
 occasional visits of her son and those of the daughter of 
 the physician who attended her, did she appear to take 
 the slightest pleasure. Herbert was fondly attached to 
 his mother, and it grieved him sadly on this visit to per- 
 ceive that she was fast failing in health, and, as he 
 feared, was not much longer to remain an inhabitant of 
 this earth. This, too, she knew, and she felt all a 
 mother's anxiety in the future prospects of the son to 
 whom she was so soon to bid a long farewell. 
 
 It appears that she had doubts of the honest intentions 
 of his guardian towards him, and the night before he was 
 to leave her to pay the desired visit to the Earl of Shrop- 
 shire, at Alton Castle, she held a long conversation with 
 the youth in the course of which, she gave expression to 
 her doubts and fears. 
 
 " But, mother, the earl has always behaved with the 
 utmost liberality towards me," said Herbert, in reply to 
 some remarks to the above effect that Mrs. Fitzherbert 
 had just uttered. "It was but six months ago that I 
 asked for an increase of my allowance from 600 to 
 1000, which he immediately granted, and in the letter 
 which requested me to stay a week at the castle on my 
 way to Oxford, after having visited you, he hints at a 
 still larger allowance during the few years that yet re- 
 main before 1 take possession of the Huntingdonshire
 
 THE ORPHAN'S WRONGS. 77 
 
 property, as being necessary for my support at Oxford, in. 
 the style he desires me to maintain. To me, there does 
 not seem much enmity in this!" 
 
 " Nor is there," replied the lady : " nor do I know that 
 I should have mentioned the subject, did I not feel that 
 I shall soon be called hence, and you, dear Herbert, will 
 be left solely to your guardian's care, and no longer will 
 the voice of a mother be able to counsel or advise with 
 you as regards your future welfare ; but I held some con- 
 versation with the earl about a month since, when he 
 called here to visit me, which has filled my heart with 
 dismal forebodings." 
 
 " Then banish them, mother," said Herbert, endeavoring 
 to assume an appearance of gaiety, with the object of 
 cheering his mother's spirits, that he in reality did not 
 feel, " banish them and do not give way to low spirits, 
 nor speak of death. You will live to see me take pos- 
 session of Brampton Manor on my twenty-first birthday ; 
 aye, and many years afterwards I trust, to preside over 
 my household. Mother," he added, in a tone of deep 
 feeling, " you live too much alone you should go more 
 into society. Living thus, your mind is occupied with 
 doleful fancies, which have an evil effect upon your bo- 
 dily health. In a few years 1 shall occupy Brampton 
 Manor then you must live with me. Perhaps I may 
 take a wife to share my good fortune, and you must in- 
 struct her in the duties of her novel position. We shall 
 have gay times when all this comes to' pass, shall we 
 not ?" 
 
 Mrs. Fitzherbert smiled faintly. "Herbert," she said, 
 " you talk hopefully, my dear boy may that hope cling 
 to you through life. .For me, 1 feel that the hand of 
 death is even now upon me, and I in the body, shall not 
 live to witness your installation to the heritage given you 
 by the prince; but if the spirits of the departed are al- 
 lowed to watch over those they have loved on earth, my 
 spirit will constantly hover around you and share, if share 
 it may, in your every earthly happiness. But my dear
 
 78 THE LAWYER'S STORY; OR, 
 
 boy, you spoke of marriage it is on that subject I would 
 now speak with you, perhaps for the last time." 
 
 She stopped speaking for a moment, as though for the 
 purpose of giving Herbert an opportunity to reply ; but 
 he did not say a word. He was too much affected by 
 the solemnity of his mother's manner, to trust himself 
 to speak. 
 
 She continued: 
 
 " I have told you, Herbert, that I had lately some con- 
 versation with the earl regarding yourself, and then he 
 hinted to me his wish nay, more than hinted his wish ; 
 he expressed an urgent desire that the Shropshire and 
 Huntingdonshire estates should be united, and this union 
 he proposed should be effected by means of an alliance 
 to be contracted between you, and Lady Mary Alton, his 
 daughter, and sole heiress. He desired almost com- 
 manded my interference in this matter, and requested me 
 to press upon you the benefits that would accrue from 
 the consummation of this, on his part, anticipated union. 
 I told him that I had suffered too much from the evils 
 of a misalliance, even to lend my aid to the contraction 
 of a marriage in which the affections were not the pri- 
 mary agents. I have no personal objection to your mar- 
 riage with Lady Mary nay, I believe that it would for 
 many reasons, be a most advantageous match ; but I have 
 also reasons for believing that your affections are also 
 otherwise engaged. Is it so, Herbert? This is no time 
 to disguise your sentiments before your mother. A little 
 time, as I have said, and she will be here no longer to 
 counsel or advise with you." 
 
 " Mother," said Herbert, "you are right. My affec- 
 tions are engaged my hand is pledged, and you know 
 to whom. Much beneath Lady Mary Alton in what the 
 world calls rank and station one too humble even for 
 her to notice much inferior to her I am willing to grant 
 in what is generally considered as beauty, is Ellen Har- 
 court ; but I need not tell you how much she is her supe- 
 rior in all that constitutes the real worth of woman, in all 
 the qualities calculated to make a husband happy to
 
 THE ORPHAN'S WRONGS. 79 
 
 attract his love and render it enduring as life. One is as 
 the sun flowers in the parterre, seen and admired by 
 every one but admired most at a distance ; the other 
 as the violet hidden beneath the moss-grown bank its 
 presence only known by the fragrance it diffuses around: 
 loved and admired and valued the more, the closer it is 
 seen. Mother, who would choose to pluck and bedeck 
 himself with the sun flower ? who would not wear the 
 modest, beauteous violet in his bosom ?" 
 
 The young man ceased speaking, and Mrs. Fitzherbert 
 replied : 
 
 "It is as I thought ; as I could have hoped," and then 
 she continued, in a low tone of voice, as if unconsciously, 
 " and yet a fatality appears to attend our family in regard 
 to the affections of the heart. I have suffered so did 
 my poor, honest, stern, but true-hearted brother; so did 
 my mother : and is my son to suffer under the same curse? 
 Oh ! what deadly sin have my ancestors committed, that 
 the sins of the fathers are thus visited upon the children ;" 
 then she continued, more audibly, and addressing her 
 son, " Herbert, I have not told you all. The earl be- 
 came so importunate that I confessed to him my belief 
 that your love was plighted to another, and asked him if 
 he could wish me, your mother, to interfere in a matter 
 of such vital importance as regards your future happiness 
 in life. He replied : 
 
 "Mrs. Fitzherbert, I offer your son an alliance that 
 princes might court, and, pardon me for saying it such 
 an alliance as his birth does not entitle him to. I am 
 aware of the nature of the grant bestowed upon your son 
 by the Prince of Wales; and I may as well at once in- 
 form you that it is liable to be contested that it is doubt- 
 ful whether the prince had aright to bestow it; and fur- 
 ther, that there is an older claimant, who can bring proof 
 that Frederick, Prince of Wales, the father of King 
 George the Third, made a similar grant, it is said, of the 
 same property to him. No one knows this but myselfj 
 as yet. I can prevent any further action being taken ; 
 but 1 will only do so upon condition that through the
 
 80 THE LAWYER'S STORY; OR, 
 
 alliance of Herbert with Lady Mary, the estate of Brarnp* 
 ton Manor and Alton Castle are united. Let your son 
 cast from him all thoughts of the lowly match he dreams 
 of. He is but a boy ; and let him think of his prospects 
 in the future : they are wealth, rank and station, and the 
 hand of Lady Mary Alton, or beggary, and misery, and 
 love in a cottage, with the low-born girl who has woven 
 her toils around him, and sought to ensnare him for the 
 gratification of her own ambitious purposes." 
 
 "The earl rose from his seat, and without waiting my 
 reply, left the room, and in a few minutes I saw his car- 
 riage drive past the window. I know his scheming, 
 treacherous disposition, and I know that he will take any 
 measures, no matter how vile, to carry out any purpose 
 he has formed, and perhaps there may be truth in what 
 he has said respecting the Huntingdonshire property. 
 What say you now, my son?" 
 
 " As 1 said before, mother. Poverty with Ellen Har- 
 court sooner than wealth with Lady Mary. Good 
 Heaven ! as well might one try to warm an icicle into 
 flame as to extract love from the cold, selfish heart of 
 Lady Mary Alton. Mother, I am no silly child to 
 dream that mutual love, alone, can constitute happiness. 
 Love in a cottage is very pretty in a picture or a novel ; 
 but unless there is something more substantial in the 
 cottage fuel to warm it and food to give it strength 
 love is very likely to die of starvation. But why should 
 poverty, much less beggary, be my lot if I marry Ellen, 
 even supposing what I utterly disbelieve, the trumped 
 up tale of Lord Alton to be true? Am I not strong and 
 healthy ? Can I not labor for my living as others do, 
 who, like me, have been favored with a good educa- 
 tion, but, who, unlike me, have not been pampered 
 with the smiles of fortune. Let me be thankful that 
 in my early youth my uncle taught me the virtues of 
 self-denial; and although I have enjoyed fortune's 
 favors, I have not forgotten her frowns. Poverty, with 
 Ellen Harcourt ! never, while I have the strong arm 
 and true heart wherewith to gain independence. Kever !
 
 THE ORPHAN S WRONGS. 81 
 
 This is no boy boasting, mother. I feel what I say, and 
 shall act up to it. If Heaven spares my life and hers, 
 I shall marry Ellen Harcourt ; if the world were offered 
 me as her dower, with that dower I would reject the 
 hand of Lady Mary Alton." 
 
 " Nobly said, my brave son," said Mrs. Fitzherbert ; 
 " I pray God, my honest boy, your purpose may be as 
 nobly sustained should the day of trial unhappily ever 
 come; and now, dear, good night. I feel unusmilly 
 tired and oppressed in spirits to-night. To-morrow you 
 leave for Alton Castle; do not go until night. I must 
 yet have one day more to pass in your society." 
 
 The mother and son joined in a mutual embrace, and 
 Mrs. Fitzherbert retired to her chamber. 
 
 Ellen Harcourt, as the reader may have suspected, 
 was the daughter of a physician of the city, on the out- 
 skirts of which Mrs. Fitzherbert resided, and, as we have 
 said, was a frequent and favored visitor at Mrs. Fitzhcr- 
 bert's. Here Herbert had frequently met her wh<?n on 
 a visit to his mother ; and they had, as mere children, 
 conceived an affection for each other. This had ripened 
 into love as they grew in years, and on his previous 
 visit Herbert had told his love to the gentle girl, and 
 she had reciprocated his affection ; and although until 
 the interview with her son just described, Mrs. Fitzher- 
 bert had not known that matters had gone so far, she 
 had long ago guessed pretty clearly how things really 
 stood between them. The father of Ellen was in mo- 
 derate circumstances, having a respectable practice in 
 the city and neighborhood ; her mother had died while 
 she was a child, and she, though still so young, ad- 
 mirably filled the position of her father's housekeeper. 
 She was a pretty, delicate, amiable girl, very retiring 
 in manner, but affectionate in disposition, and loved by 
 every one who knew her. As to Lady Mary Alton, 
 she has been well described by Herbert. She was a 
 handsome girl of twenty -two or three years of age; but 
 cold and calculating in disposition, and so haughty and 
 overbearing as to render her manners almost repulsive. 
 
 4*
 
 82 THE LAWYER'S STORY; OR, 
 
 > 
 
 A few hours after Herbert had retired for the night, 
 he was awakened by the ringing of a bell and the bustle 
 of persons hurrying to and fro, and while gathering 
 his scattered, dreaming senses, he was startled into full 
 consciousness by a loud knock at his chamber door, 
 and by the voice of the servant, who entreated him to 
 hurry down stairs for she thought her lady was dying. 
 
 Herbert sprang from his bed and hurriedly putting 
 on his clothes, hastened down stairs to his mother's 
 bed-room. She was as the servant had stated, almost 
 at her last gasp, and apparently unconscious of all that 
 was going on around her ; but as Herbert bent over her 
 and uttered a few unconnected sentences, for the sud- 
 den and unexpected blow had unmanned him, she 
 opened her eyes, as she heard the well-known and 
 loved voice, and smiled faintly, at the same time essaying 
 to grasp his hand. Poor Herbert seized the half extended 
 hand and stooped to kiss her cheek, his eyes almost blind- 
 ed wfth the starting tears. There was one more smile as 
 she seemed to feel his warm breath a slight convulsive 
 shudder and Mrs. Fitzherbert was no more ; but that 
 smile the last faint effort of a mother's love, when to 
 her filmy eyes, all else but the loved object of her holiest 
 affection, was mist and darkness, sfill lingered after death, 
 and the pale, cold corpse carried that last loving smile 
 even into the damp, cold grave. 
 
 Herbert was overwhelmed with grief; he had schooled 
 himself to bear the loss which he knew he would soon 
 be called to suffer ; but he had not thought the sad blow 
 would fall upon him so suddenly. He rose from his half 
 recumbent posture, and still holding his mother's hand in 
 his own, seated himself by the bedside, and there for 
 hours he sat, motionless stupid his faculties benumbed 
 with the intensity of his grief. 
 
 The physician arrived just as the spirit had fled from 
 his expiring patient, as though it were in mockery of 
 the vain efforts of human skill when the dread fiat has 
 gone forth ; but the doctor, though startled at the sudden- 
 ness of Mrs. Fitzherbert's decease, was not greatly sur-
 
 THE ORPHAN'S WRONGS. 83 
 
 prised. Iler disease was ossification of the heart, and at 
 uny moment of excitement might have proved fatal. 
 
 Ellen too, shortly arrived, and strove to and at length 
 succeeded in consoling the bereaved son ; their tears 
 mingled together, for Ellen had long looked upon Mrs. 
 Filzherbert as a second mother to her, sent by Heaven in 
 place of the mother she had lost, and in that hour of 
 sorrow the troth plighted at a happier moment was 
 sealed too firmly to be torn asunder by mortal hands. 
 
 I will pass over the details of the funeral, merely 
 stating that the body of the deceased was carried to Ire- 
 land ; and followed by Herbert and Ellen as chief 
 mourners, was interred in the family vault in Dublin ; 
 and in the course of a few weeks, when the keen edge 
 of his sorrow was somewhat blunted, Herbert paid his 
 promised visit to the Earl of Shropshire at Alton Castle. 
 
 He was kindly and hospitably received, and for a few 
 days nothing was said to him by the Earl as to the 
 views he entertained regarding his daughter's marriage, 
 although it was evident that Lady Mary, who had here- 
 tofore always treated him with almost scornful hauteur, 
 now took every opportunity to ingratiate herself into his 
 lavor; but it was in vain. He met her advances coldly 
 but respectfully, and never suffered himself, by word or 
 deed, to imply that he could ever view her in any other 
 light than as the daughter of his guardian. 
 
 At length the earl, one morning, having invited his 
 young guest to join him in a morning walk in the Park, 
 broached the subject that occupied his mind, and to his 
 great astonishment his condescending offer was court- 
 eously but firmly declined by his ward. The old noble- 
 man was too cunning and too well-bred to resort to 
 threats, and he adroitly changed the subject of conver- 
 sation, and during the remainder of the visit he never 
 again reverted to it. 
 
 Jn a few days Herbert went to Oxford, and remained 
 for one year, during which period he received several 
 letters from the earl, in all of which the object which
 
 84 THE LAWYER'S STORY; OB, 
 
 lay nearest Iris lieart was hinted at, without Herbert's 
 seeming to notice it. 
 
 At length his guardian conceived the idea that travel 
 and consequent absence from the object of his idolatry, 
 might root out the, as he imagined, incipient, boyish 
 love, which so fascinated his ward, and while Herbert 
 was away he would see the girl's father and by a pe- 
 cuniary gift or other means, endeavor to gain over the 
 father's co-operation in his sinister designs, and when 
 his ward returned he hoped he might be found more 
 inclined to yield to his wishes. 
 
 He proposed travel to Herbert, who was delighted, 
 at the age of nineteen, thus to become his own master, 
 and who eagerly accepted the proposition. 
 
 To the earl's great delight he proposed to visit the 
 United States instead of some of those countries in 
 Europe, with which England was then on friendly terms, 
 and where it would have been practicable for an Eng- 
 lishman to travel. His lordship thought to himself 
 "this is better than ever;" (at that period the com- 
 munication between the old and the new world was not 
 so easy, rapid and regular, as at present,) " while in 
 Europe this cunning gypsy of a physician's daughter 
 might find means to correspond with her lover. In 
 America this will be barely practicable," and in a short 
 time Herbert, who had early imbibed a love for re- 
 publican institutions, sailed for America, with the in- 
 tention of remaining until he was of age. 
 
 The reader will recollect it was while on this visit I 
 first introduced him in this record through the infor- 
 mation I received from the daughter. 
 
 Being abundantly supplied with money, he took it 
 into his head to purchase some extensive tracts of land 
 in Virginia which were for sale at this period, the title 
 deeds of which he received ; but the war breaking out 
 with the mother country, he was compelled to return 
 to England a few months earlier than he would other- 
 wise have done. 
 
 When he arrived home the persecutions of the earl
 
 THE ORPHAN'S WRONGS. 85 
 
 re-commenced, and now assumed a threatening form. 
 At length Herbert positively refused to listen longer 
 to his guardian's overtures, declaring that he should 
 shortly be of age and then, at all hazards, he would 
 marry Ellen. The earl stamped and stormed but all to 
 no purpose, and at length threatened him with the loss 
 of his inheritance, as he had once hinted to the young 
 man's mother. Herbert laughed the threat to scorn, 
 and turning his back on the earl, left him dumb with 
 astonishment at his ward's spirited independence. 
 
 Herbert went to the earl's solicitor the following week, 
 on arriving in London, and made inquiry as to the cor- 
 rectness of his lordship's statement. But the lawyer had 
 received instructions from the earl, who suspected this 
 movement on the part of his ward, and he corroborated 
 the hints the young man had received from Lord Alton. 
 
 Ignorant of the intricacies of law, and of a proud, im- 
 petuous spirit that would not brook humiliation, Herbert 
 manfully determined to depend upon his own exertions, 
 and his late mother's property affording him an income 
 sufficient for his economical maintenance, he returned to 
 college to finish his studies, and having a penchant for 
 the medical profession, he took the necessary steps to 
 qualify himself for its practice. Four years after this, 
 during which period he proudly refused to listen to any 
 overtures from the earl, who sought several oppor- 
 tunities to bring the determined youth to terms, he 
 commenced practice, and the following year married 
 Ellen llarcourt : but not succeeding so rapidly as his 
 impetuous spirit had led him to believe he ought to do, 
 and longing to revisit the United States, he determined 
 to dispose of his practice, sell out his late mother's pro- 
 perty in the funds, and emigrate to this country with 
 the little capital he could thus collect together. He did 
 so, and commenced business in Philadelphia, whence 
 after some time he removed to Heading, where he died 
 shortly after his wife, leaving Adolphus and Georgiana, 
 infants and orphans, without a relative or a friend that 
 they knew of in the wide world ; for that very year,
 
 86 THE LAWYER'S STORY ; OR, 
 
 1830, King George the Fourth, who according to the 
 precepts of divinity and all the recognized laws of social 
 life among civilized nations, was in reality the husband 
 of their grandmother, had himself been gathered to the 
 tomb of his royal ancestors. 
 
 Having thus completed the introduction to my narra- 
 tive by tracing the anterior family records up to the 
 date of the opening of my story, I shall now beg the 
 reader to follow rne in imagination again to England, 
 for which country I sailed with my two proteges within 
 a few weeks after the happy recovery of Georgiana. 
 
 I was advised by the professional gentleman, who was 
 acting in England in co-operation with me, to keep 
 secret for the present the arrival of the brother and sis- 
 ter in that country. Accordingly on my arrival in Lon- 
 don, I procured suitable lodgings at the West End, and 
 having established them therein, I walked to Lincoln's 
 Inn-Fields, where was located the law office of Mr. 
 Hughes, to whom I introduced myself as the gentleman 
 who had corresponded with him relative to the Fitzher- 
 bert case from the United States. 
 
 Our mutual greetings having been exchanged, I im- 
 mediately entered into the business which had induced 
 me, from the interest I had taken in the young people, to 
 cross the Atlantic with them and endeavor to see them 
 righted as regarded what I considered their just claims. 
 
 " I as well as you, Mr. ," said Mr. Hughes in re- 
 ply to some remarks I had made, " fully believe that the 
 young gentleman and lady you have brought with you 
 from the United States, are the lawful heirs to this con- 
 tested property ; nevertheless, I fear we shall have con- 
 siderable difficulty in bringing forward sufficient proof, 
 the more especially since two young persons have 
 been in this country now nearly three months, and 
 strange to say, their story exactly coincides with that 
 which you tell me you have heard from your proteges ; 
 more than that, their claims have been very well re- 
 ceived by the parties interested, who will work with all
 
 THE ORPHAN'S WRONGS. 87 
 
 their might to establish them in possession, and do all 
 they can to prove our clients to be impostors." 
 
 " But I have with me proof of the death of Mr. Her- 
 bert Fitzherbert, and his wife, Ellen Harcourt, at Kead- 
 ing, Pennsylvania, in 1830," said I, considerably taken 
 aback, as sailors say, by the story of my English legal 
 friend, " and I presume nothing will be easier now I 
 am in London to procure from the registers, proof of 
 the birth of Herbert Fitzherbert, and his marriage with 
 Miss Harcourt, at 'Canterbury, where her father resided, 
 and also from some persons who must be cognizant of 
 the event, proof of the emigration of Mr. and Mrs. Fitz- 
 herbert to the United States." 
 
 "Nothing could possibly be more simple than to do 
 as you say," replied Mr. Hughes with the most im- 
 perturbable coolness and dryness, "for every facility 
 would be afforded you at the vestries of the churches 
 in which the ceremony of christening and marriage 
 were performed, and you might also discover the date 
 of the infants' birth register; but unfortunately, all 
 that has been done already by the solicitor of the op- 
 posing parties in this case." 
 
 " How is it possible," I replied, " that they can have 
 thus managed to make every little circumstance agree 
 as regards names and dates? How could two parties, 
 brother and sister, of a similar age as our clients, and of 
 the same rather uncommon name, have possessed parents 
 who were born, married and died at the same date and 
 under similar circumstances, unless there is gross fraud 
 somewhere?" 
 
 "That's just where the difficulty lies," said Mr. 
 Hughes ; " that there is gross fraud on one side or the 
 other, no one possessed of common sense will presume 
 to deny. The question is to prove on which side the 
 fraud exists." 
 
 " I never can be brought to believe that Adolphus 
 and Georgiana have deceived me ; indeed, under the cir- 
 cumstances it is impossible," said I, in an excited man- 
 ner ; for I was not only astonished at the idea of such a
 
 88 THE LAWYER'S STORY; OR, 
 
 connected system of deceit having been thus far success- 
 fully carried out ; but I was irritated by the undisturbed 
 coolness of my coadjutor in the intended investigation. 
 
 " Neither do I in the slightest degree doubt the per- 
 fect honesty of our clients, and the truth of their state- 
 ments ; but, my good friend, you are a lawyer, and you 
 know as well as I do that what we believe is of very 
 little consequence ; the question is, what can we make 
 the jury believe ? I presume, in the course of our prac 
 tice, we have both experienced the correctness of my 
 last observation." 
 
 I could not help smiling in spite of myself at the quiet 
 and gentlemanly self-possession of rny new acquain- 
 tance, and 1 acquiesced in the perfect truth of his re- 
 marks. "But," added I, "if, as I understand, the pos- 
 session of the property is contested by yet another claim- 
 ant or party of claimants, it appears strange to me that 
 the claims of the young persons who you say are favora- 
 bly received, should be so generously admitted." 
 
 " Exactly so," said Mr. Hughes ; " that is where I view 
 the matter in a suspicious light. I believe this young 
 man and woman are mere agents posted up by some per- 
 sons unknown, who know more of the true state of the 
 case than either of us. Depend upon it, my good sir, 
 these poor dupes are paid for their services, and when 
 their claim is fully settled by the law of the land, they 
 will be paid off, and perhaps sent out of the country with 
 a competency for the rest of their lives. The whole af- 
 fair, sir, is a fraud a deeply laid conspiracy and it is 
 my opinion certain persons holding a high position in so- 
 ciety, are concerned in it. Why, sir, the property is im- 
 mense perfectly enormous .15,000 a year, annual 
 rental from the estates, and that sum annually, has been 
 accumulating at compound interest since let me see 
 ah ! since the year 1805 or thereabouts. Good heavens ! 
 sir, the value of the contested property in this case, is 
 perfectly overwhelming." 
 
 " Have you seen the young persons who represent them 
 selves as the heirs Fitzherbert ?" said I.
 
 THE ORPHAN'S \VUOXGS. 89 
 
 " I have, and a very interesting looking couple they 
 are. Tho young lady I should imagine to be about nine- 
 teen years of age, delicate, extremely pretty and very 
 modest ; even retiring in her demeanor. Her brother I 
 should say was twenty -five or thereabouts; about sir 
 years her senior a fine, tall, well-looking youth, rather 
 reserved in manner, and with a slight dash of melancholy 
 in the expression of his features when at rest; but withal 
 a fine gentlemanly-looking fellow, apparently devotedly 
 attached to his sister, who has indeed been everything to 
 him since childhood, and who is doubly endeared to him 
 in consequence of the misfortunes they have encountered 
 together; in the midst of which her love, devotion and 
 cheerful uncomplaining disposition, as I have heard him 
 say to his counsel, has been all that restrained him from 
 casting himself away in utter despair. But what is the 
 matter," continued he in utter astonishment; for as he 
 was speaking, I had started up from my chair : "have I 
 made any observation which may have been the cause of 
 your astonishment ? Pray be seated, sir ; you look quite 
 excited. It is necessary in our profession, to be calm and 
 collected upon all occasions." 
 
 '' Good heavens! Mr. Hughes," said I, "you have de- 
 scribed to a hair the young couple I have brought over 
 from New York with me. Had I been asked to describe 
 their appearance and character, I could not have made 
 the resemblance more perfect." 
 
 " Indeed 1" said he, for the first time disturbed from his 
 equanimity ; " this is strange very singular indeed ! By 
 the bye, are you fully aware of the facts of the case so 
 far as they have yet transpired ?" 
 
 "I am not," I replied; for, of course, at that time I 
 was ignorant of much in regard to which I have enlight- 
 ened the reader. 
 
 " It is necessary then that you should know them. The 
 story will be too long to tell at present, (looking at his 
 watch); if you will favor me with your company to din- 
 ner to-day, at my hou.se, at Clnpham Common, we will 
 talk the matter over in the evening. It is five o'clock,
 
 90 THE LAWYERS STORY; OR, 
 
 and my servant will be here with the gig directly. Allow 
 me to offer you a seat in it." 
 
 I accepted the invitation; for I assure the reader my 
 mind was in a perfect state of perplexity from the strange 
 account I had heard, and I felt I could have no rest till 
 I was further enlightened in the matter. 
 
 " By-the-bye," said Mr. Hughes, as in the course of a 
 few minutes the servant arrived with the gig, and I seated 
 myself in the vehicle by his side ; " by-the-bye, we pass 
 very close to the lodgings you have taken for your young 
 friends. Would it be asking too much to beg to be in- 
 troduced to them to-night ? for I assure you your re- 
 marks in reply to my description of their opponents in 
 this singular case, have interested me considerably, and 
 it is rarely I allow anything to disturb my mind.'' 
 
 " With the greatest pleasure," I replied, and I really 
 felt what I said ; for I began to think I was dreaming, and 
 that the strange claimants and my young clients were the 
 same persons. 
 
 In a few minutes we were set down at the boarding- 
 house, and I ushered Mr. Hughes up stairs into the room 
 where the Fitzherberts were seated. 
 
 He was introduced by me and we spent a few minutes 
 in conversation together, and then both started for Clap- 
 ham. 
 
 " I could not have believed it, had I not seen it with 
 my own eyes," said Mr. Hughes, when we were again 
 fairly under weigh. " Such a perfect resemblance I never 
 saw before in human beings. They are not the same ; 
 that's certain they can't well be. Besides, I stood by 
 the young man, and he is taller than I, while his almo.-t 
 perfect counterpart is just about rny height; his hair and 
 eyes too, are a shade darker, and there is a slight, but to 
 a careful observer, 'a perceptible difference in the tone of 
 his voice. The young lady too, has a fresher complexion ; 
 but after all, the resemblance is truly astonishing; per- 
 fectly miraculous 1" 
 
 In the course of an hour we were set down at Mr. 
 Hughes's handsome residence on Clapham Common, and
 
 THE ORPHAN'S WRONGS. 91 
 
 [ received in the course of the evening a great deal of 
 information from him respecting the case. He was, I 
 found, a gentleman of widely extended knowledge, and 
 I spent a delightful evening. 
 
 CHAPTER VI. 
 
 The reader is introduced lo an Old Bailey lawyer. Also, to a 
 counsellor of a too common, but not very reputable class. 
 
 DURING my conversation with Mr. Hughes, I learned 
 that he suspected that the Earl of Shropshire was a party 
 to the proceedings in the disputed title of the Brarnpton 
 Manor estate ; but this he only obscurely hinted at, as he 
 us well as I, was ignorant, at this date of my story, of 
 much that the reader is cognizant of, and which we learnt 
 in the course of subsequent investigation ; but which it 
 was necessary for me to mention in order to bring my 
 narrative to a fresh starting point. 
 
 He had imagined this merely from some information 
 he had received at Canterbury from an old servant of 
 Dr. Harcourt's, who was still living, although in a state 
 of almost total mental imbecility. It was very evident, 
 however, to me, that he suspected another party strongly 
 as having something to do with it, and that party was 
 the uncle of our clients by the mother's side ; no other, 
 indeed, than Lord Henry Fitzherbert, son of the Prince 
 of Wales, and Mrs. Fitzherbert, the grandmother of the 
 orphan heirs ; but as yet, he as well as I, was profoundly 
 ignorant of the nature of could not even conjecture any 
 reasonable cause for these strange proceedings. 
 
 I must now introduce my readers to another lawyer's 
 office in the city of London, bearing quite a different as- 
 pect to the quaint, but comfortable, and even tasteful 
 chambers occupied by Mr. Hughes, in Lincoln's Inn 
 Fields. 
 
 Let the reader follow me in imagination beyond the
 
 92 THE LAWYER'S STORY; OR, 
 
 limits of the city proper, along Whitechapel, in which 
 the very atmosphere is reeking with the tainted exhala- 
 tions from the large slaughter-houses situated side by 
 side, in the rear of the butchers' stalls for which that lo- 
 cality is famed the blood and filth pouring in a stream 
 into the gutter, and the pestilential effluvia by no means 
 improved by the stench-of onions and of refuse vegetable 
 matter trampled into the mud beneath the petty green- 
 grocers' stalls, which line the pavement opposite the 
 meat-market; and if he can get safely through without 
 being suffocated by the vapor of the foul malaria, still let 
 him follow rne on until the street widens, and if nut more 
 cleanly in reality, becomes at least freed in some measure 
 from the vile stenches he has left behind. We will pass 
 through Whitechapel Gate and turn to the left, threading 
 the mazes of the poverty-stricken and disreputable neigh- 
 borhood of Spitalfields, and when in a street diverging 
 from the Globe Road in an easterly direction, we will as- 
 cend a riarrow stair-case, near a pawn-broker's shop by 
 far the largest and handsomest establishment in the 
 street, if we except the gin-palaces, and on the first floor 
 of this unprepossessing dwelling, is situated the office of 
 which we speak. In sooth, it is a dingy place enough 
 to give one the horrors to look at it. God pity the poor 
 souls who have fallen into the clutches of its presiding 
 genius; for it forcibly recalls to mind the well-known 
 quotation from Dante's "Inferno." "Hope is shut out 
 from those who enter here." 
 
 The lawyer is w r ithin, and evidently not in the most 
 pleasant of humors, if, indeed to judge from his features, 
 he ever can be in a good humor. He is seated in the 
 inner office, and entering the outer one, we hear the fol- 
 lowing dialogue going on inside : 
 
 " Have there been any letters for nie, this morning, 
 Wilkins?" 
 
 " No, sir ; none," replies a middle-aged man, very 
 shabbily attired in clothing which looks still more 
 shabby from its having been originally intended for a 
 less robust wearer, and its also boasting of a most fash-
 
 THE ORPHAN'S WRONGS. 93 
 
 ionablc cut ; the coat being so tight as to threaten to 
 burst open the back seam at every motion of the wearer, 
 while the sleeves terminate at least two inches above his 
 lean, bony wrists, showing an extraordinary quantity of 
 very yellow-looking linen ; while the trowsers are so 
 tightly strapped beneath a pair of large, dilapidated 
 boots, as seriously to impede the wearer's progress ; the 
 said straps at the same time reaching almost to the ancles, 
 and meeting the trowsers, since the trowsers refused to 
 meet them on proper terms of intimacy. 
 
 "No, sir," he repeats; "there hasn't been any letters 
 this morning." 
 
 " Confound it," exclaimed the lawyer, taking a Liver- 
 pool paper from his pocket, and perusing and reperusing 
 a paragraph which seemed to occasion him considerable 
 annoyance. "Mind I can't be seen by any one to-day ; 
 but should a letter arrive, bring it to me instantly, and 
 see and put some more coals on the fire. It appears to 
 have only just been lighted. I tell you what it is, Wil- 
 kins, you must do better than this, or you and I must 
 part, and that's the long and short of the matter. It's 
 now near ten o'clock. Pray what time did you get to 
 the office this morning ?" 
 
 "At nine, sir, and as soon as I had swept it out I lit 
 the fire. I didn't expect you so soon, sir." 
 
 " At nine ! and pray what hour was it when you 
 closed last night ?" 
 
 "I didn't get through copying those affidavits till mid- 
 night, sir, and this morning at eight o'clock I had to 
 serve the suit upon Smithson. I couldn't get a chance 
 to serve it until I had watched the house nearly an hour." 
 
 " That's no excuse, Wilkins none at all. You must 
 manage things better, or find some other situation. 
 Now, what are you staring at?" continued the lawyer, 
 as the man stopped before him in a hesitating manner as 
 though lie had some favor to ask, yet feared the present 
 was an unpropitious moment to prefer it. 
 
 " If you please, sir, rnv wife is lying in with her sixth 
 child, and the doctor's bill is heavy, I thought sir I
 
 94 THE LAWYER'S STORY; OR, 
 
 that is, sir, I told my wife this morning- -I would ask 
 for a slight increase of salary." 
 
 '' Good God ! what does the man mean ? An in- 
 crease of salary ! No, sir. I pay you now 15s. a week 
 a handsome salary considering the duties you have to 
 perform. Go to your work, sir ; and look you here, Mr. 
 Wilkins. If you make such an impertinent request 
 again, out you bundle into the street, sir, and starve, sir 
 starve if you can't do better. A wife and family, in- 
 deed ! I should like to know what a lawyer's clerk 
 wants with a wife and family. There go to your 
 work, sir, at once, and let me know if any letters come." 
 
 As soon as the clerk had retreated into the outer room 
 the lawyer locked the door of the inner one, and thus 
 soliloquised : 
 
 " It's always the way : any job that has got any dirty 
 work attached to it, that infernal Gripes thrusts upon 
 my shoulders, while he manages to keep clear of danger 
 himself. If I complain, he threatens me and says he can 
 hang me at any moment. Well, if he can, two can play 
 at the same game, for I can transport him for life, high 
 as he holds his head. I've got the papers relative to 
 that case of conspiracy, Mordiiunt vs. Selwyn ; and if I 
 committed the forgery, he perjured himself, and 1 have 
 proof of it in this box," tapping a small tin deed box 
 that stood near him. " Well, well, the less that's said 
 of that matter the better for us both just now; but," 
 grinding his teeth, " I never forgive or forget. By-and- 
 bye my day will come and then, Gripes, I'll have re- 
 venge. But about this paragraph ; I sent Gripes word 
 ]a.st night, and surely it needs attention. I wonder if 
 there's any truth in it." So saying, he recommenced 
 reading the newspaper. 
 
 He was interrupted at this moment by a knock at the 
 door, and upon opening it, his clerk gave him a letter 
 which had just arrived, merely saying: "A letter from 
 Mr. Gripes, sir. Immediate." 
 
 The lawyer tore open the envelope, perused the brief 
 epistle, and then throwing his cloak over his shoulders,
 
 THE ORPHAN'S WRONGS. 95 
 
 left the office in charge of his clerk, desiring him not to 
 quit until he returned, if he were delayed till midnight. 
 Mr. Cheatem, the worthy member of the legal profession, 
 to whom the reader has just been introduced, was one 
 of that class known in England by the soubriquet of 
 " Old Bailey lawyers," in consequence of their hanging 
 about prisons for the purpose of taking advantage of the 
 urgency of the cases that sometimes come up. They 
 have their prototypes in other lands ; but, perhaps, in 
 consequence of the wider field London lays open to the 
 practice of their villainy, they exceed their foreign breth- 
 ren in their utter disregard of the nature of the cases they 
 take in hand. Forever on the look out, like vultures, 
 for any dirty job which may chance to place a few gui- 
 neas in their pockets, woe to the unhappy wretch who 
 entrusts his cause in their hands, whether it be a just or 
 an unjust one. As the vampire is said to drain the life's 
 blood from the unconscious sleeper while it fans and 
 lulls him to sleep with the cooling breath from its wings, 
 so these wretches drain the last shilling from their vic- 
 tims, deceiving them and lulling their suspicions by 
 specious promises to the last, and when they are 
 utterly penniless, leaving them pitilessly to their fate. 
 
 It is these men and such as these who cast a stigma 
 upon a profession which has enriched the world with 
 many of the brightest ornaments of humanity, and the 
 avenues to which should be closed to all but men of 
 honesty and strict integrity of character. Mr. Gripes, to 
 whom I shall presently introduce the reader, was another 
 of the same class, but one of the leading men of his 
 wretched tribe. By dint of superior tact and talent, he 
 had managed to maintain a good name and a passing 
 fair lame in the world, and consequently was enabled 
 completely to control the poor lawyers of his class, who 
 were fain to accept thankfully from his hands, and to 
 carry out under his direction any work that he thought 
 too dirty or too dangerous for him to meddle with in 
 propria pei-sonce. 
 
 Gripes lived in a handsome house at the West End;
 
 96 THE LAWYER'S STORY; OR, 
 
 mingled freely, though only on sufferance, for the wretch 
 was suspected, with his honest professional brethren ; 
 bore a charitable name, for he gave freely to any charity 
 when the names of the donors were to be published in 
 the newspapers, though otherwise he would not have 
 given a penny to save a poor wretch from starvation ; 
 and to crown all he rented a pew in a fashionable church, 
 and was a regular recipient of the sacrament. To all 
 but his professional brethren he was a saint ; but they 
 could not help at times seeing through the cloak of hy- 
 pocrisy beneath which he sought to hide his real charac- 
 ter. I have been thus particular with these two men be- 
 cause they will bear a prominent part in the denouement 
 of my narrative. 
 
 As soon as Cheatem reached the Whitechapel road, he 
 got into an omnibus, which sat him down in Fleet-street, 
 whence he turned into a court filled with law offices, one 
 of which- was occupied by Isaiah Gripes, Esq. 
 
 Cheatem entered the office and found Mr. Gripes seated 
 within, as he expected. 
 
 " What is this you tell me, Cheatem, about the arrival 
 of that d d Yankee lawyer at Liverpool, with the two 
 Fitzherberts ? The girl must be in Italy by this time, 
 and once there, there is little fear of her returning to 
 trouble us." 
 
 Cheatem handed him the newspaper, without reply, 
 from which he read as follows : 
 
 " The American packet ship Washington, Captain Silas 
 Wright, commander, which arrived last night, as will be 
 seen by reference to the shipping list, brought over sev- 
 eral passengers, among whom, according to our indefati- 
 gable reporter, who is ever on hand to glean intelligence, 
 were a gentleman of the legal profession, from New York, 
 and a young gentleman and lady of the name of Fitzher- 
 bert, who, it is said, claim to be the veritable heirs to the 
 property in Huntingdonshire, which is under litigation, 
 and which has attracted public attention so strongly of 
 late. Our reporter learnt this from one of the passengers. 
 It is said the parties themselves intended to have kept
 
 THE ORPHAN'S WRONGS. 97 
 
 their arrival secret, at least for the present. If our re- 
 porter be not misinformed, we may expect shortly to hear- 
 of some novel and rich disclosures regarding this case." 
 
 "D n," said Gripes, after having read the para- 
 graph, " there must be some mistake. De Paoli wrote 
 me to say that all was arranged respecting the girl, and 
 they were to sail for Trieste the next morning, and I was 
 just pleasing myself at the thought of her arrival in Ita- 
 ly. See here, (taking up an Italian paper, and reading 
 from it in English,) 'The San Giovanni arrived at this 
 port (Trieste,) this morning, having on board as passen- 
 gers, Signer de Paoli and his family.' There must be 
 some mistake somewhere. Those prying reporters must 
 thrust their brazen faces everywhere, and hatch up a 
 story if they cannot get hold of one by fair means. But 
 if they have really arrived, they mean to keep it a se- 
 cret, do they ? Well, we are obliged to this veracious 
 reporter for informing us of that fact, at any rate. I must 
 see his lordship to day, and we must ferret out more of 
 this business, and satisfy ourselves either of its truth or 
 falsehood ; but its getting into the newspapers is bad 
 very bad. It will be trumpeted from one end of the 
 country to the other. There really should be some re- 
 striction as regards the freedom of the press. The li- 
 cense these editors take, is getting to be quite abomina- 
 ble." 
 
 " Letting everybody know our tricks, eh !" said Chea- 
 tern, who could never let an opportunity for an ill-natured 
 joke pass, even though it told against himself. 
 
 Gripes took no notice of his coadjutor's remarks; but 
 repeated 
 
 " I must see his lordship to-day. He said he would 
 send his card, stating the hour for an interview. Chea- 
 tem, you must be on hand if you are wanted, do you 
 hear?" 
 
 " Yes sir. Dobson," pointing to Gripes's man of all 
 work, " will know where to find me at a moment's warn- 
 ing." 
 
 And he left the office and ensconced himself in the 
 -5
 
 98 THE LAWYER'S STORY; OR, 
 
 back parlor of one of the snug public houses to be found 
 in all sorts of out-of-the-way places in the city. Then he 
 called for a pipe and a pot of porter, and while enjoying 
 the cheap luxury, sat cogitating the various matters of 
 rascality he had in operation. 
 
 Mr. Gripes sat communing with his own mind for 
 some time, and at length was upon the point of going 
 out, when the porter brought him a card, on which was 
 engraved, 
 
 "LORD HENRY FITZHERBERT, LIFE-GUARDS," 
 and below the inscription was written in pencil, " will 
 meet Mr. Gripes at his apartments in the Albany, at four 
 P. M." 
 
 Gripes read the inscription, and then said : 
 
 " Upon my word, it's too bad prevented from going 
 about any other work for the whole day, so that I may 
 meet this bastard sprig of royalty just when the day's 
 work should be over. He might just as well say what 
 he has to say now as then ; but it can't be helped. I sup- 
 pose I must keep the appointment meanwhile, since tbe 
 day's business is so broken into, I'll just join Cheatem, 
 and have a chat with the rascal. Cheatem's at the snug- 
 gery in Fennel court, I suppose, Dobson ? " added he, ad- 
 dressing his clerk. 
 
 " Yes, sir." 
 
 " Well, if any one wants me, say that I have been sent 
 for, to consult with Counsellor Bruffem, on an important 
 legal point at issue ; but am expected back immediately, 
 and then step round to the snuggery, and let me know 
 who it is."
 
 THE OKPHAN'S WRONGS. 
 
 CHAPTER VII. 
 
 The reader is introduced to bachelor apartments in the Al- 
 bany, and to a life-guardsman Unpleasant intelligence 
 from abroad An aristocrat of the first ivater A slight 
 ignorance of Geography Foul play is contemplated. 
 
 THE scene changes, and I introduce my readers to a 
 magnificent suite of apartments in that well-known fash- 
 ionable place of bachelor residence, the Albany. In a 
 handsomely furnished parlor a gentleman of probably 
 forty years of age is half-sitting, half-lounging upon a vis- 
 a-vis which he has wheeled to a table on which are the 
 debris of a breakfast. The gentleman is still sipping a 
 cup of chocolate at intervals, and occasionally yawning, 
 as though he had not long risen from his bed, although 
 it is near noon. A gorgeous dressing-gown is wrapped 
 carelessly around him, and his feet are encased in a pair 
 of velvet slippers, made after the Turkish fashion. His 
 features are delicate, and, but for the jet black moustache 
 which covered his upper lip, his countenance would have 
 almost a feminine appearance. The walls of the room 
 are hung round with engravings, executed in the highest 
 style of art, and on tasteful marble pedestals placed in 
 the corners of the apartment, stand classic groups of sta- 
 tuary, carved in the same material. Mingled with minia- 
 tures, seals, small articles of jewelry, handsomely bound 
 annuals, and other trifles, showing a certain fastidious re- 
 finement on the part of the possessor, are a pair of boxing- 
 gloves, a brace of handsomely mounted duelling-pistols, 
 a couple of pair of fencing-foils, a dog's collar, and a host 
 of heterogeneous articles spread without any regard to 
 order, over a large marble-topped centre-table, giving to 
 the room the perfect vraisemblance of a wealthy, fashiona-
 
 100 THE LAWYER'S STOEY; OR, 
 
 ble bachelor's apartment. A beautiful Italian greyhound, 
 and a Scotch terrier, so ugly that it seems to have been 
 chosen purposely as a foil to the elegance of its brute 
 companion, but which appears to be equally a favorite 
 with its master, are with him the only living occupants 
 of the room. 
 
 A footman, attired in a handsome, but quiet livery, 
 opened the door of the apartment, after having knocked 
 and received a command to come in, and announced in 
 a loud voice 
 
 " The right honorable the Earl of Shropshire." 
 
 " Show his lordship up stairs, Harrison," said the gen- 
 tleman ; and, when the servant had- retired, he added : 
 
 " Weally, its vewy distwessing to be annoyed at suck 
 an hour of the day. What the d 1 can Lord Shropshire 
 want, I wonder." 
 
 This fretful soliloquy was broken short by the entrance 
 into the room of a tall, slender gentleman, remarkably 
 plainly dressed ; but of a most aristocratic bearing, and 
 of a haughty, cold, severe expression of countenance. 
 His lordship, at this period, must have been at least 
 sixty-five years old ; but he showed no mark of age, save 
 in the thick sprinkling of grey amongst his once dark hair. 
 His step was firm, his bearing as steady, and his deep- 
 set grey eye as keen and piercing as it had been twenty 
 years before. 
 
 "Good morning, Fitzherbert still at breakfast, I see," 
 was the salutation, as he walked into the room and seated 
 himself sans cer&monie. 
 
 " No, my lord I have finished bweakfast ; in fact I've 
 vewy little appetite now for bweakfast, or any other meal. 
 The fact is, 1 didn't get home till day -light this morning, 
 and I still feel the effects of the champagne I drank last 
 night. I must reform some of these days. I begin to 
 find I can't indulge with impunity as I once could ; but, 
 can I offer your lordship a cup of coffee or chocolate ?" 
 
 "No, Henry, no I thank you; I always breakfast at 
 eight o'clock,, whether at Alton Castle or at Grosvenor 
 Square, and never touch anything afterwards until din-
 
 THE ORPHAN'S WRONGS. 101 
 
 ner-time. I have called this morning on business which 
 nearly concerns us both. Hadn't you better order the 
 servant to remove the breakfast things, and then we can 
 converse without interruption ?" 
 
 The younger gentleman languidly touched the bell- 
 pull, and the remains of the breakfast were removed by 
 the footman. The earl then rose from his chair, and 
 quietly locked the door of the apartment, and, having 
 resumed his seat, he said : 
 
 " Henry, I received a letter from Trieste this morning, 
 from the Countess de Paoli, from which I have learnt the" 
 rather unpleasant intelligence that our plan as regarded 
 the placing of Georgianna Fitzherbert in the Convent at 
 Milan, has partly fallen through. The letter was evi- 
 dently written at sea, before the Giovanni (the vessel on 
 board of which they sailed from Philadelphia, had got 
 into port for that it was posted immediately, is evident 
 from the fact that, by the same mail, I have received an 
 Italian newspaper announcing the vessel's arrival. The 
 letter I received prior to this, intimated that they had 
 managed everything in the most satisfactory manner, 
 and were to sail with the girl on the following day. This 
 one states that they did sail as they had intimated that 
 the girl was sent on board in charge of Maria, and it was 
 supposed, retired to her cabin. When, however, the 
 vessel was clear of the harbor, the countess sent Maria 
 to bring Georgianna on deck to breathe the fresh sea 
 air for the poor girl had naturally enough, fretted and 
 pined a great deal during her confinement at Philadel- 
 phia ; but she was no where to be found, and the suppo- 
 sition on their part is, that she has thrown herself over- 
 board in a fit of frenzy and despair. If that was all, it 
 would not be so serious, nor give us so much trouble, 
 though I should feel really sorry if any thing so dreadful 
 has befallen the poor child ; but while I was reading the 
 letter from Trieste, a note from that fellow Gripes, was 
 put in my hand by my valet, in which he states that his 
 partner, Peachem or Cheatem, or something like that (I 
 can never think of these fellow's names,) has shown him
 
 102 THE LAWYER'S STORY; OR, 
 
 a Liverpool newspaper, in which a paragraph appears 
 announcing the arrival at that port, of a ship from the 
 United States, having on board a gentleman of the legal 
 profession from New York, who is accompanied by a 
 young gentleman and a lady, who claim to be the real 
 heirs Fitzherbert. Now if this report be correct, it cer- 
 tainly is awkward for the girl must somehow or other 
 have escaped from the vessel instead of being drowned. 
 Perhaps picked up by some boat that chanced to be near, 
 or else, worse still, she-has some accomplices who know 
 ' more than it is convenient to us they should know. For 
 anything we can tell, they may even at this moment be 
 in London. 
 
 " 'Pon my honor, it's d d awkward," replied Lord 
 
 Fitzherbert, " it's vewy twoublesome to be mixed up with 
 these things. For my part I wish I had nothing to do 
 with it." 
 
 "Do I understand you rightly, my lord?" said the 
 earl, in an angry tone of voice ; " you infer that you 
 have no desire for the projected matrimonial alliance 
 between Lady Mary Alton, my daughter, and your- 
 self. If so, I wash my hands of the whole affair, and 
 you can carry on the law suit in conjunction with 
 Gripes & Peachem, Cheatem I mean, as best you may." 
 
 "Not at all, my lord," replied Lord Fitzherbert. 
 " Your lordship is so vewy hasty. I shall esteem the 
 honor of an alliance with the lovely Lady Mawy very 
 highly I assure you. But somehow or other, I wish 
 the business was not in Gwipes hands. He may be a 
 vewy honest, good sort of man, but that class of people 
 are my abhorwence. I always think Gwipes smells of 
 the ' Old Bailey,' whenever he comes into the room ; 
 and, by-the-bye, the fellow is to meet me here at four 
 o'clock to-day ; though what I can do in the matter is 
 more than I know." 
 
 " My dear Henry, you should really show a little 
 more energy of character, and at your time of life, de- 
 vote yourself a little more to business. Instead of that, 
 you are as listless in the matter as if you were quite un-
 
 THE ORPHAN'S WRONGS. 103 
 
 concerned in the turn it takes. You are aware, of 
 course, that it is only upon the event of your obtaining 
 possession of the Huntingdonshire estates that our con- 
 tract holds good, regarding your marriage to my 
 daughter. You have no ambition, sir no energy what- 
 ever no strength of purpose. For my part, twenty 
 years ago my mind was set upon the union of these large 
 estates, and to the furtherance of that object have my 
 whole energies been directed, and I will move heaven 
 and earth but, by some means \>r other, it shall be ac- 
 complished." 
 
 " 1 acknowledge," replied Lord Fitzherbert, " that 
 your lordship possesses energies and strength of purpose 
 such as few men are blessed with ; but you are wrong 
 in supposing that my life is one of idleness. Your lord- 
 ship has never been in the ' Gwards,' and you can have 
 no idea of the dweadful fatigue of going thwough pa- 
 wade every day : marching and counter-marching, up 
 one avenue of St. James' Park and down another, in all 
 weathers. It's vewy distwessing vewy fatiguing, I 
 assure you. 'Pon honor, I believe the constant recur- 
 wance of the same monotonous duties is more fatiguing 
 than a regular campain on the continent would be." 
 
 Lord Shropshire smiled contemptuously, then he said : 
 
 " You say Gripes is to meet you at four o'clock. It 
 is now one," (looking at his watch,) " and at two o'clock 
 I must be at the House. The question of the tariff 
 comes up in the 'Lords' to-day, and it is important that 
 I should remain until the vote is taken, or I would see 
 Gripes myself. However, oblige me by desiring the 
 fellow to meet me at my house in Grosvenor-square 
 to-morrow at ten o'clock precisely, and then we will see 
 further into this business, and arrange our future opera- 
 tions and now, Henry, good morning." 
 
 "Good morning, my lord, present my best respects 
 to Lady Mawy, and say I will do myself the pleasure of 
 seeing her at ' Almacks' to-night. I pwesume she will 
 be there and oh ; my lord, would it be convenient to 
 you to lend me a thousand just now. I lost heavily at
 
 104 THE LAWYERS STORY; OR, 
 
 Ascott last week. I believe I was duped into betting 
 on the wrong horse by that infernal fellow, Davis, and 
 I am completely plucked for the present." 
 
 "Henry," replied the earl, "I would do much to 
 oblige you ; but I fear you are given to very great ex- | 
 travagance. I hope you will give up that odious prac- i 
 tice of betting on horse races, when you are married to 
 Lady Mary ; however, I will give you a check upon 
 Coutts for the money," and the earl sat down at a side- 
 table, and taking his check-book from his pocket, wrote 
 a check for a thousand pounds, and presented it to Fitz- 
 herbert, merely saying : 
 
 "There, Henry, is the amount you need, and I 
 hope it will be the last you will require for any such 
 purpose." 
 
 He then left the room and in the course of half an 
 hour Lord Fitzherbert rang for his valet and proceeded 
 to his dressing-room to make himself presentable for 
 the day. 
 
 Punctually to the hour of four, Isaiah Gripes, Esq., 
 presented his card to the porter at the Albany, and 
 was ushered into the presence of his noble client. 
 
 One of the strange contrarieties of the human cha- 
 racter was evidently discernible in the demeanor of 
 the crafty lawyer in the presence of Lord Fitzherbert. 
 He was perfectly aware of the iniquity and falsehood 
 of the business he was engaged to carry out, and as 
 fully aware that his client was as deeply implicated in 
 the conspiracy to defraud as himself, yet though he 
 would have treated a poor but honest client, with 
 hauteur and contempt, he exhibited in Lord Fitzher- 
 bert's presence a submissiveness of demeanor, quite con- 
 trary to his usual vulgar arrogance, even with those who 
 were his equals in the social scale ; while on the part of 
 his lordship he was met with coolness, almost amount- 
 ing to scorn, for though Lord Fitzherbert knew, himself, 
 how matters stood between them, he had managed to 
 clear his own conscience to his satisfaction of all partici- 
 pation in the fraud, and really had brought himself to
 
 THE ORPHAN'S WRONGS. 105 
 
 believe that Gripes the tool was the principal, indeed, 
 the only delinquent, and to look upon him with dislike 
 approaching to disgust. Lord Fitzherbert would have 
 been civil to the humblest person who approached him, 
 although brought up in the hot bed of aristocracy, partly 
 from a habit of condescension and partly from a natural 
 indolence of disposition which really made it too much 
 trouble to him even to assume an appearance of hauteur ; 
 but when Gripes was in his presence, he plucked up 
 spirit and showed the haughty -aristocrat, and Gripes 
 the mean spirited cur submitted to be thus treated with 
 contempt, and only became more subservient in his de 
 meaner the more grossly he was insulted, as the spaniel 
 fawns more submissively the more he is beaten by his 
 master. 
 
 " What is it to me," replied Fitzherbert, to some 
 remark of the obsequious lawyer ; " if the young folks 
 are in England, it is your business to devise some 
 scheme to get them away again. It is for that and 
 such like purposes you and such as you are employed. 
 I knew, when you sought an interview that it would 
 be useless, so far as related to any further arrange- 
 ments regarding this cursed business that Lord Shrop- 
 shire has got me into, and I wish he had been at the 
 
 d 1 before I had consented to his schemes, although, 
 
 to tell the truth," he continued sotto voce, " I want the 
 money bad enough, God knows; and I suppose that 
 conceited piece of vixenish old-maidenhood, Lady Mary, 
 must be thrown into the bargain. A pretty wife she'll 
 make, confound her. She's upwards of forty, if she's 
 a day, and puts on as many airs and graces as a young 
 girl. She would cheat the world, if she could, into the 
 belief that she is young; faugh I" Then he continued, 
 again addressing Gripes, who, while his lordship had been 
 talking abstractedly to himself, had been diligently oc- 
 cupied in examining the engravings on the walls, as 
 though totally unconcerned, while in reality his ears had 
 been wide open, and he had heard every word. 
 
 " By-the-bye, Gripes, I may as well say at once that I
 
 106 THE LAWYER'S STORY; OR, 
 
 am utterly incompetent to make any arrangements or 
 to advise at all as regards this matter. Lord Shropshire 
 will see you at Grosvenor-square, to-morrow at ten 
 o'clock, and then you can arrange with him. Mind, 
 ten o'clock. His lordship is particular in regard to 
 punctuality. Good morning;" and his lordship bowed 
 the lawyer very unceremoniously out of the room. 
 
 " It will be, perhaps, as well lor your lordship as for 
 some other folks, if nothing happens to mar this pretty 
 plot you have concocted together," said the discomfited 
 Gripes, when he found himself again in the open street, 
 and free from the constraint his mean soul suffered under, 
 when in the presence of nobility. " There must come 
 a day of heavy payment on my side, for this dog's duty 
 I am doing, or a day of retribution on yours. Well, 
 well as that scoundrel, Cheatem, says ' Every dog 
 will have his day,' and I'll have mine, some day ; and if 
 I don't apply the thumb-screw to some purpose, my 
 name 's not Gripes. I'll give some of these proud aris- 
 tocrats the gripes" added he, punning upon his own 
 name. He walked back to his office at Fennel Court, 
 and sent his clerk to tell Cheatem that no business could 
 be done that night and to desire him to call at an early 
 hour on the morrow, and then he locked up the office 
 and went home, in no pleasant humor with himself or 
 with the world. 
 
 The next morning, punctually to time, he made his 
 appearance at the door of Lord Shropshire's noble man- 
 sion in Grosvenor-square, and was ushered by the foot- 
 man in waiting, into the presence of the earl, who was 
 seated in his study busily employed in looking over 
 newspapers from different parts of the country, as well 
 as the morning papers of the city. 
 
 " Good morning, Gripes take a chair," said the earl, 
 " I find that you were, unfortunatelyj quite correct as 
 regards the information you received from your partner, 
 What's his name Clutchum " 
 
 " Cheatem, may it please your lordship," interrupted 
 the lawyer in a respectful manner.
 
 TIIE ORPHAN'S WRONGS. 107 
 
 " Ah 1" continued the earl, "I knew it was some- 
 thing like that Clutchem Cheatem its pretty much 
 the same thing with him I presume ; the one is a ne- 
 cessary sequitur of the other, eh ! but about this con- 
 founded paragraph, Gripes, I see it's copied into all the 
 Liverpool papers of yesterday, accompanied with some 
 very taunting and impertinent remarks. Furthermore 
 I see that the Mercury positively testifies to its truth, 
 and asserts that the party proceeded direct to ' London 
 on the day after their arrival. Now, you, as well as I, 
 Gripes, must be aware that this is a very serious matter, 
 and may cause us a good deal of trouble. In the first 
 place, then, it will be necessary for you to take measures 
 to ferret them out, and discover where they are stopping, 
 and in order to do this speedily and properly, spare no 
 expense ; that done, we must try to get the young fel- 
 low out of the way some where or other. How we shall 
 manage about that I don't know; we must both tax 
 our ingenuity, and perhaps between us we may be able 
 to hatch up some practicable scheme. When I was a 
 young man, these matters were easily enough managed, 
 but now they are more difficult. I recollect a cousin of 
 mine wanted once to get rid of a witness whose testi- 
 mony would have lost him a valuable farm, besides in- 
 volving his honor ; but at that day the press-gang an 
 invaluable institution for the purposes of .the aristo- 
 cracy which this present silly twaddle about the free 
 dom of the suly'ect a misnomer, to say the least of it 
 has, conjointly with several other institutions for coer- 
 cing the common people, and marking th difference 
 between them and the higher classes, been done away 
 with ; for my part, I don't know where they are going 
 to stop; but, as I was saying, this young man was 
 one of those obstinate fellows who take it into their 
 heads that they are bound to speak the truth at all 
 hazards, no matter how, by so doing, they compromise 
 the honor of a noble family, as if, forsooth ! there was 
 any comparison to be made between their reputation 
 for honesty, and that of a lineage which can be traced
 
 108 THE LAWYER'S STORY ; OR, 
 
 back to the Conquest. To do my cousin justice for 
 he was a benevolent man and an indulgent landlord 
 he offered to bribe the young fellow to a large amount, 
 before he proceeded to harsh measures, for, you see, 
 he had a mother and a young wife both dependent upon 
 his industry, and a good son and husband he was, too ; 
 but it was all of no use; he stuck to the idea that he 
 was bound in conscience to say what he believed to be 
 the truth. What was the consequence? Why, the 
 poor, silly fellow was quietly knocked down by the 
 press-gang one night in Portsmouth, whither he had 
 been sent by my cousin on some business arranged for 
 the purpose, and carried on board the tender. The 
 battle of Trafalgar was fought shortly afterwards, and I 
 believe he was sent on board Nelson's frigate. At all 
 events, his obstinacy caused his own and his wife's pre- 
 mature death, for the young woman died of a broken 
 heart when she heard her husband had been seized by 
 the press-gang, and his mother died a pauper in the 
 parish work-house. 
 
 " If there was such a thing as a press-gang now-a-days, 
 once having found this youth, we might easily get rid 
 of him, and I could manage that he should not come 
 back in a hurry. Then half of the difficulty having 
 been removed, we could afterwards turn our attention to 
 the girl. We must think what we can do in this mat- 
 ter ; but as I have said, the first thing is to find out their 
 whereabouts." 
 
 " I have an idea in my head suggested by the anec- 
 dote your lordship has been pleased to relate," replied 
 Gripes, "which perhaps I may be enabled to carry into 
 effect ; but until I see my way more clearly I will not 
 mention it to your lordship." 
 
 "By-the-bye," said Lord Shropshire, "that man 
 Hartley, whom we sent to Philadelphia to discover 
 whether these children of Herbert Fitzherbert were living 
 or dead, was a clever fellow. I saw him the other day 
 on matters connected with this business, and he was 
 telling me that he found them out at Harrisburgh ; and
 
 THE ORPHAN'S WRONGS. 109 
 
 having satisfied himself, as he thought, though there he 
 was at fault, that there was no fear of them troubling us, 
 he took a minute survey of their persons, and then 
 having arranged matters to his satisfaction, came back to 
 England. He recollected a young man and woman, 
 brother and sister, who were strolling players, and en- 
 gaged in some provincial theatre to perform the under- 
 lings parts, who very much resembled the Fitzherberts. 
 He found them out; bargained with them for the job; 
 got them thoroughly posted up as to the locality in the 
 United States, where they were to say they had been 
 bred and born, then introduced them as the veritable 
 heirs, at the same time taking care to spread a report in 
 the United States, in certain quarters, to the effect that 
 his advertisement had been satisfactorily answered, in 
 case of the real Simon. Pure's turning up in future, in 
 order that if any body really should take an interest in 
 the case, they might have cold water thrown upon them 
 at the outset. It was really a clever idea quite a stroke 
 of genius and they say the young folks play their part 
 admirably. I myself can see a strong family re- 
 semblance to Mrs. Fitzherbert in their features; but 
 Gripes, we must keep them clear of any prying Yankees. 
 Of course the poor creatures' education has been ne- 
 glected, and, with all their late schooling on this sub- 
 ject, they sometimes betray profound and unpardonable 
 ignorance as regards the geography of their pretended 
 country. The other day they met, by chance, an 
 American gentleman, who entered into conversation 
 with the youth, and I was perfectly horrified to hear 
 him allude in the course of the conversation, to the 
 State of Georgia, which he said was, he believed, near 
 the city of Maryland. As for the Yankee, he was 
 struck with amazement, and I saw was about to ask 
 him some more questions, when I adroitly changed the 
 subject of conversation. I will not detain you longer 
 this morning, Gripes. Send me word if you have any 
 further intelligence, and I wish you good day."
 
 110 THE LAWYER'S STORY; OR, 
 
 CHAPTEE VIII. 
 
 Gossip in an English village What has become of Hie hero 
 of the story ? 
 
 AGAIN the scene is shifted, and this time from the 
 confined precincts of busy, smoky London, to a pretty 
 country village, in one of the midland counties of Eng- 
 land. It is the evening of a fine day in early summer, 
 and the plowmen and shepherds, and others who have 
 been employed in the fields during the day, have all re- 
 turned from their labors, and have mostly, if we may 
 judge from appearances, partaken of their evening meal ; 
 for at each cottage-door is seated an old peasant, or some- 
 times a couple, smoking their pipes and chatting over 
 the events of the day. 
 
 How faarmer Daintree be a going to plant you big lot, 
 drained off t'common, wi wheat next autumn, and what 
 a rare crop o'hay Vll give t'year. How dame Plunkett, 
 whose husband was gored by faarmer Giddings' bull, has 
 had two cows gien her by t'Beverend, God bless him ; 
 he bees a good friend to poor voalk. How Squoire Tapley 
 be a goin to cut down the plantation t'back of his place, 
 and build a row of hous'n on't for his tenantry, and vari- 
 ous such like matters, of as grave import to them, good, 
 simple souls, as the strife and turmoil of politics to the 
 denizens of close, pent-up cities. The blacksmith's forge, 
 too, is by degrees accumulating around it the groups of 
 young men, who, in English villages invariably make 
 that their place of meeting at night, and there they stand 
 attired in their brown smock frocks and knee breeches, 
 and stout hobnailed " highlows," indulging in innocent 
 skylarking, or interchanging jokes with the village mai- 
 dens, who, at this particular time of the evening, always
 
 THE ORPHAN'S WRONGS. 
 
 have some errand to run, or some neighbor to visit, the 
 performance of which duty invariably leads them directly 
 past this rendezvous of the village beaux. 
 
 And now the hour has grown later the sun has set 
 behind the hills which bound the landscape to the west- 
 ward, and the village street is silent and deserted. Let 
 us step into yonder cottage, where a group of villagers 
 are assembled, and listen to what is being said. That is 
 dame Harris' cottage, and she is famed for being the gos- 
 sip of the village of Hemmingford, and upon exciting oc- 
 casions her lowly abode is, comparatively speaking, as 
 much the centre of attraction to the news-seeker, as is the 
 corner of Nassau and Fulton-streets, New York. 
 
 Beneath the ample chimney, around the embers of a 
 wood fire for it is still early in the season, and the even- 
 ings grow chilly after nightfall, are seated some half- 
 dozen of the patriarchs and grandames of the village, 
 while mingled, here and there, are knots of the younger 
 members of the small community, listening to the talk 
 of the old folks, and sometimes engrossing the conversa- 
 tion almost wholly to themselves. 
 
 " Tell thee I see 'em lad, as I was coming back from 
 Brampton t' afternoon, after selling the basket o' eggs, 
 I bowt at Huntingdon, and skeery voalks t' be. Not 
 muck loike t' gentlevoalks as I've been a used to. T' 
 seemed loike t' look so proud and conceited, and when 
 the voalks bowed and curtsied to em, they just bowed 
 stiff and stately in return, and, when the squoire who was 
 showing 'em round 'long wi' a Lunnen gentleman, spoke 
 up and said, ' This be dame Harris o' Hemmingford, an old 
 tenant o' mine,' 'stead o' saying, as real gentlevoalks 
 would ha' said: 'Glad to see thee dame Harris,' and 
 smiling pleasant loike, they looked as if they never seen 
 poor voalk afore. Tell thee lad it's my opinion, they 
 beant no real gentlevoalks after all." 
 
 " Who is'tthout's talking about Dame?" said a young 
 man who had just come in. 
 
 "Why, the new voalks as has come to take possession 
 of Brampton Manor, least wise to look over the pro-
 
 1 112 THE LAWYER'S STORY; OR, 
 
 perty for I hear the dispute beant settled yet, though 
 it's been a powerful long time agoing on." 
 
 " Where do they come from ?" asked another of the 
 group." 
 
 " If thou means the new voalks of the Manor," said the 
 young man who had asked the preceding question, " they 
 come from 'Merica." 
 
 " Where abouts be that ?" 
 
 " Oh, a long ways ower t' sea. Jim Boulton, who went 
 with t' squoire's son, a fishin', three years agone, and who 
 came back t'other day with lashins of money, telled me 
 all about 'Merica, and a powerful nice story it was, too, 
 I can tell thee." 
 
 " I tell thou, Sam Watson, and I've tellt thou afore, 
 nayther on 'em went a fishin'," said an old man, who was 
 smoking his pipe in the corner of the chimney. " What 
 t' dickens should squoire's son go a fishin' three years 
 for ? and dress himself up all in gold lace and foine 
 clothes, and take Jim Boulton to 'tend on him loike, if 
 so be as he was goin' a fishin' ? Thou thinks everybody 
 as goes on t' water goes a fishin'. Squoire's son went out 
 a midshipman on board a big man-o'-war. Squoire's 
 butler tellt me so himself." 
 
 " Never mind whether he went fishin' or no," cried a 
 chorus of voices. " What did Jim Boulton tell thou 
 'bout 'Merica, Sam?" 
 
 " 'Twould take time, lads, to tell thee all he said. He 
 told me a powerful heap o' big things, half of which I 
 can't recollect." 
 
 "Tell us what thou can recollect," said they. 
 
 " Well, lads," said Sam Watson, proud to be the spokes- 
 man of the party, as he seated himself on the table so as 
 to be in the centre of his audience ; " Jim Boulton said 
 'twas a powerful great country, thousands of miles across 
 the salt water." 
 
 " Be they black voalks there ?" said an eager listener, 
 interrupting the speaker. 
 
 " Doant thou be interrupting me else I won't tell the 
 story," said Sam. " No, they beant black, though there
 
 THE ORPHAN'S WRONGS. 113 
 
 be lots of black voalks and Injins amongst 'em ; they be 
 white loike we, only a little tanned, loike leather 'cause 
 the sun's powerful hot there ; and lads there beant no 
 poor voalks for everybody has heaps and lashins o' 
 money, and does jist as they loikes, and no one dares 
 speak to 'em. They makes a king, Jim says, every four 
 years, from among the people, loike ourselves, and 
 judges, and princesses, and coonstables, and all that." 
 
 " Then there must be fine goings on," said an old man, 
 "if there beant no gentry voalk, and no one to keep or- 
 der, and they make kings and judges when they loikes." 
 
 " No, Jim says, as they live all peaceable loike, barrin 
 a scrimmage at 'lection times, same as 'mong ourselves, 
 only there, everybody votes." 
 
 " And beant there no polis to keep order ?" asked 
 another of the listeners. 
 
 " Yes, there be polis ; but they don't need be, 'cause 
 everything be in perfect order, and everybody having 
 plenty of money, there beant no crime. Jim was in New 
 York, a mighty big city, e'en a-most like Lunnun, he 
 tell't me, and to see the way the money were flying about, 
 was a caution. They doan't care 'boutgoold and silver, 
 bless ye. A lot o' gentlemen writes their names on bits 
 of pictur paper, and every body takes the paper for mo- 
 ney ; and so when money gets short, why these gentle- 
 men makes more." 
 
 "And does the king of 'Merica live in New York?" 
 asked another. 
 
 " No, Jim says the king lives a powerful long way off 
 south ; and now I think on't, Ywant the king, Jim called 
 him but seme outlandish name I never hearn on afore, 
 and can't think on ; but summut that means all the same. 
 There beant no king in New York, but lots o' judges and 
 aldermen, and such like voalks. The aldermen be the 
 magistrates of the city, and a mighty righteous set of 
 voalks they be, too. Jim said sometimes voalks what 
 wanted a job done, handy like, oil'ered what he calls 
 bribes that be heaps o' money, lads so as to get a 
 chance to do it neat ; but 'taint o' no use they alder-
 
 114 THE LAWYER'S STORY; OR, 
 
 men be incorrup table; they be chosen from the people, 
 by the people, and that makes 'em honest and true, 
 lads." 
 
 ''Dash my wig if I shouldn't like to go a fishin' to 
 'Merica myself, if 'twant for t'old woman and t' chil- 
 der," said an enthusiastic young man among the audi- 
 ence. 
 
 "I tell thou 'taint a fishin' they goes't 'Merica," said 
 the old man before spoken of. 
 
 " Well, never thou mind whether it be fishin' or not, 
 feyther. They goes over t'water, any way, and 'Merica 
 must be a mighty fine country for poor voalks to live in." 
 
 As it was getting late, the party broke up, and went to 
 their respective dwellings, one of the old men as he left, 
 saying to the old lady who kept the house 
 
 " If thou hears any more 'bout t' new gentlevoalks 
 down t' manor, Dame Harris, thou'll let us hear the 
 news to-morrow." 
 
 To explain the above rustic conversation, I should 
 mention that Gripes had, at the request of Lord Shrop- 
 shire, taken the two young people who were the tools 
 of the defrauding parties, down to the property, under 
 pretence of looking over it, and to make their persons 
 known to the villagers, as well as to give color to their 
 scheme in the eyes of the world. 
 
 Meanwhile, Mr. Hughes and I, though we had taken 
 no open measures until we were perfectly satisfied upon 
 what ground we stood, had not been idle. We had 
 searched the records and discovered signs of fraud and 
 forgery, which we had taken due note of, and at length 
 we determined to proceed to work boldly, and to enter 
 our protest at "Doctors Commons," against the parties 
 in the possession of the Huntingdonshire property. I 
 called, accordingly, upon my young friends and desired 
 them to be in readiness on the appointed day, when 
 they promised to be ; and that day week, having myself 
 in the meantime visited, with Mr. Hughes, the property 
 in question, I called at the Fitzherberts' lodgings for the 
 purpose of taking them with me to the "Doctors Com-
 
 THE ORPHAN'S WRONGS. 115 
 
 mons," to take the necessary oaths; but, 1 found only 
 Miss Fitzherbert at home, and to my great surprise 
 and dismay I learnt from the poor gir], who was 
 dreadfully agitated, that her brother had not been home 
 since the previous morning, when he had gone out 
 with the object of witnessing a review in Hyde Park. 
 
 Here was another stumbling block thrown in our 
 way. I was of opinion that he had met with some ac- 
 cident ; and I went immediately to the office of Mr. 
 Hughes, and told him what had happened. 
 
 He shook his head and said: "I fear it is an acci- 
 dent which has been intentionally caused. My dear, 
 sir, you can have no conception of the villainy of the 
 two men who are engaged on the other side. Sorry 
 indeed am I that men of such character can gain ad- 
 mittance to our profession ; and to-day I have learnt 
 that they have heard that you and our two young 
 clients have arrived in this country. Take my advice, 
 sir: remove the young lady to my residence at once, 
 where she will be properly taken care of; and we must 
 immediately set to work, but cautiously and quietly, to 
 endeavor to discover her brother. I only hope 'that his 
 absence may prove to be caused by an accident over 
 which others had no control." 
 
 CHAPTER IX. 
 
 A Dissertation upon Novel Writing and History Some 
 New and not Uninteresting Characters Introduced to the 
 Notice of the Ifeader. 
 
 BEFORE I commence this chapter I have a word to 
 say to my readers. It has been asked whether this nar- 
 rative be true in its details. Certain persons ask how 
 it is possible that one man can be here, there, and every- 
 where at once ; can listen to the conversation in private 
 parlors; can know what is going on at the same mo-
 
 116 THE LAWYER'S STOBY; OB, 
 
 ment here and thousands of miles hence ; what oc- 
 curred fifty years ago and that which is daily 9ccur- 
 ring at the present time. To these I reply: Is history 
 true ? Has anything ever been written in a narrative 
 or colloquial form in which every word and action 
 was strictly weighed, and not a jot or tittle set down 
 which did not occur verbatim et seriatim ? Such a thing 
 is impossible. Writers as well as historians can only 
 recount faithfully the events which actually passed under 
 their observation, and in giving a narrative of the 
 past they are often necessarily compelled to imagine 
 possible events in order to arrive at positive conclusions. 
 To effect this, all writers have, in a great measure, to 
 draw upon their imaginations ; the particular thread of 
 their fancy being guided by the well known habits of the 
 characters they attempt to delineate, and the events that 
 were actually brought about. The historian who writes 
 the life of Julius Caesar or Napoleon Bonaparte, was not 
 present at the scenes he depicts ; he could not know 
 what transpired in the domestic privacy of the two 
 heroes of ancient and modern times ; but he reads the 
 various narratives ; he compares one with another, and 
 every report with the peculiar characteristics of his sub- 
 ject. He knows what did actually occur, and he en- 
 deavors to give an idea as perfectly as possible, of the 
 events which led to their actual occurrence, and gen- 
 erally speaking, he is perhaps pretty correct. At all 
 events, the historian's object is gained, for, by dint of 
 patient and diligent investigation, he has given the most 
 plausible narrative of the various trifling causes which 
 put together, and acting one with the other, have led ? 
 according to history, to the " wreck of empires and the 
 shock of worlds." 
 
 The novelist, in depicting truth beneath the garb of 
 fiction, has a some what similar duty to perform, with this 
 difference, viz., that he, if depicting a series of events of 
 late occurrence, is often actually an eye-witness of a 
 great many of the circumstances which he relates: he, 
 probably, is acquainted with all, or at any rate, with
 
 THE ORPHAN'S WRONGS. 117 
 
 most of the characters, and he knows the idiosyncracies 
 of the remainder. He has had ocular demonstration of 
 the occurrence of the principal facts which he places 
 before his readers, and, with this knowledge, he has no 
 difficulty in surmising the minor causes which have led 
 to their consummation. He is not endowed with ubi- 
 quity, nor with the power of transporting himself on 
 some fairy wand, hither and thither in a moment, as may 
 suit his purpose ; nor, like the wandering Jew, is he per- 
 sonally conversant with events which happened so long 
 ago as to render such a supposition impossible ; but a 
 careful observer of human nature can readily conceive, 
 knowing the character and the position of those of whom 
 he writes, and knowing, also, that the chief events of 
 which he speaks did occur, what were likely to have 
 been the motives which led the actors on to the consum- 
 mation of their projects. 
 
 I therefore assure the reader that, although in some, 
 not in all instances, the names are disguised, the cha- 
 racters are, or have been living actors on this world's 
 busy scene. 
 
 The heirs Fitzherbert are true characters. " Gripes 
 and Cheatem" are well-known characters in London. So 
 is Mr. Hughes, the Earl of Shropshire, Lord Henry Fitz- 
 herbert, and the various dramatis personce, I have intro- 
 duced in the preceding chapters. In the opening of this 
 narrative I stated that I was about to tell a tale of fraud 
 and conspiracy, in the detection and partial prevention 
 of which I was an agent ; but I do not pretend to have 
 listened to every conversation that I have mentioned as 
 having taken place ; and, more than that, I have in- 
 formed the reader, in order to his better understanding 
 of the story, of much that I was ignorant of myself until 
 matters had reached a riper state, than they have, in the 
 present stage of my story arrived at. Of course, I only 
 pretend to speak of that which came under my own ob- 
 servation as having occurred word and deed : but the 
 facts are truth, however, the causes may often unavoid- 
 ably deviate into fiction.
 
 118 THE LAWYER'S STORY; OR, 
 
 Having thus given what I consider a perfectly satis- 
 factory explanation and reply to carping critics, I think I 
 may lay a claim for the conscientious novelist to a position 
 as near the truth as that of any other writer. It is im- 
 possible for any man to assert honestly that all he state? 
 is strictly true. The limited period of human life, and 
 the confined sphere of human action, forbid any such 
 assertion. If, after this, any one should doubt, or be 
 seized with a desire to criticise, I beg them to remember 
 how, in telling an anecdote relating to facts which they 
 have themselves witnessed, they often find it necessary, 
 for the elucidation of their story, to suppose much that 
 they have not seen ; and, also, to recollect the Latin 
 legal quotation, " Super subjectum materiam" (No man 
 can be held professionally responsible for opinions 
 which have been founded, super subjectum materiam, on 
 the statement submitted to him by his clients, or others.) 
 
 To proceed with my story : 
 
 It was on a glorious evening in autumn, when woodland 
 scenery assumes its most gorgeous aspect, before the leaves 
 fade away and wither beneath the cold blasts of winter, 
 a few months after the period at which my acquaint- 
 ance with the Fitzherberts commenced, that a young la- 
 dy and gentleman, accompanied by an elder couple, were 
 driving in an open carriage amidst some of the magnifi- 
 cent scenery to be found in the proximity of the Alle- 
 ghany mountains in Virginia. The party were on their 
 way home after a summer tour in their own carriage 
 over the greater portion of the State. They resided at 
 Christianbourg, and were approaching it from the north- 
 ward, skirting as nearly as possible the foot of the moun- 
 tain range, having chosen this route, bad as were the 
 roads and scanty and wide apart the means of accommo- 
 dation, from a desire to view a large extent of forest 
 land which had come into the possession, some years be- 
 fore, of the father of the young lady alluded to, and 
 which by will had been left as a legacy to her. The 
 parties with her were an uncle and aunt her guardians
 
 THE ORPHAN'S WRONGS. 119 
 
 until she became of age, (she was now about seventeen,) 
 and her cousin, the son of the elder couple. 
 
 " Rather a wild-looking demesne, this of yours, Juliet," 
 said the old gentleman; "but withal, a beautiful and 
 romantic spot. Nature has embellished it bountifully 
 and though now it may not be of much productive value, 
 when art steps in and smooths off nature's handiwork, it 
 will render you one of the richest heiresses in the United 
 States. What splendid sites in the clearings amidst 
 those noble monarchs of the forest, to build a stately man- 
 sion, and to construct park avenues on the grandest scale, 
 where a young and happy couple might pass their days 
 in a round of mutual love and connubial bliss, undis- 
 turbed, at any rate, for years to come, by the encroach- 
 ment of busy cities, with their manufactories, steam and 
 saw-mills, railroads, and all the other accessories which, 
 wide as is this favored land of ours, are fast occupying 
 every possible abiding place. George is a lucky fellow. 
 If my wife was not sitting by my side, I should almost 
 wish I were twenty years younger, that I might have a 
 chance to supplant him in his 'fair lady's' favor. It 
 would be no ' love in a cottage' here but love in a pa- 
 lace, with all the accessories of wealth and magnificence, 
 natural and artificial to boot, that the most romantic ima- 
 gination could desire." 
 
 The young lady thus addressed, pouted a little as she 
 listened to the latter portion of this speech, and seemed 
 by no means to reciprocate the advances of the young 
 man by whose side she was seated, and who, at the men- 
 tion of his name by his father, had colored slightly and 
 glanced towards her, his eyes expressive of an admira- 
 tion which seemed to appeal to hers for a reply of the 
 same significant character ; but presently recovering her- 
 self, and blushing in a manner that considerably enhanced 
 her beauty, as if she were ashamed of showing her petu- 
 lant feelings although, no doubt, the young man attri- 
 buted the blush to another cause she said : 
 
 " It is indeed a most romantic and beautiful spot, un- 
 cle, that at which we are now gazing, and, indeed, tho
 
 120 THE LAWYER'S STORY; OR, 
 
 whole extent of the property is beautiful. It seems to 
 develope every variety of scenery. Some time ago we 
 drove past a waterfall. Did you notice how the spray 
 glistened in the rays of the setting sun, like diamonds, 
 showing such a lovely contrast to the many hued foliage 
 of the forest trees, and here and there we have passed by 
 level patches of great extent, which appear as if they had 
 been intended by nature for future pasture grounds ; and 
 then the gloomy rocky summits of the Alleghanies, tow- 
 ering in the distant back ground, over all this varied 
 luxuriance of landscape, altogether forms a picture such 
 as is seldom witnessed. He who first selected and pur- 
 chased this lovely oasis, in the comparatively desert, 
 waste lands which hems it in, must have had an eye 
 yes, and a soul too, for the picturesque." 
 
 " Yes," replied the elderly gentleman, " and then to 
 think how cheaply your father purchased it ; it was, you 
 know, property confiscated during the last war, and laid 
 for some years uncared for, and I may say forgotten, un- 
 til your father obtained it for a mere song, as the vul- 
 gar saying is." 
 
 " That it is, which renders it impossible, some how or 
 other, for me to consider the property really mine, uncle," 
 continued the young lady. "I know, too, that my father 
 for many years scarcely considered himself its owner, ex- 
 cept upon trust ; and repeatedly I have heard him say 
 that if he knew the original claimant from whom it was 
 confiscated, he should insist upon his taking a much more 
 liberal price for the title deeds. It was only after my 
 mother's death, and when he found that there was little 
 likelihood of the original purchaser ever being found, 
 that he consented to insert it in his will as a legacy to 
 'me; and so, uncle," she added laughingly, "I only con- 
 sider myself to be the heiress of this lovely property upon 
 trust. Besides, I am rich enough without it, any way." 
 
 ''Pooh, poohl" said the old gentleman, "Edward had 
 ridiculous notions of his own. I hope you have not in- 
 herited his strange ideas with his property. Recollect 
 that although you have a fortune of your own besides
 
 THE ORPHAN'S WRONGS. 121 
 
 this estate, what a splendid addition this will make to it. 
 You and George will be the wealthiest couple in the 
 States, seme twenty or thirty years hence." . Again the 
 pout was visible upon the pretty lips of the young lady, 
 and as rapidly again did she endeavor to hide it, and to 
 dissemble her feelings, as regarded the evident under- 
 standing between her uncle and cousin. She, however, 
 replied : 
 
 "Indeed, uncle, I think I do possess all my father's 
 conscientiousness, as regards the possession of this pro- 
 perty. Mine legally it may be but in holding it, I am 
 perhaps aiding to involve others in poverty perhaps in 
 ruin. May be it was all the poor man, from whom it 
 was confiscated, possessed." 
 
 " Your ideas, Juliet, are far too sentimental for me to 
 understand, "replied .the old gentleman. "You are going 
 to Europe, with your aunt, shortly. You had better make 
 a search while in England, which country, of course, you 
 will visit first ; and, perhaps you may discover the ori- 
 ginal possessor you allude to, and magnanimously make 
 the property over to him though the heirs of the ori- 
 ginal claimant, in my humble opinion, are more likely to 
 be found amongst some of the descendants of Powhattan, 
 the once Indian chief of this territory, who are said still 
 to be residing in the State." 
 
 It was growing late, and the party drove to the plan- 
 tation near the village where they were stopping, and the 
 subject of conversation was dropped. 
 
 Juliet Hawthorne was the daughter of English parents, 
 who had emigrated to America before she was born. 
 Her father had been possessed of considerable property 
 when he landed in America, with which he had at first 
 embarked in business and been very successful; subse- 
 quently he had speculated in land, and in this new pro- 
 fession, fortune had likewise befriended him so that at 
 the period of his death, about a twelve month before, 
 when his daughter Juliet was in her sixteenth year, he 
 was the possessor of a considerable fortune, the whole of 
 which had been left to her ; for she was an only child, 
 
 6
 
 122 THE LAWYER'S STORY; OR, 
 
 born several years after the marriage of her father and 
 mother. Her mother had been dead about three years, 
 and she was left by her" father's will under the guardian- 
 ship of Mr. Lyman, her uncle, a gentleman who had mar- 
 ried her father's sister, who had accompanied the young 
 lady's parents from England. It was this lady, under 
 whose care Juliet was about to visit Europe, which she 
 was anxious to see especially England, the birth-place 
 of her father and mother. As the reader will have per- 
 ceived, it was the old gentleman's wish that his son 
 should marry his ward not from any selfish motive ; 
 but because he had taken it into his head that, as they 
 were cousins, and had been brought up from childhood 
 together, it was perfectly natural they should love, and 
 eventually marry each other. 
 
 Juliet might and probably did love her cousin George 
 well enough as a cousin ; but, she had begun to conceive 
 a dislike to him now that her uncle seemed desirous to 
 force him upon her as a husband though the old man 
 was so kind to her, that she could not find it in her heart 
 to tell him the real state of her feelings towards his son. 
 As to George Lyman himself, he had certainly received 
 sufficient rebuffs, though delicately administered, to as- 
 sure him that his attentions were distasteful to his fair 
 cousin ; but he was one of those people who cannot be 
 persuaded to take a hint. He thought, as his father did, 
 that as he and Juliet had been brought up in each other's 
 society, she must love him as much as he did her, and it 
 would have been a difficult matter to have persuaded 
 him otherwise. 
 
 Mrs. Lyman, with woman's quick perception, had 
 guessed how matters stood between the young folks, and 
 though she felt for her son, she knew that he was not of 
 a temperament to take a disappointment of this kind 
 much to heart. It was partly for the purpose of separat- 
 ing the young people for a time, and partly on account 
 of the desire she had to re-visit her native land, that had 
 induced her to persuade her husband to hasten the peri- 
 od of a visit to Europe that had long been talked of. He
 
 THE ORPHAN'S WRONGS. 123 
 
 could not go with her, as lie had lately purchased a new 
 plantation, the contemplated improvements on which re- 
 quired his own and his son's close superintendence so 
 they had procured the escort jof a friend to New York, 
 whence they were to take shipping; and they were to be 
 met at Liverpool by some relatives of Mrs. Lyman, who 
 resided at Canterbury, and with whom they were to spend 
 some time. 
 
 Juliet was a tall, handsome girl, uniting in her fea- 
 tures the bloom and freshness of an English girl with 
 the grace and delicate beauty of a daughter of the " Old 
 Dominion." She was naturally kind and generous, but 
 impulsive ; and from having had her own way from the 
 first day she commenced to lisp forth her childish fancies, 
 she had a will of her own, which she somewhat pertina- 
 ciously adhered to. Fortunately it was generally exer- 
 cised in the cause of right and justice, and therefore, 
 while she was beloved by her familiar friends, she was 
 perfectly idolized by the dependants and slaves on her 
 father's and uncle's estates, with whom she had been a 
 favorite from an infant, arid who would have done any- 
 thing in their power to give pleasure to their young 
 mistress. 
 
 George Lyman, by many believed to be her accepted 
 lover, was quite opposite to her in disposition. He was 
 calm, cool and calculating, never put out of the way, 
 whatever happened, yet withal, a good-hearted, manly, 
 and good-looking youth, for all he could not get into the 
 good graces of his fair consin. And this was from no 
 prior attachment on the part of Miss Hawthorne ; for at 
 this period, although like most young ladies she had, no ' 
 doubt, both thought of love and dreamed of marriage, 
 her affections had not been fixed upon any one, as a 
 lover, and she was, in that respect, still left . 
 
 " To maiden meditation, fancy free." 
 
 Having thus introduced these new characters to my 
 readers, I shall leave them at this point until, as the 
 farther progress of this drama of real life is developed, 
 they are again brought forward upon the stage.
 
 124 THE LAWYER'S STORY; OB, 
 
 CHAPTEK X. 
 
 Several Persons of Consideration are Introduced in a 
 
 Visit to the " Cat ana Bagpipes" A Yankee Lawyer 
 
 finds himself in rather a Ludicrous Situation, and is 
 
 so found by his friend Some suspicion is aroused as 
 
 to the fate of the Hero. 
 
 LET me now return to the subject of young Fitz- 
 herbert.'s disappearance. 
 
 Agreeably to the advice of Mr. Hughes, I immedi- 
 ately caused Georgiana to remove to his residence, where, 
 tinder the watchful guardianship of Mr. Hughes, she, 
 at all events, was safe from molestation, and there I 
 left her, in sad apprehension respecting her brother's 
 fate, with the somewhat poor consolation, yet all I was 
 enabled to bestow, that Mr. Hughes and I. would do 
 everything in our power to discover what had befallen 
 him. 
 
 I then got into a stage at the end of the Common, 
 and in the course of an hour was set down near Mr. 
 Hughes' office in Lincoln's-inn. 
 
 " What steps do you think it best for us to pursue ?" 
 said I, after we had discussed the subject of the young 
 man's sudden disappearance, at some length. 
 
 "I scarcely know; you see, it appears very evident 
 to me, from various occurrences, that the parties en- 
 gaged in this business, (this fraudulent business, I 
 should perhaps call it ; but as yet we have no legitimate 
 proof that it is so, and to make use of that expression, 
 would subject me to libel), but, as I was saying, it is 
 evident to me that they know you and the Fitzherberts 
 are in this country, I believe I. mentioned that to you 
 before, so that further attempt at secrecy on our part,
 
 THE ORPHAN'S WRONGS. 125 
 
 would be useless ; therefore, I should say, the best 
 thing that could be done, would be to advertise in the 
 Times, describing the youth, and offering a reward for 
 any information that can be obtained respecting him, 
 and in the course of the day, I will call and see the city 
 editor, of that paper, with whom I am acquainted, and I 
 will state the facts of the singular disappearance of the 
 young man to him, and perhaps he will insert a short 
 editorial paragraph. You know the Times office, in 
 Printing House Square. You recollect I pointed it out 
 to you the other day ? "Well, I have got this brief to 
 attend to this morning ; suppose you drop in en passant, 
 and leave the advertisement, and I will attend to the 
 rest." 
 
 I accordingly caused an advertisement to be inserted, 
 of the nature Mr. Hughes had suggested, desiring all 
 communications to be addressed to me, at my hotel, as it 
 was thought advisable not to let it be known as yet, that 
 a gentleman of Mr. Hughes' celebrity in the profession, 
 was engaged in the matter, lest it might put the adverse 
 parties more strictly on their guard. 
 
 Two days afterwards, I received a dirty, square-folded 
 note, which ran as follows : 
 
 " SIR, I see an advertisement in the Times, axin for 
 hinformation of a young man as is supposed to have met 
 with some haxident, or to have fell into bad hands, from 
 the description of the young man i think as how he was 
 at my house with some rum lookin coves on vensday 
 night. If so be as twas he, they was all tipsy, if you 
 will call at my house at the sign of the Cat and Bagpipes, 
 near Greenwich hospitle, you shall here all i have to tell 
 on the subject, from your humble servant, 
 
 THOMAS MACE, 
 
 landlord of the Cat and Bagpipes, 
 
 where the best XX, " old Tom," and Mieux and cos 
 porter, besides other likers, can be procured to perfection." 
 
 This elegant epistle, sealed with a sprawling red wafer,
 
 126 THE LAWYER'S STORY; OR, 
 
 upon which: the impression of a big, dirty thumb was 
 clearly visible, at once determined me to call at the 
 place known by the euphonious and sensible name of 
 the " Cat and Bagpipes," and hastily swallowing my 
 breakfast, I made the best of my way thither. I found 
 it to be a public house of considerable dimensions, and 
 apparently doing a thriving business, although the fre- 
 quenters seemed to be men of the lowest class. I do 
 not mean hard working mechanics, sailors and laborers, 
 but well, although gaudily dressed fellows, whose 
 dogged, brutal countenances were at once a sufficient 
 index of their minds. . 
 
 Unfortunately for me, it was Fair day at Greenwich, 
 and the house was more than usually crowded with 
 visitors, so that it was a long time before I could get an 
 opportunity to speak with the landlord, who was a fat, 
 paunchy fellow, with a broad, fresh colored, good hu- 
 mored face, and who, notwithstanding his immense girth 
 displayed no inconsiderable agility in moving to and 
 fro as he attended to the wants of, or cracked a rude 
 joke with his customers. 
 
 At length the festivities of the day drew all away but 
 two, who were still chatting together over a pot of beer, 
 about some pugilistic combat that either had occurred. 
 or was shortly to come off. They, at last, rose and 
 sauntered out of the bar room, and then I stepped up to 
 the landlord and told him that I was the person who was 
 in search of the missing young gentleman, respecting 
 whom he had addressed a note to me. 
 
 "Glad to see you, sir glad to see you," was his reply, 
 as he stretched out his large, brawny fist, and almost 
 wrenched my hand off, as a token of welcome. " Step 
 inside to the inner bar, sir, and we will talk the matter 
 over ; here, you Sally !" calling to a girl in the kitchen ; 
 14 come and attend to the bar, lass, while I and this 
 gentleman has a confab together. By-the-bye," added 
 he, suddenly, as if impressed with a notion that he had 
 forgotten to give me some information he ought to have
 
 THE ORPHAN'S WRONGS. 127 
 
 done before, " do you know who them two gentlemen 
 are who have just gone out ? " 
 
 " No," I replied. 
 
 " D n it, I ought to have told you and introduced 
 yer, d'ye see? 'taint everyday day you get such a 
 chance; them two gentlemen," continued he, stretch- 
 ing his bullet shaped head towards me, and speaking as 
 if in a confidential whisper, "was no less persons than 
 Tom Crib and Jack Langan /" and he nodded his head 
 sagely, as much as to say, " What do you think of 
 that, now?" 
 
 "I have not the pleasure," said I, " to know Messrs. 
 Crib and Langan, though I have no doubt they are 
 very worthy people." 
 
 " Worthy people ! I believe yer, slap up, and no 
 mistake. There ain't no gammon about them. Of 
 course you know that; you've hearn on 'em?" 
 
 " Not that I recollect," said I. " I am afraid I must 
 acknowledge my ignorance." 
 
 u Not know nor never hearn on Tom Crib and Jack 
 Langan, the fighting men!" screamed rather than spoke 
 the worthy landlord of the Cat and Bagpipes. " Why, 
 you must be a regular hignoramus; where the d 1 
 was yer fetched up ?" 
 
 Unwilling to give offence to a man from whom I hoped 
 to yet glean some information respecting my missing 
 client, I replied . 
 
 *' My good sir, you are not aware that I am an Am- 
 erican, and therefore am unacquainted possibly with 
 certain of the distinguished men of your country." 
 
 " An American, eh ?" said mine host, scrutinizing 
 me more closely ; "and aren't they heern of Tom Crib 
 and Jack Langan in America-? Guess they have, old 
 fellow." 
 
 . " May be they have," replied I ; " but my profes- 
 sional avocations have always kept me so constantly em- 
 ployed that I may be ignorant of much that is well 
 known in my own country, regarding the great men of 
 your country in that line of business."
 
 128 THE LAWYER'S STORY; OR, 
 
 " And so, now, you've come over to Hingland to get 
 a little 'lightenment on that 'ere subject. Well, old fel- 
 low, I honors yer for your pluck. Englishmen allers 
 likes pluck ; and I can tell yer, the Cat and Bagpipes 
 is the best place yer could have picked out to get 'light- 
 enment, 'mong a thousand. My house is the reg'lar 
 house o' call, on the Greenwich road, for them 'ere coves, 
 and Tom Mace is just the boy can put you up to a thing 
 or two." 
 
 " But, my good sir, you forget ; my business here 
 to-day was to learn more respecting the information 
 you professed to be able to give, of a young gentle- 
 man who came to England with me." 
 
 " Oh, I see now ; you brought the young un over 
 from America, and then expected to keep him close 
 in London, eh ? But he was too wide awake, so he 
 guv his gov'ner the slip. That's the dodge, is it?" 
 
 "No," said I, getting out of patience. "I came over 
 on business nearly concerning this young man, and I 
 am afraid that he has fallen into bad hands. I am 
 willing to pay liberally for any information you can 
 give that may be of service in discovering his where- 
 abouts. If you have none to give, tell me so at once, 
 and I will wish you good morning." 
 
 " You needn't be so gumptious, guv'ner," replied the 
 landlord. " Fell into bad hands, eh ! Well, the young 
 un were mortal drunk, if that was he as was here ; that's 
 a fact, and no mistake. He's been a betting and a 
 spending money like winkin', I s'pose, eh?" 
 
 "If you know anything of the young man, pray let 
 me know at once, without further circumlocution ?" 
 
 The landlord was about to reply, when two customers 
 who heard his voice began to bawl lustily for him to 
 make his appearance, and he hurried to the bar to greet 
 them. 
 
 "Hilloa, Snipes! old feller, when did you come down 
 from Newmarket ?" said he, addressing a little dapper 
 man, who stood on the outer side of the bar, smoking a 
 cigar, and drinking a mixture of gin and beer. " Come
 
 THE ORPHAN'S WRONGS. 129 
 
 down with Sam, eh? on the coach. How. do, Sam? 
 How goes it, old cock ? All right, eh ?" 
 
 The person addressed as Sam, was a stout, portly man, 
 attired in a rough white overcoat, with a vast number of 
 capes, and having apparently a like imposing display of 
 mufflers tied round his throat, completely enveloping his 
 ample chin. 
 
 " So, so, Tom ; so, so ;" said the man addressed as 
 Sam. " How do times go with you ? pretty brisk, eh ? 
 You see Snipes and I thought we'd like to see some of 
 the frolickin' a goin' on at the fair to-day, so I fetched 
 him down on the ' Highflyer,' and we thought as we'd 
 come and see an old chum, jist for old acquaintance sake. 
 Have a drop of brandy, Tom ?" 
 
 " Yes, a drop of brandy all round," chimed in the 
 little, dapper man, emptying his tumbler at a draught. 
 " Won't that genelman," pointing to me, "jine us, eh?" 
 
 "No, I thank you," I replied. "I never taste liquor 
 of any kind so early in the day. v 
 
 " Well, no offence, master, I hope. Here's luck all 
 the same ;" nodding to me, as he filled a wine glass with 
 brandy, and drank it off. 
 
 After some further conversation, the visitors withdrew, 
 and then I hoped that the required information would 
 be forthcoming at last. But the landlord was so de- 
 lighted at the opportunity of introducing to me two 
 more British worthies, that I saw it was useless to put in 
 a word respecting my business until he had done speak- 
 ing of his own. 
 
 " I told yer, yer was in luck for an American as wanted 
 to see life in Hingland, to come to my crib ; ne'er a 
 better spot 'twixt this and Charin' Cross to see life. 
 That ere big man as you see'djust now is Sam Billings, 
 as drives the Highflyer 'twixt London and Newmarket ; 
 the best vip on the road, since the railroads are send- 
 ing' all the long stages to smash. But, Lor' bless you! 
 the Newmarket boys, the big uns that is, they still keep 
 up the Highflyer. Cause vy ? Sam's sich a tarnation 
 good vip. He drives more lords to arid fro on race- days
 
 130 THE LAWYER'S STORY; OR, 
 
 than ever you see'd in America. They all goes by 
 Sam's stage, and it's a sight to see ; em a shakin' hands 
 along on him ; and ' Vou't you take a drop o' summut, 
 Sam?' says von ; and ' Von't you take a drop o' sum- 
 muc, Sam?' says another. Sam's real fly with the nobs, 
 I can tell yer. And t'other little chap is Jack Snipes, 
 the best jockey as rides at Newmarket. He's von the 
 Lord knows how many silver cups. It's a sight to see 
 Jack Snipes a cuttin' round the course on trainin' days. 
 Lots o' ladies goes to look at him; and then, my eye! 
 o' race days ! ! Sich a flockin in of folks sich a cheerin' 
 and a wavin' o' handkerchers, you never see'd in your 
 born days." 
 
 Here the landlord got quite excited with his recollec- 
 tions, and commenced a series of ludicrous antics, which 
 brought his heavy carcass and his thick boots into dan- 
 gerous proximity to me. 
 
 "Here," said he, "here comes Snipes round the 
 course" suiting his action to his words, by imitating 
 the motion of a man on horseback, bending his knees, 
 and jerking himself up and down as if performing a se- 
 ries of short canters, letting his body rise and fall, his 
 shoulders keeping a corresponding motion, while he 
 played with his hands as though he were holding in the 
 horse's head. " Here he comes boys a shoutin' gals 
 a screamin' ladies a wavin' o' their handkerchers men 
 a bettin', and cussin' and swearin' dust a flyin' out o' 
 the dry turf. My eye! such a rumpus. On comes 
 Snipes. Ti-tippit ti- tippet ti-tippit. Hurraa, hurraa, 
 hurraa ! Snipes for ever. Snipes has von the plate 
 hoora-a-a !" 
 
 By this time he had worked up his enthusiasm almost 
 to a pitch of phrenzy, actually leaping from the floor, 
 and by catching hold of my hands compelling me to 
 keep time with his motions to avoid being crushed by 
 nis weight, as every now and then he came down with a 
 " plump" that was sufficient, had he stamped on my toes, 
 to have lamed me for life, forhe was three times my weight. 
 The little room in which we stood was very narrow,
 
 THE our 'JAN'S WRONGS. 181 
 
 and the only method of exit was through a doorway 
 leading to the outer bar, before which the landlord had 
 planted his burly person, so that I had enough to do 
 to keep clear of him. I called to him to forbear, but 
 it was useless, for my feeble voice was drowned by the 
 shouts from his stentorian lungs ; and these shouts were 
 raised to a loftier pitch at every fresh exclamation, 
 until at last he fairly screamed, while his fat cheeks and 
 sides shook like jelly bags with the unwonted exercise. 
 
 Suddenly he changed his action, saying as he did 
 so, " and then to see Sam, ven the nobs goes home in 
 the evening coach all spruce and clean brass and 
 steel polished like gold and silver four bays, black 
 hoofs, half-bloods, jist fresh from the stable skins soft 
 and smooth as velvet ears pricked up full o' mettle 
 bunches o' ribands fastened to their heads harness 
 as bright and shinin' as a new pin ! Up get the nobs 
 up mounts Sam arter 'em, and takes his seat upon the 
 box ' All right?' says they. ' All right,' says he, ' let 
 go the 'osses heads, Jim.' Crack ! goes his vip. Whe- 
 e-e-e-w ! ! and off she goes ! ! !" he stopped speaking and 
 capering, apparently because his breath would hold out 
 no longer, and at the same moment his right arm, 
 which was raised to represent the action of Sam with 
 the " vip," came into contact with my shoulder, caus- 
 ing me to reel heavily against a stand upon which were 
 a number of tumblers arid wine glasses, which all came 
 with a thundering crash to the floor, smashed to atoms. 
 I recovered my balance and began rubbing my shoulder, 
 while the landlord, aroused from the seat on which he 
 had fallen exhausted, by the crash of the broken glass, . 
 began to make profuse apologies. 
 
 1 cast my eyes around in hopes to gain the door and 
 get clear of the confusion, when who should I see but 
 Mr. Hughes, to whom I had sent a note before leaving 
 my hotel, stating the errand upon which I was bound. 
 He had left home immediately to meet me at Greenwich 
 at the urgent request of Georgiana, to whom he had" 
 read the contents of the note, and had just arrived at the
 
 132 THE LAWYER'S STORY; OR, 
 
 door of the public house in time to witness the strange, 
 and to him, unaccountable antics going on inside, and 
 the hapless denouement. There he stood like a statue, 
 attired, as usual, in his prim, old-school style of dress, 
 black coat, knee breeches with gold buckles, and black 
 silk stockings, and looking on in amazement, seemingly 
 without the power of utterance. At length he said : 
 
 "Good heavens! Mr. ! what in the name of 
 
 wonder have you been doing ? Here have I been look- 
 ing at you bobbing to and fro and up and down, in com- 
 pany with the landlord of the house, I presume ; both 
 of you talking at your highest pitch of voice. I was 
 transfixed with amazement, sir, until the crash of the 
 broken glass restored me to my senses. However, I 
 hope you have not cut yourself, sir." 
 
 I had not done so, and with some little difficulty, 
 owing to the interlarding of the profuse apologies of the 
 landlord, I explained the cause of my strange situation, 
 and joined with Mr. Hughes in the laugh at my own 
 expense. 
 
 " Nothing have I been able to learn, as yet," said 1. 
 
 However, the landlord, whose late exertion seemed to 
 have restored him to the recollection of what was requir- 
 ed of him, proceeded to state that, on the "Wednesday 
 night previous, a party of sailors, accompanied by some 
 persons whose manners showed that they did not follow 
 the sea, had called at his house ; they had a young man 
 with them whose appearance tallied with the description I 
 had given of Adolphus in the advertisement, who was 
 either very drunk or else (as he rather thought was the 
 real state of the case) drugged with some sleepy com- 
 pound. That this idea had led him to take particular 
 notice of the young man, and, on seeing the advertise- 
 ment, he recognized the description immediately, and 
 sent me the note. The party, he said, had proceeded, 
 after making a short stay at his house, to Woolwich, in 
 _an open boat which was waiting for them, and, while in 
 the house, they had called for liquors and paid liberally, 
 as though they had plenty of money to spend. When
 
 THE ORPHAN'S WRONGS. 133 
 
 they left, they had to carry the young man to the boat, 
 for, while in the house, he had drank more liquor at the 
 request of one of the gentlemen, and had become com- 
 pletely stupified, in fact insensible. All the landlord 
 knew further was, that the sailors had spoken of some 
 man-of-war they were going on board of, and he saw, in 
 the papers, that three frigates had sailed from Woolwich 
 for the Mediterranean station on the following morning. 
 
 This was all the information we could glean, so, after 
 presenting the landlord with a sovereign, we left the 
 house. We ascertained that he was correct as regarded 
 the sailing of the squadron for the Mediterranean, and 
 we suspected that young Fitzherbert had by some means, 
 still unaccountable to us, been inveigled away. 
 
 All that was. left for us to do was to write immedi- 
 ately to the admiral on the station, stating the facts, 
 and intimating our suspicions that a young gentleman 
 had been decoyed on board one of the vessels, and beg- 
 ging his discharge. This Mr. Hughes did, having pre- 
 viously obtained a permit of discharge from the Ad- 
 miralty office, which he inclosed in his letter to the ad- 
 miral. This done, we had to wait with patience. It 
 might be, perhaps, months before the letter would reach 
 its destination, for we knew neither where the admiral 
 was at that time, nor did we know to what part of tho 
 Mediterranean the ships were destined. All we ascer- 
 tained was that their names were the Redoubtable, the 
 Thunderer, and the Vixen ; but then Fitzherbert, if 
 indeed he were on board either of them, might have 
 been transferred to some other of the vessels on the sta- 
 tion before the letter reached the admiral. 
 
 Thus matters rested for the present, and all we 
 could do to console poor Georgiana, was to buoy her 
 up with the belief that her brother had been decoyed 
 on board one of the men-of-war, and that measures 
 had been taken to procure his certain discharge, as 
 soon as the information could reach the commander 
 of the Mediterranean squadron.
 
 184 THE LAWYER'S STORY; OB, 
 
 CHAPTEE XL 
 
 Alton Oastle An Introduction to the Heiress of Alton A 
 Noble Maiden's /Soliloquy. 
 
 SOME months have passed away and we have heard 
 nothing of Adolphus. The early summer has burst 
 into full bloom, and its freshness has begun to fade. 
 The autumn has commenced, the "London Season" is 
 over, and the gay coronetted equipages which lately 
 rolled through the streets of the " West End," with 
 their liveried coachmen and powdered lacqueys, be- 
 decked in all the colors of the rainbow, are now rarely 
 to be met with ; the fashionables of London have de- 
 serted Westminster for their country mansions, and to 
 be in " town" now, is to risk the chance of being struck 
 off the roll of fashion. It is the shooting season and the 
 country is alive with the aristocracy, who have now 
 doffed the fashionable garb in which they were wont 
 to parade Regent-street, and Piccadilly, or to lounge 
 in the parks, and have donned the more sober, but in- 
 finitely more comfortable sportsman's attire. Young 
 men and old men men of all ages may now be met 
 in the fields and woods, and game preserves, dressed in 
 shooting jackets with manifold pockets, and breeches 
 and brown leathern gaiters buttoned to the knee, gun 
 in hand, and perhaps with several brace of game peep- 
 ing from the aforesaid pockets. It is the gala time of 
 setters and other sporting dogs, which race to and fro 
 and thrust themselves obtrusively into all sorts of places, 
 as if they were perfectly conscious of their importance 
 during the shooting season. From break of day until 
 sunset, the woods echo and re-echo with the report of 
 Bowling pieces, each sharp report being the death-knell
 
 THE ORPHAN'S WRONGS. 185 
 
 of some hapless pheasant, or scattering death and de- 
 struction and wofully thinning some unfortunate covey 
 of partridges; and the woods and groves, although 
 they no longer rejoice in the brilliant green foliage of 
 summer, are still not less beautiful ; the mellow, many- 
 colored tints of their foliage, promiscuously ming- 
 led, render their appearance even more picturesque ; 
 for, as yet the leaves have not begun to fall, and the 
 air though fresh and bracing at morn and eve, is still 
 balmy and odorous with the perfume of autumn flowers. 
 It is not yet winter; though occasionally, just after 
 nightfall, the melancholy, mournful " sough'' borne on 
 the breeze, impresses those who chance to be abroad 
 with the idea that even now nature is sighing over the 
 decay which awaits her handiworks ere many more weeks 
 have passed by. The sunsets at this season of the year 
 possess features of extraordinary beauty. Scarcely do 
 the woods and copses, when the bright rays of the sun 
 are resting upon the foliage during the morning or noon 
 of day, produce a more brilliant display of varied tints 
 than do the clouds of the western sky, ere the bright 
 luminary has yet descended beneath the horizon, and 
 at these times all nature assumes an aspect of delicious 
 repose. 
 
 It is the close of one of these autumnal days ; groups 
 of sportsmen are returning home, after a day spent in 
 healthful but fatiguing exercise, to the numerous man- 
 sions of the noblemen and gentry of the country which 
 can be discerned peeping out from amidst the forest of rich 
 well trained shrubbery amidst which, at a distance, they 
 seem to be imbedded. Situated upon an eminence is 
 one of prouder pretensions than the rest ; the stranger 
 points to it and asks who owns that massive pile of cas- 
 tellated building ? He is told that it " is Alton Castle, 
 the baronial residence of the Earl of Shropshire." A 
 flag waves over the loftiest turret, emblazoned with the 
 shield and crest of the noble owner of the castle, a signal 
 that he and his family are now residing there. Let us 
 approach nearer ; Alton Castle is worthy of a closer in-
 
 136 THE LAWYER'S STORY; OR, 
 
 spection. It is one of the very few baronial residences 
 of England in which the pomp and ceremony of feudal 
 times is still maintained on great occasions. It is but 
 a fancy on the part of the earl ; for the chivalry of 
 those days has forever departed, and with it has fled 
 the former power of the barons of England. We see 
 that around the castle is a rampart from which can be 
 obtained a glorious view of the surrounding country. 
 This rampart is encircled by a moat, crossed by a draw- 
 bridge. The bridge is down now and the moat is dry, 
 its bottom filled with earth and planted with flowers ; 
 but two or three centuries ago for it is an ancient and 
 venerable pile and even in later days, that wide moat 
 was filled with water, and when the drawbridge was 
 raised, was impassable ; while from the rampart, upon 
 which cannon can still be seen, deadly destruction could 
 be dealt by the knights and wardens, and seneschals 
 within, upon the foe who should dare to attempt an en- 
 trance into that stately fortress. In the rear, a chapel 
 can be seen surrounded with a golden cross, for the Earl 
 of Shropshire is one of the few among England's proud- 
 est nobles who maintain the Catholic faith, and who still 
 retain a confessor within the walls of their castles. I 
 have said the ceremonies of feudal times are still main- 
 tained ; this is when the earl has visitors, or when he 
 entertains a large party at his castle ; then, on their 
 approach, the drawbridge is raised: a herald from 
 without summons, by sounding the horn which hangs 
 suspended from the outer gate, the warden of the castle 
 who announces the arrival of distinguished guasts to 
 claim his lord's hospitality. The warden appears at 
 the summons, (both he and the herald being dressed in 
 complete armor,) and after hearing the message, he in- 
 forms his lord, who forthwith comes to meet his guests ; 
 the drawbridge is lowered at his order, and the cavalcade 
 passes over, and is welcomed to the castle. It is an 
 idle parade, but it is worth seeing once, if only to give 
 an idea of the habits and manners of olden times. 
 Around the castle for miles, extend the parks and
 
 THE ORPHAN'S WRONGS. 137 
 
 woods, and preserves attached to it, for Alton Castle is 
 one of the finest specimens of the magnificence of the 
 country seats of the wealthy English nobles. 
 
 Let us peep inside and see what is there going for- 
 ward. Near a window, in a spacious apartment, su- 
 perbly furnished, the walls covered with fresco paintings, 
 and with mirrors, but which looks sombre and gloomy 
 from the massive, antique appearance of the furniture, 
 and the glossy darkness of the wood- work, which has be- 
 come almost black with age, is seated a lady, gazing in- 
 tently towards the golden sunset, for the window looks 
 to the westward. In the dim light, she yet might pass 
 for a young woman, although in reality she has attained 
 the full meridian of middle age, for her form is yet slen- 
 der and elegant, her features eminently handsome, her 
 complexion fair, and her brow without a wrinkle. 
 
 When she smiles, she might, perhaps, still look young, 
 even in the blaze of day, or the glare of gas-light ; but 
 there is a melancholy, seemingly imprinted upon her 
 features, which is painful to the observer to witness, for 
 it tells plainly that heartfelt anxiety must have been at 
 work for years long weary years ere the sad expres- 
 sion could have become so indelibly engraved there. 
 The lady is plainly attired, for even she finds relief in 
 casting aside for a season, the glitter and gewgaw of 
 fashion she has been compelled to endure in London. 
 
 She sits in deep thought until the gray shades of even- 
 ing have covered the landscape, and now she rises from 
 her seat, and ringing a bell, desires a footman who en 
 ters, to draw the curtains, and light the chandelier. In 
 a few moments more, the lately dark room is brilliantly 
 lighted up by the flame from a host of wax candles. 
 
 '^[s the earl within, John ?" enquires the lady. 
 
 ^Ycs, my lady, he is in his study where he retired 
 after dinner, and desired me not to disturb him until ten 
 o'clock." 
 
 " That will do, John. You can retire, and tell An- 
 nette, I wish to be alone to-night. If I want her, I will 
 summon her myself." The footman withdrew. " And
 
 138 THE LAWTEE'S STORY; OR, 
 
 so, one more London season is over ; when oh, when, 
 will this dreary round of existence have an end ?" soli- 
 loquized the lady when she was again left alone in the 
 apartment. " People say I am heartless insensible to 
 the finer feelings of nature a mere creature of fashion, 
 whose life has been devoted to her idolatrous worship. 
 True, they know not that / have heard this. Oh, no. 
 No one would dare tell the truth to the wealthy heiress 
 of Alton. I am flattered to my face, I have been so 
 from a child, and while my heart has ever yearned for 
 a friend, I have found none : but, have I not heard this 
 in secret whispers, when no one knew I was by ? could 
 years have passed and I not have seen that sentiment 
 regarding me, impressed in the countenance of every 
 one with whom I have come in contact, and most of all 
 on the features of those who sought to hide it beneath 
 their noisome flattery. Perhaps many people envy me ; 
 they know that I am possessed of wealth ; they see me 
 still flattered and admired, although my youth has long 
 since fled, if, indeed, I ever knew what youth was. The 
 peasant girl whom I lately watched from the window 
 of this room, is happier than I, for she has some one 
 to love her some one whom she can love. Would to 
 God, I could change places with her, only I should be 
 unwilling that any human heart should be compelled 
 to endure my splendid misery. 'I have never loved 
 my bosom is too cold to entertain the passion,' say 
 they. Little do those who speak thus, know how fondly 
 I once loved. So fondly so deeply, that as I then 
 loved, I never can love again. Herbert, I am told, died 
 in foreign lands, and in poverty. If it be so, I will 
 not dare not carry my resentment into the sanctity of 
 the grave ; but how, once, I loved, and how since tj^n, 
 have I hated him ! and yet, I scarce can call it hate, for 
 I have worn, and still shall wear, his miniature in my 
 bosom. When I heard that he was married and mar- 
 ried to one far inferior to me in wealth, and even in per- 
 sonal attractions ; but, as people whispered, (and such 
 whispers are always heard by those to whom they refer),
 
 THE ORPHAN'S WRONGS. 139 
 
 my superior in amiability of disposition, and those 
 thousand attractions which render a husband happy, I 
 laughed in derision, while my heart wept tears of bitter 
 sorrow ; for had I married Herbert, I should have de- 
 voted my life to render him happy. 
 
 " 1 would have cast the miniature from me when the 
 news fell like a thunderbolt upon my ear, for it was then 
 that my love was turned to hate ; but even then, I could 
 not do that. The miniature was a gage (V amour, 
 given me in exchange for mine, when we were both 
 children of fourteen or fifteen years on the occasion of 
 Herbert's having first been brought, by my father, on a 
 visit to Alton Castle, and before I had foolishly sought 
 to play the coquette with him, or his love for me had be- 
 . gun to fade away. When I took the miniature in my 
 hand, with the intention of dashing it to the ground, the 
 laughing eyes of the boy seemed to meet mine, and to 
 gaze at me, as if instinct with life. I could not make the 
 sacrifice, and I excused my weakness by the sophistical 
 argument, that the miniature was not that of Herbert 
 the lover who had spurned me: but of Herbert the 
 happy, laughing boy-lover of my own girlhood. And 
 yet it was rny own fault that Herbert forsook me. I 
 had been so schooled to treat every one with caprice, 
 that when we were a year or two older, and Herbert 
 began to talk more earnestly of the aifection he bore 
 me, I listened and laughed in his face, and one day told 
 him never to mention the subject again. That evening 
 I shunned him, though I saw he sought again to speak 
 to me, and, in his hearing, I purposely made some caus- 
 tic remark, respecting him to a frivolous fop who stood 
 near me. I cast a furtive glance at his features as I 
 spoke, and saw his lips quiver and his cheek turn pale. 
 t rejoiced at the power I had over him, little thinking 
 that, in the moment of my fancied triumph, he was 
 wrenching my image from his heart ; little dreaming 
 then, that he was as proud as I. I was told that he had 
 said that an icicle could as soon be kindled into a flame, 
 as love could be kindled in the heart of lady Mary
 
 140 THE LAWYER'S STORY; OR, 
 
 Alton : that lie often used a similar expression, and I 
 smiled to think how soon by a few kind words and ten- 
 der glances I could bring the utterer of such heresy again 
 a suppliant at my feet. I had my father's sanction for 
 my marriage. Everything seemed to favor me ; but, 
 alas ! I found that I had gone too far ; had touched the 
 heart's chords with too rude a hand, and now, I, in turn, 
 was treated with a cold civility, worse to bear than 
 scorn. 
 
 " From that hour I have never loved as I did before ; 
 although my heart has ever felt felt the void that needed 
 filling. I have had suitors in abundance, who sought 
 me for my wealth and station. I knew none sought me 
 for my love; for the tale had gone abroad that I was a 
 heartless coquette, and the world was too ready to be- 
 lieve it true ; and / too proud to undeceive it. My 
 early faulty education in Italy had made me assume that 
 character; the falsehood of the world and my own pride 
 sustained me in it, while my heart was ever yearning to 
 cast it aside. And so years have passed away ; my father 
 was too engrossed in affairs of state to care whether or 
 not I married, or how I acted ; so that my conduct was 
 marked by the dignity that became his daughter. I have 
 well sustained that dignity, truly ! sustained it at the 
 cost of my own peace of mind, forever. Unhappily for 
 me, my mother I never knew, or I might have been dif- 
 ferently educated and now, perhaps, a happy wife and 
 mother, instead of a wretched, withered old maid. ' Old 
 Maid !' why should I shrink from that term ? Let me 
 see how bravely I bear my years. Surely, it is time now 
 that I should know myself aright. I have no blazing 
 jewels upon me now to give a false dazzle to my appear- 
 ance. Let me for once be an impartial judge, and jury 
 too, convened to pass sentence upon my own fading 
 beauty ;" and, as she spoke, she took a candlestick in her 
 hand and stepped close to a full length mirror, where, 
 for the space of some minutes she surveyed herself at- 
 tentively: "It is well," she said, "Nature has been 
 bountiful to me. There is not not yet a silver thread
 
 THE ORPHAN'S WRONGS. 141 
 
 amongst this raven hair, and scarcely a wrinkle on my 
 cheek or forehead. I might yet' deceive the world ; but, 
 can I deceive myself? and how long will this still youth 
 ful aspect remain ? The failings of age will only be 
 more manifest when at last they come, and they must 
 come in a few years more at furthest. 
 
 " Why, then, should I longer undergo this torture ? 
 Why not fulfil the desire of my heart for some years 
 past, and by retiring to the convent in Italy over which 
 my father's sister presides, forever bid farewell to the 
 stale vanities of the world ? Why not ? Because my 
 father now bids me prepare to marry Henry Fitzherbert, 
 to carry out a purpose, the object of which I have par- 
 tially divined. To marry a roue, and a fool, to suit his 
 purposes and my father's, without being consulted in the 
 matter a mere piece of merchandize which, probably, 
 the purchaser would willingly refuse; but which the 
 vender insists upon his accepting in order to seal the 
 bargain. 
 
 "And has it come to this at last? The prouc], 
 haughty, Lady Mary Alton, the belle amongst the ultra 
 aristocratic belles of England, whose smile was once the 
 envy of scores of rival cavaliers reduced beneath the 
 estimated value of the cattle on her father's farm. Be it 
 so, then ; I am sick of the world, weary of life, and care- 
 less of the future. I have heard too, though secretly, 
 that wrong has been effected ; that Herbert should not 
 have died poor and friendless on foreign soil, and that he 
 has left children who are heirs to property that is with- 
 held from them. Am I to be made a party to this 
 fraud? God knows my brain is racked till I have 
 cause to dread that reason may desert me. I will try a 
 little music; it may temporarily banish these sombre 
 thoughts." 
 
 She approached the piano forte and played a few 
 notes, but her fingers soon stayed their activity, and for 
 some time she sat at the piano apparently in a deep re- 
 verie. She then rose and touched the bell. 
 
 The footman entered, and asked :
 
 142 THE LAWYER'S STORY; OR, 
 
 " Did you ring, my lady ?" 
 
 " Yes, John ; has Father Anselmo yet retired to rest ? 
 Have the goodness to inquire, and desire Annette to at- 
 tend me." 
 
 The servant returned and said that Father Anselmo 
 was reading in his own study. 
 
 "Very well, John; that will do. Oh, here is An- 
 nette. Annette," she continued, speaking in Italian, "I 
 have always reposed full confidence in you. The world, 
 besides, may have misunderstood my feelings ; but I 
 believe you know me too well to do so, willingly, at 
 least. I have been strangely low-spirited to-night, and 
 I am desirous of seeing Father Anselmo immediately. 
 Step up to his room and ask him if he will oblige me 
 by meeting me for a few moments at the altar in the 
 chapel." 
 
 The lady's maid went with the message to the chap- 
 lain's room, and Lady Mary appeared anxiously to 
 await her return. 
 
 t "I must make a full confession to-night," she mur- 
 mured. " Father Anselmo, I hope, will not refuse my 
 somewhat untimely request." 
 
 Annette returned and said Father Anselmo had 
 already gone to the chapel, and awaited her lad y. 
 
 " Then, Annette, stay you here. It is nearly ten 
 o'clock, and my father, before he retires for the night, 
 will be sure to visit me. I shall not be many minutes 
 absent; but, should he come in before I return, make 
 some excuse for me, and say I will be back immediately." 
 
 So saying, she left the room, and the echo of her 
 light footsteps was heard by the rather astonished An- 
 nette, treading the vaulted galleries which led to the 
 chapel. The maid listened until she heard the chapel 
 door gently close, and then took her seat near a table 
 and commenced reading an Italian book. 
 
 In a few minutes the earl entered. 
 
 " Where is your lady, Annette ?" said he. 
 
 Annette was too well trained to exhibit the least con- 
 fusion, although she was very strangely concerned at
 
 THE ORPHAN'S WRONGS. 143 
 
 the mysterious behavior of her lady. She answered, 
 "Lady Mary has but a few minutes ago quitted the 
 room, my lord, and she desired me to tell your lordship, 
 should you ask for her, that she would return in a few 
 minutes," and she rose up from her seat as the earl took 
 a chair. 
 
 "Sit still, Annette, sit still," said the earl. "You 
 had better wait until Lady Mary returns ; she may re- 
 quire your services. I will also wait for her, for I wish 
 particularly to speak to her to-night, before I retire to 
 rest." 
 
 The earl in his turn took up a book and sat listlessly 
 turning over the leaves, while he waited his daughter > 
 return. 
 
 CHAPTER XII. 
 
 Lady Mary in the chapel of the Castle An interview with 
 the confessor, Father Anselmo Good advice in a matter 
 of extreme difficulty A Parent's displeasure. 
 
 WE will follow Lady Mary Alton as she quitted her 
 apartment to meet Father Anselmo in the chapel of the 
 castle. She passed slowly along a narrow gallery, from 
 the vaulted roof of which depended several lighted 
 chandeliers, diffusing a mellow light over the place, it is 
 true ; but rather adding to than relieving the solemity 
 of its appearance. On either side of this gallery hung 
 the portraits of the ancestors of the Earl of Shropshire, 
 from the date of the first Henry, when the family had 
 emigrated from France into England. Grim, mail-clad 
 warriors were they in those early days. Knights, whose 
 fortune was their swords ; whose boast, their valiant 
 deeds of arms ; whose pride, that for centuries, even ien, 
 their swords had carved the road to honor and renown 
 through many a bloody and hard fought field, in which 
 the "falcon," its beak dripping blood, as though in the
 
 144 THE LAWYER'S STORY; OR, 
 
 act of tearing its prey, (the crest of the Knights of de 
 Altoun, subsequently Anglesized into Alton,) emblazoned 
 upon the banners borne by the family retainers, had 
 ever been prominent in the battle-field, and foremost 
 where the fight most furiously raged. Then ranged in 
 order of antiquity, came the stern, uncompromising 
 statesmen of the reign of the "Eighth Harry" and of 
 Elizabeth those statesmen who did so much to ren 
 der the name of their country famous, and who were 
 the real creators of the glory of the reign of the "Virgin 
 Queen." Among these was the portrait of the first Lord 
 Alton, stern and uncompromising in aspect ; one whom, 
 to judge from his portrait, few would have chosen to 
 tamper with. After these followed in succession the 
 haughty, princely cavaliers of the reign of James and of 
 Charles the First ; the prim, peruked courtiers of the 
 time of Charles the Second, gradually sobering down 
 through the periods of James the Second, William and 
 Mary, Ann and the Georges, until the eye rested on the 
 portrait of the present proud earl, and still through the 
 whole range of portraits, embracing a period of seven 
 centuries or twenty-one generations, might be traced a 
 family likeness, not from similarity of feature or of form, 
 but from the stern, haughty expression that shone in the 
 countenance of the mailed warrior of the twelfth century, 
 and was reflected in the features of the living representa- 
 tive of the race. 
 
 And along this gloomy gallery, between the portraits 
 of her ancestors, softly trode the last daughter of the 
 race she in whose person it was probably doomed to 
 become lineally extinct ; for she was no youthful maiden 
 who was likely to marry one who, for the sake of the 
 honor, would take her name, and who would bear future 
 heirs to inherit the title and the fortune of Alton ; but 
 one who, though still beautiful, was already past the me- 
 ridian of life, and who, as she gazed almost fearfully at 
 the grim portraits as she passed along, could not but feel 
 that after her death the family title, though it might not
 
 THE ORPHAN'S WRONGS. 145 
 
 become de facto extinct, would in all probability pass into 
 the possession of a distant branch of the family. 
 
 "I can conceive," she thought, " how it is that my 
 father has cared so little for me. He wanted a male heir 
 to his title and fortune. Oh, if I had but had a brother ! 
 my life might have been a happier one." 
 
 She reached the door of the chapel and opened it unob- 
 served, for the chaplain was kneeling in silent prayer or in 
 devout contemplation before the altar at the further end. 
 The chapel, small as it was, was but dimly lighted by the 
 pair of wax candles which burned, night and day upon 
 the altar, and the scene was calculated to impress the 
 mind with a sombre melancholy as the eye gazed upon 
 the dark, antique and solemn adornments of the chapel, 
 the painted glass windows; and the massive paintings, 
 depicting religious subjects and the sufferings of martyrs 
 to the holy faith in the days of the persecution of the 
 early Christians, which covered the Walls. The aspect 
 of the. .chapel was eminently calculated to impress the 
 imagination with religious feelings; but it was more 
 likely to be that of a gloomy and despairing, than of a 
 cheerful and hopeful character. 
 
 Softly did Lady Mary step to the spot where knelt the 
 reverend father. He appeared not to have heard her 
 footsteps, and for some minutes she stood silently beside 
 him, unwilling to disturb his meditations. 
 
 It was a picture for a painter the dimly lighted, 
 gloomy chapel, the elaborately ornamented marble altar 
 on which the rays of the candles fell, and by the bright 
 contrast increased the solemn, cheerless aspect of the 
 place the priest, a tall man of slender, even attenuated 
 frame, whose features betrayed that, though living in the 
 abode of wealth and luxury, his life had been one of 
 severe mortification of the flesh the lady, youthful seem- 
 ing in that light, and, in comparison with the aged father, 
 her plain white evening dress and luxuriant, dark hair, 
 contrasting vividly with the dark sacerdotal robes which 
 the chaplain constantly wore, and with the fringe of 
 white hair which encircled his head, the crown of which 
 
 7
 
 146 THE LAWYER'S STORY; OR, 
 
 was shaven all these contrasts presented a striking 
 tableau. She might have appeared to a painter's eye as 
 a maiden wearied of the vanities of the world, who had 
 come at last to seek for comfort in religion, or his ima- 
 gination might have chosen another theme for the pic- 
 ture ; she might have been represented as an angel of 
 mercy sent by heaven to respond to the prayers of a re- 
 ligious devotee. 
 
 At length Father Anselmo rose from his kneeling 
 posture, and he saw Lady Mary standing beside him. 
 
 " Pardon me, father," she said ; " I should not have 
 intruded had I thought you were engaged. I sent An- 
 nette to ask if you were disengaged, and she said you 
 would await me here." 
 
 "It is well, my daughter. I received the message 
 from Annette as I was about to come hither to pay 
 my evening devotions, and said I would meet you here ; 
 but not finding you, I had forgotten the appointment, 
 and commenced my prayers." 
 
 " Let me not interrupt you, father; another time will, 
 perhaps, suit as well." 
 
 " My daughter, when the mind is ill at ease, there is 
 no time like the present to seek for comfort where it 
 can alone be found in the consolations of religion. 
 Heed not me. It is my duty, at all seasons and at 
 all hours, to minister to the distressed in mind to 
 give my humble advice to all who seek it, and more 
 especially to the members of your noble and honored 
 father's family. In so doing, I am best serving Him 
 to whose service my life is devoted. 1 heed not your 
 interruption, and the late hour to me is little object. 
 Here in this chapel I frequently keep the midnight vigil 
 aye, until cock-crow betrays the dawn of day, while 
 all others in the castle are wrapped in slumber. Say 
 then, daughter of my noble earthly patron, what calls 
 you here in this late watch of the night to seek the com- 
 pany of Father Anselmo ? I fear that the presence of 
 some unwonted difficulty must weigh heavily upon your 
 mind. Speak freely and fearlessly. In me you have a 

 
 THE ORPHAN'S WRONGS. 147 
 
 spiritual father, whose heart yearns to you as kindly as 
 can that of your earthly parent." 
 
 " It is not much, father, that I have to tell, and for- 
 give me for saying, that I know not whether you can 
 relieve my mind from its present trouble ; nay, I know 
 not -whether I ought to divulge the secret I am about to 
 whisper into your ear. You will tell rne it is the duty 
 of a child to obey the behests of her parent in all earthly 
 matters, and think my confession unwise, uncalled for, 
 perhaps unmaidenly." 
 
 " Nay, speak out, my daughter, and relieve your 
 mind of its trouble; far be it from a poor erring mortal 
 like me to adjudge blame where the intention is good. 
 Tell me your sorrows, and rest assured that I will advise 
 that which in my own poor judgment I think is the best 
 course for you to pursue to gain relief." 
 
 " Father Anselmo," said Lady Mary, in a low voice, 
 the tone of which told as much of child-like confidence 
 and daughterly affection as it did of reverence, " you 
 alone of all earthly beings know of the wretchedness 
 which has filled my heart, almost as long as I can re- 
 collect. In the sacredness and secrecy of the confes- 
 sional, I have disclosed to you that which has been hid- 
 den from all the world besides of which my father is 
 ignorant. You" she continued, looking earnestly and 
 interrogatively in the face of the priest "you have not 
 thought me the cold, heartless creature, the world has 
 given me the credit of being." 
 
 "No, my daughter, I have not; I have known your 
 sorrows, and even as a father have I wept over them. 
 I have besought you to seek grace to curb that pride of 
 character which you have inherited from your ancestors, 
 and which was the first cause of all your troubles ; but 
 \fith all this I have known and felt your kindness of 
 heart. My daughter, that pride is your besetting sin ; 
 you should seek to purge it from you ; and yet 1 know 
 how difficult it is, and can make allowances for it ; in all 
 else you have achieved all that I have sought in my 
 prayers for your soul's welfare."
 
 148 THE LAWYER'S STORY; OR, 
 
 "Then, father," continued Lady Mary, in a firmer 
 voice, " I need not tell you now, that for some years 
 past, even when compelled against my will to figure 
 amidst the fashionable frivolities of London life, it has 
 been my earnest desire to pass the remainder of my 
 days in the convent over which my aunt is abbess, 
 and where many years ago, when a mere child, I whis- 
 pered my earliest innocent confessions in your ears. Of 
 late, the desire has grown upon me more and more ; for, 
 as I grow in years, I perceive more clearly the vanity 
 of earthly pleasures perhaps, had matters turned out 
 otherwise you know, father, to what I now allude I 
 should have entertained other ideas ; but, let me put 
 aside these painful reminiscences. A short time since I 
 spoke to my father, when I thought him in a kinder 
 mood than usual, respecting those desires with which 
 you have been long acquainted. He listened in sur- 
 prise and was for some moments silent. At length he 
 spoke, and his words were expressed in more gentle 
 tones than I have been accustomed to hear from him ; 
 for although seldom harsh, his manner towards me 
 has more resembled that which he might assume to a 
 stranger, than to his only child distant coldly respect- 
 ful. Father Anselmo, 1 could better have brooked oc- 
 casional bursts of anger from a father's lips, if some- 
 times I had experienced the paternal affection my heart 
 has so ardently panted for. 'Mary,' he said, 'you pain 
 me greatly by this avowal. I have other views for 
 you. 1 have long wished that the estates of Alton 
 and those, at one time, supposed to belong to my un- 
 grateful ward, Herbert Fitzherbert should be united. 
 The property supposed to have been his, rightly belongs 
 to Lord Henry Fitzherbert his half-brother. Such will 
 shortly be legally proved to be the case. Lord Henry 
 Fitzherbert has sought your hand, and I have promised 
 to use my influence to further his views. The dearest 
 object of my heart will then be realized ; and you, will 
 not you accede to the only earnest request your father 
 has ever made to you?'
 
 THE ORPHAN'S WRONGS. 1-19 
 
 " You may imagine, father, how my heart sank within 
 me, while I listened to these words. Had my father 
 been dignified and cold as usual, I should have promptly 
 refused to have anything to do in the matter; but, 
 somehow or other I have been so unaccustomed to hear 
 him speak in a kindly tone of voice that I could not ex- 
 press my feelings. A mist seemed to surround me as 
 he stooped and placing his arm round my neck, kissed 
 my cheek. One of the empty, aching voids in my heart 
 seemed to be filling up, as I drank in the tones of pa- 
 ternal affection,' and I leant my head upon his shoulder, 
 and wept the first tears I have shed for many a day. 
 He sought to soothe rne and left me, apparently in 
 the belief that I had dutifully acceded to his views. 
 Since then, he has made a point of visiting rne every 
 evening, before I retire to my chamber, and his man- 
 ner has become almost affectionate. He thinks I am 
 willing to wed Lord Henry, while I loathe and detest 
 him these are strong words, father, perhaps sinful ones; 
 but, you know not Henry's character: imbecile, sloth- 
 ful ; he is a stranger to any noble sentiment a de- 
 bauchee and a roue ; but, with all this, too inert to be- 
 come even a thorough villain. To him I am to be 
 made a sacrifice, as it is thought willingly ; for, I have 
 never had the heart to undeceive my father. If this 
 were all, I might submit to this, even though unwil- 
 lingly, in my yearning for paternal love ; but, about 
 three weeks since an anonymous letter was placed in my 
 hands which informed me that my father was sacrificing 
 my happiness to his desire for aggrandizement ; that 
 Lord Fitzherbcrt was to take our family name on the 
 event of his marriage, and that the marriage was not to 
 take place unless which was still doubtful the estates 
 which were once supposed to be Herbert's, fell into his 
 hands ; thus, I was to be sold a mere necessary attach- 
 ment to the property in dispute. How my soul sick- 
 ened at the thought! But this was not all. The letter 
 further informed rne that poor Herbert had children 
 living in the United States, who were in a condition of
 
 150 THE LAWYER'S STORY; OR, 
 
 poverty, and were undergoing persecution on account of 
 this property, which really had belonged to Herbert, 
 and, of course, now rightfully belongs to his children. 
 Father, if this be true, can I become a party to this foul 
 wrong? can I submit myself to the life of wretchedness 
 I am called upon to suffer for this? For a worthy pur- 
 pose I might do so ; but to aid in wronging the children 
 of the man I once loved never never. His accusing 
 spirit would haunt me in my dreams. I should be driven 
 to madness. 'Nay, worse; I should not only bid fare- 
 well to earthly happiness, which, indeed, I have known 
 but little the value of, but I should peril, nay, utterly 
 cast away my hopes of future salvation. Father, what 
 what would you advise rne to do?" 
 
 Father Anseimo had listened at first with the atten- 
 tion he was accustomed to give to one whose religious 
 instructor he had been, almost from her earliest child- 
 hood, but as she proceeded, that attention assumed an 
 expression of powerful interest, and when Lady Mary 
 ceased speaking, he stood for some moments silent and 
 apparently absorbed in thought. At length he said : 
 
 " How can you be assured that a letter, the contents 
 of which are of such a terrible nature, is worthy of 
 credit. Perhaps, my daughter, it is a shameful and dis- 
 graceful forgery." 
 
 " Would to Heaven I could believe it to be so," re- 
 plied Lady Mary. " Even at the cost of marriage to 
 one I loathe and despise, I could wish that 1 could 
 believe my father innocent of any participation in such 
 a scheme as this. But, Father Anseimo, the letter bears 
 the Italian post mark; it is written in that language, and 
 is dated from the convent where I was educated, and of 
 which your father was then the confessor. Its tone is 
 earnest, and bears the impress of truth; and I have an 
 indistinct recollection of the handwriting as being that 
 of one whom I knew, and received instruction from, in 
 my youth. Oh! that I could disbelieve it. I have 
 sought to do so, but I cannot I cannot. Father, I 
 shall not be doing wron* in showing it to you, in tho
 
 THE ORPHAN'S WRONGS. 151 
 
 light of an adviser in this painful matter. You will not 
 betray me ; and perhaps your recollection may aid me in 
 tracing my impressions as to the writer's name." 
 
 Thus speaking, she placed in the hands of the chaplain 
 a letter, bearing a foreign post mark, and written in a 
 delicate female hand. 
 
 Father Anselmo received the letter from her, and pe- 
 rused it attentively, his features, meanwhile, assuming an 
 expression of mingled anxiety, pain and grief, while Lady 
 Mary watched him with intense eagerness. 
 
 He finished reading, and deliberately folded the letter, 
 and handed it back to its owner, without speaking. 
 
 " It is then as I conjectured and dreaded?" said Lady 
 Mary. 
 
 " It is from sister Maria," was the sad response of the 
 priest. 
 
 Both remained for some moments absorbed in painful 
 thought. At length Lady Mary spoke: 
 
 " What would you have me to do?" she asked. 
 
 " My daughter," said the priest, his voice trembling 
 with emotion ; " painfully painfully and sorely are you 
 tried. The dictates of my Order would bid me say to 
 you obey the will of your father in all things, as they 
 would bid me obey, unquestioned, the will of my supe- 
 riors in_the Holy Church ; but I can scarcely advise you 
 thus. Go, my daughter, to your father ; tell him that 
 you cannot marry Lord Fitzherbert ; beseech him to 
 withdraw his importunities to that purpose to alter his 
 intentions. Speak to him as a child would speak to a 
 parent whom she loved, and whom she knew loved her 
 speak as you have spoken, when a girl, you asked in 
 girlish earnestness, for some trifling favor. I have 
 known such tones touch a parent's heart when a more 
 determined and more obstinate display of feeling has 
 utterly failed. As yet say nothing of the letter or of the 
 disclosures therein made. Go, my daughter," he con- 
 tinued, placing his trembling hand upon her head, "and 
 my blessing be with you, and I will meanwhile pray 
 earnestly to Heaven that you may be successful. Let
 
 152 THE LAWYEll'S STORY; OR. 
 
 me know the result to-morrow; if you are successful, we 
 will give thanks together to Heaven ; if not then then 
 I will meditate and pray for advice how to act. This 
 deadly sin I cannot allow you to commit. Go, my 
 daughter go, and the blessing of an old man, and the 
 more potent blessing of Heaven go with you." Lady 
 Mary quitted the chapel, and Father Anselmo resumed 
 his devotions. 
 
 Having endeavored to assume as calm an aspect and 
 deportment as possible, the former entered her own sitting 
 room, where, as she expected, she found her father and 
 Annette awaiting her return. 
 
 The earl was about to speak, but his daughter was 
 before-hand with him. 
 
 " Annette," she said, " you can await me in my bed- 
 chamber. I wish to speak with my father before I re- 
 tire for the night." 
 
 And as soon as the lady's maid had quitted the room, 
 she drew a stool beside the chair in which the earl was 
 seated, and seating herself upon it, she took one of his 
 hands in hers, at the same time saying : 
 
 " Dear papa, I have long wished to speak with you 
 privately upon a matter which nearly interests rne. May 
 I do so now ?" 
 
 For many years Lady Mary had not called her father 
 by the fond appellation of ''papa," and the almost child- 
 like posture she had assumed, the gentle pressure of her 
 hand, and the unwonted sound of the word, " papa," 
 almost overpowered the partly natural and now habitual 
 stoicism of the old earl. Old associations rushed to his 
 recollection, and it was with difficulty he could conceal 
 his emotion. 
 
 " Speak, Mary ; what is it you would ask of rne ?" 
 
 " Papa," continued Lady Mary, " I should have told 
 you before ; but from day to day I have put off the dis- 
 tressing moment. I was unwilling to pain or offend 
 you, but, indeed, I cannot marry Lord Henry Fitzher- 
 bert." The earl withdrew his hand from his daughter's 
 grasp. " I fear that my silence on this matter has led
 
 THE ORPHAN'S WRONGS. 163 
 
 you to believe that I was willing to agree to your pro- 
 posals regarding him ; but it is necessary that I should 
 explain my feelings before it is too late. I asked per- 
 mission, some time since, to retire to the convent where- 
 in I was educated ; this desire I am willing to forego. 1 
 will devote rny life to your care. I will watch over 
 your declining years. I will be all that a daughter can 
 be to a beloved parent ; but, dear papa, again I say, I 
 cannot consent to an union with one whom I cannot 
 love." 
 
 She ceased speaking, and anxiously and tremblingly 
 awaited her father's reply. 
 
 The earl was for some moments almost choked with 
 passion ; but with great exertion he managed to control 
 his indignation, as he replied : 
 
 "How is this, Mary ? What strange whim is this? 
 Have you not, if not verbally, at least tacitly, given 
 your consent to rny wishes ? Does not Fitzherbert him- 
 self believe this to be the case ? What has put this no- 
 tion into your head? You are surely joking? Speak, 
 girl, what is it you mean ?" 
 
 " Papa, I am not joking. I mean what I say. I am 
 in no mood now to joke on so serious a subject. As to 
 Fitzherbert, he cares not for me or my love. He is heart- 
 less, worthless, contemptible as unworthy to be your 
 son, as he is to be my husband. Father, withdraw your 
 demands as regards this union. We can be happy in 
 each other's society. Believe me, I have long ginen up 
 all thoughts of marriage." 
 
 "Is this your deliberate and earnest determination, 
 Lady Mary?" said the earl, his indignation obtaining the 
 mastery over him. 
 
 " Father, it is." 
 
 " Then, you would thwart my wishes now; as you 
 thwarted them years ago by your pride and caprice, when 
 J wished you to marry the boy Herbert. I have nour- 
 ished a viper in my bosom, and now in my old age it 
 would turn and sting me. Hear me, girl," continued 
 the Earl, rising from his chair ; " this is some puling 
 
 7*
 
 154 THE LAWYER'S STORY; OR, 
 
 conceit that a night's rest and a little reflection will cure, 
 It was upon this very subject I wished to speak with 
 you. to-night, and for this purpose I waited while you 
 were so long absent from your room. I will give you 
 till this day week to decide, and then I hope to learn 
 3 r ou have changed your mind. If not, a father's curse 
 will await you. Hear me, girl, a father's curse. Nay, 
 nay," he added, as he saw his daughter was about to re- 
 ply "not now. I will hear no more to-night;" and he 
 hastily quitted the room. 
 
 Lady Mary remained for some moments in the attitude 
 she had stood in as she listened to her lather's bitter 
 words. She then sank into a chair, and gave vent to 
 her feelings in a flood of tears. 
 
 " A father's curse," she murmured. "Horrible hor- 
 rible ; but better even an earthly parent's curse, than to 
 bear throughout eternity the curse of God." 
 
 Gradually she resumed some degree of composure, and 
 as she rested her aching head on her arm, she fell into a 
 fit of musing. Her life from girlhood passed in review 
 before her. She was again the happy child, sporting 
 beneath the cloudless Italian sky. Again she was re- 
 joicing amidst the groves and gardens of Alton Castle, 
 happy in the love of her boy lover. From this blissful 
 vision she awoke to a sense of the pent-up sorrows of 
 her woman's life, and her present painful situation, and 
 again she wept bitterly. 
 
 The midnight hour had long tolled, and still the eyes 
 of Lady Mary were red with weeping. There is a gentle 
 tap at the door, and the lady's maid enters the room. 
 
 " Pardon me, my lady," she said in Italian, " for this 
 intrusion. It is late, very late, and I feared you were 
 ill." 
 
 " No, good Annette," said -Lady Mary, forcing a pain- 
 ful smile, " I am well quite well, child. I have been 
 in conversation with my father. I will now go with you 
 up stairs ;" and the two females left the room together.
 
 THE ORPHAN'S WRONGS. 155 
 
 CHAPTER XVI. 
 
 Conversation between a noble Lord and an ignoble Lawyer 
 A re-introduction to the office of the Jew Money-lender in 
 t/ie Minories. 
 
 THE reader has, for some time, lost sight of the two 
 worthies of the legal profession, Gripes and Cheatem, as 
 well as of certain other characters to whom he has been 
 introduced in previous chapters of this narrative. 
 
 A few days after the conversation already recorded as 
 having taken place between the Earl of Shropshire and 
 Mr. Gripes, the latter worthy was again closeted with the 
 earl in a room at his mansion, in Grosvenor-square. A 
 long conversation had evidently taken place between them 
 which was about being brought to a conclusion ; for the 
 earl appeared at length to have made up his mind to a 
 proposition made by Gripes, which had occasioned him 
 no little uneasiness, Gripes thus addressed his lordship 
 
 " There can be no possibility of detection, my lord, for 
 of course no suspicion could be attached to your lord- 
 ship. I shall set Cheatem to work at once, if your lord- 
 ship is agreeable. His person is unknown to any of the 
 parties concerned in this business excepting yourself, 
 Lord Henry Fitzherbert and I. Besides, he is used to 
 disguise himself for the purpose of doing sundry un- 
 pleasant jobs that I am occasionally obliged to set him 
 about, and he must do my bidding. He has discovered 
 that the youth (Adolphus, T believe they call him,) is ac- 
 customed to walk out in Hyde Park almost every fine 
 morning, and he and I have already devised a scheme to 
 lure him into our power, which there is no occasion that 
 your lordship should be at all cognizant of. He, once 
 out of the way, until judgment is given, at all events, if
 
 156 THE LAWYER'S STORY; OR, 
 
 not forever, the parties who favor the case of him and 
 his sister, can give us a little trouble ; although it would 
 perhaps be as well, if we were afterwards to remove the 
 girl. 1 have found out the Yankee lawyer who brought 
 them over ; but there is yet one thing which gives me 
 some uneasiness. It is that there is some London lawyer 
 of distinction in the profession, and who, of course is 
 a very dangerous opponent, assisting in this matter. If 
 we could only discover him, I should feel a great deal 
 more secure. I have hitherto failed in doing so but I 
 shall yet succeed, or my name is not Gripes. My only 
 fear is that he will put the Yankee up to some of the 
 tricks of the trade, in which we might otherwise baffle 
 him, though as for that these fellows from the other side 
 of the Atlantic are pretty 'smart,' as they call it. Is 
 your lordship satisfied ?" 
 
 "There will be no violence used, I hope?" 
 
 " Dear me ; none at all. Indeed I am not sure that it 
 will riot be really beneficial to the young fellow. It will 
 put him in the way of learning how to buffet with the 
 world, and to persons of his condition, this is desirable, 
 arid it will banish the silly notions people have been put- 
 ting into his head. It is only to be lamented that the 
 technicalities of the law rendered it necessary to publish 
 that advertisement in the Philadelphia papers. I had 
 my misgivings from the first about that ; but it was an 
 unavoidable form, which has led to much trouble." 
 
 " And I am to understand that in case of any any 
 you understand me. My name is on no account to ap- 
 pear ?" 
 
 " On no account, my lord ; nor that of Lord Henry ; 
 who, by the way, appears to me to take little interest in 
 the matter. His apathy is really astonishing." 
 
 " Henry is a fool. I am only sorry that no other per- 
 son can possibly supply his place." 
 
 " And Lady Mary Alton, your lordship's daughter, is 
 she agreeable to act according to your lordship's wishes 
 in this regard ?" 
 
 " Mr. bripes, that is a matter in which you. have no
 
 THE ORPHAN'S WRONGS. 157 
 
 business to meddle. Lady Mary Alton is my daughter, 
 sir, and all arrangements regarding her, rest with me 
 alone." 
 
 " I beg your lordship's pardon. Then, I may consider 
 this business settled ?' 
 
 " Yes, sir, and our interview for the present terminated. 
 I wish you good morning." 
 
 Gripes left Grosvenor-square, and turning into the 
 Strand, walked leisurely towards the city. Having 
 reached his own office, he, according to appointment, met 
 his partner, Cheatem, who was awaiting his chief's ar- 
 rival. 
 
 '' Has the earl consented to this scheme of ours ?" 
 said Cheatem, addressing Gripes. 
 
 " Yes, and you had better set about the job as soon as 
 possible say to-morrow morning, and follow it up until 
 you get an opportunity to carry it out ; but be very cir- 
 cumspect." 
 
 " Trust me for that," said Cheatem, with a hideous 
 leer, which he intended for a facetious smile; "but 
 about the cash the sinews of war the ne plus ultra. 
 You understand." 
 
 " Here are twenty pounds to defray the expenses 
 which may be incurred at present, and the remaining 
 eighty pounds will be paid by the earl when his lord- 
 ship has satisfactory assurance that the youth is safe off. 
 I need not remind you that it will be necessary to com- 
 plete the job within a week. It is now the 12th, and 
 on the 20th, the vessels positively sail." 
 
 ' I have no doubt but I shall be able to accomplish 
 it in less time, but it is expensive work for me. My 
 business is going to ruin while I am spending rny time 
 dabbling in this matter." 
 
 "Ha, ha, ha!" laughed Gripes, "That is an excellent 
 joke of yours, Cheatem capital. Your business, eh! 
 Dunning poor wretches for six-and-sixpenny debts. 
 Your business ! Capital, upon my word ! By-the-bye, 
 Cheatem, the earl said a good thing the other day. He 
 could not, or most likely, he would not think of your
 
 158 THE LAWYER'S STORY; OR, 
 
 name. So he gave you a co-partnership. ' That fellow, 
 Clutchem or Cheatern,' said he. ' I have no doubt eithei 
 term is applicable !' Capital joke of his lordship, 
 wasn't it ?" 
 
 Cheatem turned livid with rage, but he controlled his 
 feelings in the presence of Gripes, whom he held in 
 great dread, and without replying, he left the office. 
 When he reached the street, however, he muttered, 
 " Let his lordship take care. I may get him in my 
 clutches yet, and he may find himself most wofully 
 cheated too ; and as to you, Master Gripes, it is your day 
 now, but some day it may be mine, and I may perhaps 
 gripe you in a way that you will not like. Ha-a, how I 
 hate them all. I hate everything and everybody. I should 
 like to trample every one beneath my feet to crush them 
 to ruin them ah-h-h-h," and he crunched his yellow 
 teeth together as a snarling cur would do when, in cow- 
 ardly, impotent, senseless rage, it seeks a spot wherein 
 to fix its fangs, unperceived by the person it would 
 attack. 
 
 Leaving these conspirators against poor Adolphus to 
 work out their treacherous plans as best they may, I 
 will speak of some of the other characters with whom 
 the reader is acquainted. 
 
 Lord Henry Fitzherbert was at this period following 
 still the same listless, monotonous life he had followed 
 for years. A parade in the Park in the morning, two 
 or three times a week, which his lordship considered an 
 especial hardship; for on these days he had to rise 
 two hours earlier than usual, to don his regimentals 
 as a lieutenant of the Life Guards, to return to his 
 apartments at the Albany, and then, doffing his uni- 
 form, to assume a morning costume ; for his lordship, 
 though esteeming it an honor to belong to a crack regi- 
 ment, such as the Life Guards, would have thought 
 himself irretrievably disgraced had he worn his regi- 
 mentals on any other occasions but those of parade 
 and court drawing rooms. At any other time it is the 
 custom for all gentkmen of the army to appear in mufti.
 
 THE ORPHAN'S WRONGS. 159 
 
 He then took breakfast at 11 o'clock, and lounged on 
 the sofa, in his dressing-gown, until two, when he sum- 
 moned his valet to assist him in performing his walk- 
 ing or riding toilet. A stroll or a canter in the park 
 occupied him till six or seven o'clock, when he ad- 
 journed to his club to dinner, after which he spent his 
 evenings, and nights too, with some chosen boon com- 
 panions in some dignified, aristocratic amusement, or in 
 gambling; or else, when "Almacks" was open, re- 
 turned to the Albany and dressed for the ball-room, 
 where, according to order, he paid unmeaning and tri 
 fling attentions to Lady Mary Alton, who, on her part, 
 received them coldly and almost scornfull} 7 . 
 
 At times his lordship was sadly short of ready money, 
 notwithstanding he made no difficulty in borrowing 
 from Lord Shropshire, or any one else whom he could 
 persuade to lend him any ; so, partly for the sake of re- 
 introducing an old and venerable acquaintance, and 
 partly because this re-introduction will have something 
 to do in the denouement of my narrative, I will beg 
 the reader to accompany me to one of the places for ob- 
 taining ready cash, so much patronized by the aristo- 
 cracy of England who have either substantial securities 
 or good expectations. Of the former, Lord Henry Fitz- 
 herbert had few to boast of, but latterly he had been 
 persuading the money-lenders that he had good expec- 
 tations as regarded the Huntingdonshire property, which 
 was, in fact, already considerably reduced by promissory 
 mortgages, as Lord Shropshire found, eventually, to his 
 cost. 
 
 The place to which I beg the reader to accompany 
 me is no other than the den in the Minories, to which he 
 has been already introduced, as the business place of our 
 old friend Mordecai. 
 
 Nearly fifty years have passed away since the conver- 
 sation there narrated took place between Mordecai, 
 Brurnmell, and the Prince of Wales, and then the Jew 
 was nn old man of nearly sixty years. Nevertheless he 
 is still living a shrivelled mummy, almost in the last
 
 160 THE LAWYER'S STORY; OR, 
 
 stage of second childhood a living skeleton, covered 
 with a skin of wrinkled parchment, as yellow as 
 the gold he loved so well, and the contemplation of 
 which comprises even now his sole delight. The active 
 business has passed in the hands of Jacob, the youth 
 heretofore mentioned, who is the nephew of the old 
 usurer; but while he lives, Mordecai cannot be cajoled 
 into giving it up. He still clings to it and to his gold 
 and would carry both with him into another world had he 
 the power to do so. Drivelling and childish as regards all 
 else for he is alone in the world all his contemporaries 
 his wife and his own children even have gone before 
 him to the grave touch him on this subject and his 
 faculties, though he is now in his hundred and tenth 
 year, are as keen as- ever. Daily does he crawl down 
 from Dukes' Place to the Minories, and creep up stairs, 
 and there, in the old dusky office, at the old table, in 
 the accustomed corner, may be found the once shrewd 
 and energetic the still keen, money-loving usurer. lie 
 has sense enough to know, old and childish as he is, that 
 his gold is the only friend he has left ; many friends he 
 never did have, gold was always the friend he most loved 
 and reverenced, and he has found his reward in its ad- 
 hering to him when- all others have failed ; but he must 
 soon leave even his gold, and as he feels the hour of 
 parting drawing near, he clutches it faster and clings to 
 it with more intensity of devotion. 
 
 Jacob is therefore obliged to treat his old uncle with 
 some degree of courtesy, which he might not otherwise 
 bestow upon him, for he knows he is still in the old 
 man's power. 
 
 It is after dusk. Lord Fitzherbert has spent several 
 hours of the*previous night at the gaming table, and has 
 lost heavily. He must raise a thousand or two some- 
 how or other. He has a debt of honor to pay. If 
 it were a tradesman's debt, there would be no occasion 
 to trouble himself. If he were dunned, he could bid 
 " the twoublesome cweature" to wait ; but if he fails tc 
 pay to the moment a debt of honor, he knows that he
 
 THE ORPHAN'S WRONGS. 161 
 
 would become a marked man in fashionable society. He 
 enters the office of the money lender, who rises to re- 
 ceive him. He is evidently a gentleman with whom our 
 old friend Jacob is well acquainted, and business trans- 
 actions have more than once passed between them. 
 
 " Glad to see your lordship," snys Jacob, who, by the 
 way, is a very different personage from the youthful 
 Jacob heretofore described. The showy, shabby genteel 
 dress, has been discarded long ago, and, but that we see 
 in a corner of the room, apparently absorbed in contem- 
 plation, and paying no attention to what is going on, 
 except by an occasional eager glance towards the table 
 at which Jacob is seated, when he hears the clink of coin, 
 a shrivelled, withered being, whom we recognize as the 
 veritable Mordecai himself, we should also fancy we 
 saw him :is formerly depicted, again restored to us in 
 Jacob. There is the same shrewdness of visage, the 
 same restless eye the same length of frow'sy beard 
 aye, and we could almost swear to it, the same long Jew- 
 ish gaberdine. 
 
 " Take a sheat, my lord," continues Jacob. " Vat ish 
 your lordships bishnish to-day ?" 
 
 " The old call, Jacob. I want money, and by Jove ! 
 money I must have." 
 
 " De monish is scaresh very scaresh," replies Jacob, 
 in a tone so much resembling that of the Mordecai of 
 former days, that if the prince and Brummell could have 
 heard him, they would have believed him to have been 
 Mordecai, renovato nomine. 
 
 " D n the scarcity. I must have it if it is to be 
 
 got, or whether it is or not. You know my securities 
 are good, on the Brampton Manor Estates ;. my father, 
 the prince, who had dealings with your uncle in his 
 time, had claims on them, and they must shortly be 
 mine." 
 
 " It ish a good prince, but he must give good securi- 
 tish," said a sepulchral voice, at the other end of the 
 room, causing Lord iMtzherbert to start, on account of 
 the unearthly tone in which the words were uttered.
 
 162 THE LAWYER'S STORY; OR, 
 
 " It ish noting but dat old shinner in the corner, mut- 
 tering to himself," said Jacob, noticing the movement of 
 his lordship ; " but about dese shecuritish, you know dey 
 ish only in prospective, and the present is de thing ; de 
 future ish not to be trusted." 
 
 "Pooh! pooh! cease this nonsense, Jacob. You fleece 
 me pretty well, as regards interest, at all events. If you 
 only get half, you will be well paid." 
 
 "Vat ish that you shay about half?" said Jacob, in a 
 tone of apprehension. 
 
 " Nothing, rny good fellow. You will get all, and a 
 pretty good score, too, and that very shortly. So ad- 
 vance me two thousand more, at what interest you 
 please." 
 
 " I have learned dat dere are other claimants in de 
 field respecting dish property," replied Jacob, " and I 
 must look to de securitish." 
 
 " Yesh, *de goot securitish is everyting," re-echoed the 
 same sepulchral voice, from the semi animated mummy 
 in the corner, while Jacob continued : 
 
 " I don't shee dat I can advansh your lordship any 
 more monish just now." 
 
 " Egad ! Jacob, you must" said Lord Fitzherbert, and 
 after a good deal of haggling, his lordship succeeded in 
 obtaining the money at forty-five per cent., Jacob assur- 
 ing him it would be the last until he was better satisfied 
 respecting the security of the Brampton Manor estates, 
 which he commenced to look into immediately ; and 
 thus by his incautious improvidence, Lord Fitzherbert 
 threw another and an unexpected difficulty in the way 
 of the earl and the two rascally lawyers. He, however, 
 left in good spirits with the money in his pockets, while 
 for the rest of the evening, Mordecai, in whose mind the 
 mention of the name of the prince had revived a train of 
 old reminiscences, continued to mutter : 
 
 " It ish a goot prince, spends de monish freely, and de 
 peoplesh pays ; but we must look to de securitish." 
 
 Poor Georgiana still remained at Mr. Hughes' house 
 on Clapham common ; seldom going abroad, except in
 
 THE ORPHAN'S WRONGS. 163 
 
 company with Mrs. Hughes, and daily becoming more 
 apprehensive respecting the fate of her brother, and still 
 Mr. Hughes arid I remained without any intelligence 
 respecting him, satisfactory or otherwise, beyond that 
 which we had heard from the landlord of the " Cat and 
 Bagpipes," which, for aught we knew, might, after all, 
 relate to another person. 
 
 CHAPTER XV. 
 
 A sea-lawyer on hoard her majesty's ship Thunderer A 
 quarter-deck oration A lady overboard, and a rescue 
 from peril The heir's prospects brighten A startling 
 discovery, 
 
 HER Majesty's ship Thunderer had been several days 
 at sea, during which period the weather had been ex- 
 cessively stormy. Crossing the Bay of Biscay, she had 
 been compelled to "lie to" for nearly twenty-four hours, 
 and as the vessel was bound for the Mediterranean sta- 
 tion, where, in consequence of the general serenity of 
 the elements, there is very little to do that calls into 
 activity the professional knowledge of able seamen, a con- 
 siderable portion of the crew, in fact, the whole of the 
 " waisters" and " after guard," consisted of " green 
 hands." These were rendered utterly useless, even for 
 the performance of the duties that fell to their share, in 
 consequence of sea-sickness; and thus the able seamen, 
 the " old salts," had had an undue portion of work of 
 all kinds thrust upon their shoulders. It was a relief, 
 therefore, when the llock of Gibraltar having been passed, 
 the officers and crew found themselves safe and snug on 
 the blue waters of the Mediterranean, where they could 
 hope to obtain a little respite from their late fatiguing 
 duties. 
 
 It was a fine moonlight night, and the heavy seventy- 
 four was swiftly sailing before a strong, fair breeze along
 
 164 THE LAWYER'S STORY ; OR, 
 
 the Spanish coast, opposite Carthagena. The captain 
 and first lieutenant were walking the quarter-deck, en- 
 joying the freshness of the breeze and the sweet perfume 
 of the turf from off the land, while in the various por- 
 tions of the deck allotted to them, according to their 
 stations on board, the officers and seamen walked to and 
 fro, engaged in conversation, or lounged over the bul 
 warks thinking, some, perhaps, of nothing, others of the 
 friends, wives, or sweethearts, they had left behind. 
 Some of the officers had assembled in the fore part of 
 the vessel to indulge in a cigar, beyond the smoke-in 
 terdicted precincts. All was inactivity and listless ease, 
 for the hours of labor, even for the watch on deck, were 
 over. 
 
 " Which do you say is he, Mr. Ilarlow ?" said the cap- 
 tain to the lieutenant, with whom he had been for some 
 time conversing. 
 
 " That tall, pale young man leaning over the bulwarks 
 on the starboard side of the foremast," replied the lieu- 
 tenant. 
 
 " I have an objection to these well educated fellows," 
 continued the captain. " Of all persons on board a 
 man-of-war, 'sea lawyers,' as they are not inaptly 
 termed, are my abhorrence. As petty officers or able 
 seamen, they are unendurable, and when found among 
 the after guards, waisters or landsmen, the only way 
 to take the law out of them is by punishment. Does the 
 fellow work well?" 
 
 " To tell the truth, he seems pretty willing to do what 
 he can ; but that's little enough. What the d 1 the 
 Lords of the Admiralty mean by filling up Her Majesty's 
 ships with such a lot of dead-and-alive lumber, I can't 
 conceive. Here we have sixteen midshipmen, eight of 
 whom have only just been let loose from their nurses' 
 arms, and who won't be of the least service until the 
 cruise is well nigh over ; though it's very possible, from 
 all appearances, that the youngest of them will walk over 
 my head before I get promotion. Then there are nc 
 less than two hundred ' green hands' on board, of 

 
 THE ORPHAN'S WRONGS. 165 
 
 various capacities, and what to do with the lubbers I 
 can't tell." 
 
 The captain smiled at the wrath of the lieutenant, who 
 was one of those unfortunate beings who had entered 
 the most aristocratic national service in the world with- 
 out family interest or admiralty influence, and who, 
 though crowned with grey hairs, was still a simple first 
 lieutenant, and likely to remain so, for he had seen seve- 
 ral raw "suckling midshipmen," as he was wont to term 
 them, walk over his head, as he observed, and had sailed 
 under their orders ; indeed, his present superior was 
 twenty years his junior, 
 
 "Never mind the ' green hands,' " replied the captain, 
 "we must make the best we can of them; but as to 
 Avhat you were -saying about this youngster. What's 
 his name ?" 
 
 "Fitzherbert, sir." 
 
 " A d 1 of a name for a foremast-man to go to sea 
 with," replied the captain 
 
 " Oh, as to that," chimed in the lieutenant, " the 
 luu uls call him Fitz, and I put down his name as such on 
 the ship's books too much waste of Her Majesty's ink 
 to spell it out at length." 
 
 " And you say this lad tells you he was decoyed on 
 board, and that he is not an English subject," continued 
 the captain. 
 
 " Yes, sir. He came to me with a long rigmarole 
 story about some lawsuit, and said he claims the rights 
 and freedom of an American citizen." 
 
 " He does, does he ?" interrupted the captain. " Well, 
 then, we'll teach him the rights of an English subject in 
 double-quick time. Has the fellow been preaching the 
 doctrine of equality among his messmates?" 
 
 "I can't say that," continued the lieutenant. "He 
 does the work he is set to willingly, and as well as he 
 can ; but as to his long yarn, I told him I shouldn't listen 
 to it. ' While on board the Thunderer, and under Her 
 Majesty's flag (said I), you're bound to be a British subject, 
 my lad ; and if you tfon't do your duty willingly, you'll
 
 166 THE LAWYER'S STORY; OR, 
 
 be made to do it ; that's the long and the short of it. 
 When this cruise is over, you can be an American 
 citizen again, or whatever you please. So go to your 
 duty, sir, and let me hear no more grumbling, or it 
 will be the worse for you ' ' 
 
 " Quite right, quite right, Mr. Harlow. The young- 
 ster appears to be an intellectual, smart-looking fellow, 
 too. Send him aft, and I'll speak to him myself." 
 
 The lieutenant walked forward to the end of the 
 quarter-deck, and shouted 
 
 "Pass the word for Fitz to come aft," and then he 
 muttered to himself, " An intellectual looking fellow is 
 he? some member of the swell mob, down upon his 
 luck, or else a d d pickpocket who finds London too 
 hot to hold him, I'll be bound." 
 
 He then rejoined the captain, and Herbert came aft 
 and made the customary salute. 
 
 " What's your name, my man ?" said the captain. 
 
 " Adolphus Fitzherbert, sir." 
 
 ." Adolphus Fitzherbert, eh? Named after some one 
 of the Royal Duke's, I suppose?" said the captain, sar- 
 castically. 
 
 "I believe I am, sir," replied Adolphus, innocently; 
 not perceiving the sarcasm. 
 
 The captain and lieutenant smiled. 
 
 " Well, Adolphus," continued the captain, '' you'll 
 have to dock that name on board ship in the same 
 manner that you docked your coat tails when you en- 
 tered Her Majesty's navy. Mr. Harlow tells me that 
 you have been aft to him with some long story about 
 having been decoyed on board against your will, and 
 you have had the modesty to ask him to use his in- 
 fluence to obtain a discharge for you from me. Now, 
 look you here, sir. If I were to listen to such tales as 
 these, I might discharge half my crew ; and, if you were 
 the Prince of Wales, and were once shipped on board 
 the vessel I command, you would have to do your duty, 
 sir ; willingly, if you please so much the better for 
 yourself, then if not you would be made to do it.
 
 THE ORPHAN'S WRONGS. 167 
 
 You will get your discharge three years hence and not 
 a day sooner, unless by order of ' Davy Jones' or the 
 Admiralty: and now I will give you one piece of ad 
 vice, which you will do well to follow. I treat my men 
 well, so long as they behave themselves well. If not, 
 woe betide them. I have been told you are a 'sea 
 lawyer.' I hope not, for your own sake ; for, if I find 
 you out putting bad notions into the heads of your mess- 
 mates, I'll see your back bone, sir. Mark that. Yor 
 look like a smart lad. Go to your duty ; do it like a 
 man, and let me hear no bad account of you, and you 
 will soon get used to the ship and be comfortable 
 enough ; if you don't, you will wish yourself in h 1." 
 
 Having delivered himself of this speech, the captain 
 turned 011 his heel and resumed his narrow walk, and 
 Adolphus went forward with a heavy heart ; for, poor 
 fellow, he had thought in the simplicity of his heart and 
 in his ignorance of naval discipline, that the lieutenant 
 had told his story to the captain, and that may be he 
 was to receive his discharge at the first port the vessel 
 touched at. 
 
 He thought, however, it was best to take the advice 
 of the captain, and from that moment he sedulously at- 
 tended to his duties, and even became, after a time, 
 quite a favorite with the officers. 
 
 The vessel proceeded to Corfu, where some dispatches 
 were landed, and then cruised for some three months 
 between the coast of Italy and the island of Sardinia. 
 At the expiration of that time, she put into the bay of 
 Naples, where she was to remain for some weeks, wait- 
 ing orders from the admiral, who was at Malta. At 
 length orders were received for her to proceed to Malta, 
 and to take ^hither the British Ambassador in Italy, 
 who was called to Malta on business of pressing ur- 
 gency. 
 
 Some ladies belonging to an English and to an Ameri- 
 can family, who were travelling in the south of Europe, 
 the latter of whom, through the American Minister, 
 had been introduced to the British Ambassador's family,
 
 168 THE LAWYER'S STORY; OR, 
 
 expressed a strong desire to visit Malta, and although 
 it was not strictly conformable with the rules of the 
 service, the captain, at the request of the ambassador. 
 Lad promised to give them a passage with their male 
 friends. Accordingly, much to the chagrin of the first 
 lieutenant, who swore that there was no luck on board 
 a ship where there was a petticoat, and much to the 
 delight of the junior officers and midshipmen, an Eng- 
 lish lady with her husband and daughter and an Ameri- 
 can lady with a nephew and a niece were received on 
 board the Thunderer, the night she weighed anchor for 
 Malta. 
 
 Of course the two young ladies were great favorites 
 with the officers, and the trip to Malta was a very plea- 
 sant one. When they were about to leave the vessel 
 at Valette, to go on shore, Fitzherbert was ordered into 
 the boat, he being one of the cutter's crew. 
 
 The young American lady unfortunately made a false 
 step in descending into the boat, and fell overboard, 
 and though she was buoyed up by her clothing, she was 
 rapidly swept astern by the tide. All was dismay and 
 confusion ; the boat was released from the tackles, and 
 orders given to pull after the poor girl ; but before this 
 could be done, Adolphus, who was an excellent swim- 
 mer, had plunged over the side, and through his own 
 powerful efforts, aided by the tide, had succeeded in 
 reaching the young lady, and buoying her up, just as she 
 was on the point of sinking, her clothes having become 
 saturated with water. His strength was almost gone by 
 the time the boat reached them, for they had drifted a 
 long way astern ; but happily they were both taken 
 safely on board. The young lady was insensible, but 
 she was soon restored by the skill of the surgeon, and 
 carefully conveyed ashore. Adolphus also was almost 
 overpowered, and was stripped and placed in his ham- 
 mock. 
 
 In the evening the Captain called upon the ladies, to 
 inquire how the young lady was after her unfortunate
 
 THE ORPHANS WRONGS. 169 
 
 submersion. She was, in fact, almost recovered, and 
 was reclining on a sofa. 
 
 Of course, inquiries were made respecting the young 
 sailor who had so gallantly risked his life in seeking to 
 rescue the young lady from the water, and a wish was 
 expressed to see him. 
 
 " By-the-bye," said the captain, " that puts me in mind 
 that the admiral himself wishes to see the young man, 
 who I believe is to receive his discharge. There is 
 something romantic, I am told, in his history, and in the 
 manner in which he was sent on board the Thunderer. 
 I will bring him on shore with me by-and-bye, and then 
 the young lady can thank her gallant deliverer in per- 
 son. What the story is, I as yet do not know. But, by 
 the way ; upon my word, I had nearly forgotten it. I 
 was by when they were stripping the young man in 
 order to apply the necessary restoratives, and this minia- 
 ture was taken from his neck, where it was suspended 
 by a black riband. I took hold of it carelessly, imagin- 
 ing it be some love lorn damsel's gage d" 1 amour, and 
 was so struck with the extraordinary resemblance of the 
 features of the lady it represents to your's, madam," con- 
 tinued he, turning to the American lady, " that I could 
 not help putting it into my pocket and fetching it on 
 shore to show you. Upon my word," he added, taking 
 the miniature from his pocket and comparing it with the 
 features of the lady, "the resemblance is perfect. She 
 it represents and you, madam, might have been twin 
 sisters." 
 
 The lady he had spoken to received the miniature 
 from him, and had no sooner glanced at it than she ex- 
 claimed 
 
 " Good God ! this is the likeness of my poor sister 
 Ellen !" Her agitation became extreme, and of course 
 the anxiety to see and know more of the youth was re- 
 doubled in fact intensified. All were now alike eager, 
 and the captain promised that as soon as the young man 
 had received his discharge papers from the admiral, he 
 would bring him to the house. 
 
 8
 
 170 THE LAWYER'S STORY; OR, 
 
 " Probably," said he, " I may fetch him on shore with 
 me to-morrow." 
 
 CHAPTER XVI. 
 
 A release, from the Man-of-war The hero is introduced to 
 some newly discovered relatives lie gives a novel illustra- 
 tion of the old Press-gang system. 
 
 ON the arrival of the Thunderer at Malta, the admiral 
 on the station, as will have been perceived from the pre- 
 ceding chapter, had sent for Sir Edward Owen, the cap- 
 tain of the seventy-four, and held a long conversation 
 with him, as regarded the operations of the Mediterranean 
 fleet, of which Sir Edward was the senior captain : 
 
 " And, by the by, said the admiral, in conclusion, 
 " have you a young man of the name of Fitzherbert on 
 board the Thunderer ? I have received a letter (officially) 
 from the Lords of the Admiralty, ordering me to procure 
 his immediate discharge, should he be on board either of 
 the three ships which have lately arrived from England. 
 I have enquired of the captains of the Redoubtable and 
 the Vixen, and they have no such person as is described, 
 either in the official letter or in another private letter I 
 have received from Mr. Hughes, a solicitor, or barrister 
 of some note in London, and, indeed, the letters seem to 
 imply that it is, at the least, doubtful, whether the young 
 man is on board either one of the vessels." 
 
 " There is a young man of that name on board the 
 Thunderer," replied the Captain, " who, if I recollect 
 aright, preferred some silly suit to my first lieutenant re- 
 questing his discharge, on the plea that he had been de- 
 coyed on board against his will, and that he was an 
 American by birth, and had come to England to look 
 after some property to which he was heir, and the right 
 of which was claimed by some other parties. Of course, 
 I took no notice of that, except it was to tell the officers
 
 THE ORPHAN'S WRONGS. 171 
 
 to keep a bright look out as to the youngster's behavior ; 
 for you must yourself have experienced, sir," continued 
 the captain, " what a nuisance these sea lawyer fellows 
 are on board a ship. However, the lad has behaved 
 pretty well, and to'day he performed a very gallant ac- 
 tion in saving one of the ladies I brought over from 
 Naples, from drowning." 
 
 "Ah!" exclaimed the admiral, "I have heard of that 
 affair. So, this youth this Fitzherbert, saved the lady ? 
 Well, I presume he's the young man who is mentioned 
 in the letter, therefore, Sir Edward, you had better fetch 
 him on shore with you to-morrow, and then we'll ex- 
 amine into the merits of the case." 
 
 " Your orders shall be obeyed sir," replied the captain. 
 
 "You'll dine with me at six o'clock, Captain Owen?" 
 
 " You must excuse me to-day, sir. I must perform an 
 act of duty as well as of gallantry, in calling to see how 
 the lady is after her unfortunate submersion, and then I 
 shall be obliged to go on board my ship ; for, as you say, 
 our stay here may be very limited, I must give Mr. 
 Harlow orders to have the rigging of the mainmast tho- 
 roughly overhauled at once. It is entirely new, and has 
 stretched considerably since we got into warm weather." 
 
 "Very well, Sir Edward. Duty, as you know, must 
 be attended to ; but, I shall have the happiness of seeing 
 you at my dinner table to-morrow?" 
 
 " With pleasure, sir," answered the captain ; and he 
 then proceeded to visit the ladies. 
 
 While engaged in the duty of washing decks, shortly 
 after daylight on the following morning, Adolphus, who 
 had quite recovered from the effects of the previous day's 
 submersion, and who was up and at his post as usual, 
 received a summons to go aft to the captain's cabin. 
 
 Having had no communication with the captain since 
 the occasion already recorded, which was, as the reader 
 will recollect, by no means a pleasant one, it was with a 
 strange feeling of uncertainty that the young man has- 
 tened to obey the summons, and to appear before the 
 autocrat of the quarter-deck. Nor was he at all re-
 
 172 THE LAWYER'S STORY; OR, 
 
 fissured, as in passing the first lieutenant, who was stand- 
 ing in the hammock-nettings, looking at something on 
 shore, through a spy-glass, that important functionary 
 said to him : 
 
 " You're in luck, Fitz, my lad, and I wish you joy 
 of it ;" for Mr. Harlow had a very facetious way of ex- 
 pressing himself sometimes, and a joke was oftentimes 
 nay, mostly, with him, the prelude to some sort of 
 punishment. 
 
 Adolphus began to consider in what he might have 
 failed. To be sure, he had saved the life of a young 
 lady the day before, at the risk of his own, and he knew 
 that under most circumstances that was a praiseworthy 
 action ; but, as yet, he found such strange contrarieties 
 in the exaction of discipline on board a man-of-war, and 
 he felt so certain of a reprimand for something or other, 
 that he began to think that, according to the rules of the 
 service, he had no right to desert his post as coxswain 
 of the cutter, even to save life, without orders from his 
 superior officer. It was then with something like fear and 
 trembling, although with a perfect consciousness of in- 
 nocence of any wilful neglect of duty, that he passed the 
 sentry at the door of the captain's cabin, and found him- 
 self in the presence of the naval chief. 
 
 " Fitz," said the captain, "you .behaved very gallant- 
 ly, yesterday, in so promptly rescuing the young lady 
 who fell overboard, from almost certain death, but for 
 your timely assistance. Some months since, you pre- 
 ferred a request to Mr. Harlow, soliciting your discharge 
 from the service ; and you may recollect I told you that 
 without an order from 'Davy Jones' or the Admiralty, 
 no discharge would you get until the cruise came to an 
 end. Well, my lad, ' Davy Jones' came near sending 
 you an order yesterday, I take it, for a few more mo- 
 ments' delay with the boats, and both you and the lady 
 would have sunk fathoms deep in his capacious locker, 
 and a few hours afterwards I actually received an Ad- 
 miralty order for your discharge, and I am happy to say 
 that 1 can give you a good character with your discharge
 
 THE ORPHAN'S WRONGS. 173 
 
 papers. It may not seem likely to be of much service 
 to you just now ; but, my good lad, always strive to do 
 your duty in any situation, however humble, that you 
 may be called to fill, and you will not repent it. You 
 will get yourself ready to go on shore with me to see 
 the admiral, and then you will be free from my control. 
 Afterwards, I will take you to see the young lady you 
 rescued from the water, who is anxious, personally, to 
 thank you. I am a little curious to know your story, 
 now I find your application for liberty was not a hum- 
 bug ; nevertheless, you need tell me, or the admiral, as 
 little of it as you choose. You know best your own 
 affairs. And now let me ask you one question : Have 
 you missed anything any little valuable that you have 
 been accustomed to carry about your person ?" 
 
 " I have lost a small miniature portrait of my mother, 
 Sir Edward, that 1 have worn since childhood ; and 
 although I have sought everywhere for it, I have been 
 unable to find it." 
 
 " I have that portrait, and last night I left it at the 
 house where the ladies are stopping. You can get it 
 when you go ashore ; and now answer me another ques- 
 tion. Had your mother any sisters ? " 
 
 "I believe she had one, sir, who went to America 
 shortly after her marriage, and whom my poor mother 
 subsequently lost sight of. When my mother first 
 emigrated to the United States, she made inquiry re- 
 specting her sister, but without effect. She may be 
 living or dead but so far as I know, I have but one re- 
 lation living in the world, and that is my sister, who is 
 now living in London." 
 
 ' Humph," exclaimed the captain, musingly, and then 
 he added "Well, Fitz, or Fitzherbert, 1 will restore 
 your name to you now ; be ready to go on shore within 
 an hour." 
 
 "Yes. sir," replied Adolphus, and he left the cabin 
 with a lightened heart. 
 
 '' I told you you were in luck, Fitz," repeated the first 
 lieutenant, as the young man passed him on his way
 
 174: THE LAWYER'S STORY; OR, 
 
 forward ; " but I hope there's no more chaps on board 
 found to row in the same boat, or else the Thunderer will 
 fall short of hands. No great loss neither, when we 
 think of their being such a pack of greenhorns." 
 
 At the appointed time, Adolphus, dressed in his finest 
 sailor attire, was ready to attend the captain on shore, 
 and a smarter, handsomer- looking sailor lad never stepped 
 over the side of a ship than he ; the fanciful blue navy 
 jacket, the white shirt with the collar thrown back, and 
 loosely confined at the throat with a black ribbon ; the 
 ample and snow-white trowsers, and polished low-quar- 
 tered shoes, and the low crowned, natty straw hat which 
 completed his attire, set off his handsome figure and in- 
 telligent face to great advantage. He had become con- 
 siderable of a favorite among his messmates, and many a 
 kindly wish was expressed as he descended into the boat 
 alongside, such as, 
 
 u Good bye, Fitz, old boy ; a happy meeting with 
 absent friends." "Look sharp after your sweetheart, 
 Fitz ; see that no land-lubbers have been athwart her 
 hawse since you parted company ; if they have, trounce 
 'ern well. Heigh, ho ! I should like to be a-going home 
 to see my Peggy." " Luck go with you, Fitz ; I wish I 
 was a-going to ship in the same vessel with you ; you're 
 in luck, old fellow." 
 
 Such exclamations as these, and sundry rough, but 
 affectionate slaps on the back, arid squeezes from tarry, 
 brawny fists, followed the young man as he bid adieu to 
 the rude but honest fellows, with whom, for months, he 
 had been associated. 
 
 On reaching the shore, Fitzherbert followed the captain 
 to the admiral's office, and, a preliminary examination 
 having taken place, the admiral and captain were satis- 
 fied, and Adolphus was once more free. 
 
 The admiral complimented him highly upon his 
 promptitude and courage in saving the }'oung lady's life, 
 and at the same time placed in his hands the amount of 
 pay due to him, adding twenty pounds, which Adolphus 
 would accept only as a loan, to assist him in paying his
 
 THE ORPHAN'S WRONGS. 175 
 
 expenses to England. He briefly related to the admiral 
 and captain the means, so far as he was cognizant of 
 them, that were used to entrap him and convey him on 
 board the seventy-four, and also satisfied the captain as 
 regarded his expressed curiosity respecting the lawsuit 
 which had induced his friend (myself) to take him to 
 England. 
 
 " By George ! Fitzherbert," said Sir Edward, " I didn't 
 think I was so near hitting the mark when 1 asked if you 
 were named afier one of the royal dukes, and you so 
 naively answered that you believed you were. I thought, 
 my lad, 3^ou were either a great rogue or a great fool, 
 and I hardly know which I detest the most on board my 
 ship. Now put on your best looks and we'll go and see 
 the ladies." 
 
 The captain and his protege then walked to the house 
 in which the ladies had taken up their residence, and 
 were immediately ushered into their presence, and tho 
 most grateful acknowledgments were rendered to Adol- 
 phus for his gallant services by all the ladies. 
 
 The American lady, who, as the reader may have sur- 
 mised, was no other than our friend Mrs. Lyman, who 
 was accompanied by her niece Juliet, and a nephew she 
 had met in England, who was acting as cicerone to the 
 ladies during their southern tour, looked at the young 
 man earnestly for some moments and whispered some- 
 thing to her niece, who in her turn regarded him with 
 curiosity and anxiety blended. 
 
 "Ask him, aunt," said the latter, after some earnest, 
 low-toned conversation. 
 
 " May I ask you what was the maiden name of your 
 mother, young gentleman ? for such I think I may now 
 call you," said Airs. Lyman. 
 
 "Ellen llarcourt, ma'am," replied Adolphus. 
 
 "Good God! it is as I hoped, yet doubted," said Mrs. 
 Lyman to her niece, in a low tone of voice, while the 
 young lady blushed deeply and trembled nervously. 
 
 " And this," she continued, addressing Adolphus, and 
 diking up the miniature which lay on the table before
 
 176 THE LAWYER'S STORY; OR, 
 
 her, " this miniature which Sir Edward Owen brought 
 on shore yesterday, is your mother's portrait?" 
 
 " It is, ma'am. I have worn it round my neck as long 
 as I can recollect, and was deeply grieved when I fan- 
 cied I had lost it, as I believed, in the water." 
 
 " And your name, sir?" 
 
 "Is Adolphus Fitzherbert, ma'am. My mother ac- 
 companied my father to the United States a few years 
 after her marriage, and both my parents died there while 
 I was still a child, and shortly after the birth of my sis- 
 ter Georgia na." 
 
 " Did YOU ever hear your parents speak of your aunt 
 Juliet?" 
 
 " I was but a child when they died, ma'am, as I have 
 said ; but I have an indistinct recollection of hearing my 
 mother speak of an elder sister who had married a gen- 
 tleman whose name I do not recollect, and who had gone 
 to America some years before she was married, accom- 
 panied by her husband and his sister." 
 
 " That is sufficient, Adolphus," said the lady, much 
 agitated. " Pardon me for calling you by your baptismal 
 name; but I am your aunt, as well as the aunt of this 
 young lady, who is the daughter of your late aunt Juliet, 
 who married my brother, Mr. Hawthorne. I accompa- 
 nied them to the United States. Adolphus, you yester- 
 day saved your cousin's life," she added, taking the hand 
 of the blushing and now weeping girl, and placing it in 
 that of her newly found cousin. Actuated by the im- 
 pulse of the moment, the warm-hearted and grateful girl 
 kissed her cousin, and the kiss was warmly returned 
 by Adolphus. As for Mrs. Lyman, having introduced 
 the cousins and acknowledged her nephew's relationship, 
 she did as women are apt to do in such cases, gave way 
 to tears ; and the English lady and her daughter wept 
 from sympathy. Adolphus felt himself like one awaken- 
 ing from a dream. lie could not trust his senses, and 
 he gazed around him and passed his hand across his 
 brow ; while Captain Owen, fancying that he was an de 
 {rop, quietly kit the room. "When the ladies had rcco-
 
 THE ORPHAN'S WRONGS. 177 
 
 vered their composure, and Adolphus had become fully 
 satisfied that he was not really dreaming, a conversation 
 was commenced which naturally soon became of great 
 interest to the assembled party, and it was decided that 
 the young man should write to his sister, to Mr. Hughes, 
 and to myself, stating that he had obtained his discharge, 
 and thanking us for our efforts in his behalf: also detail- 
 ing the strange and romantic adventure he had met with. 
 He then, it was arranged, should return with his aunt 
 and cousin to Naples, and take the earliest opportunity 
 of revisiting England. This matter settled for the present, 
 I must leave Adolphus in the company of his newly found 
 relatives, and speak of other parties who figure in my 
 narrative. 
 
 Before I conclude this chapter, however, I will briefly 
 relate the story of his kidnapping, told by Adolphus to 
 the admiral and captain, and also subsequently told to 
 his aunt and cousin, and to myself after his return to 
 England : 
 
 He had been watching with great interest a review of 
 the Household troops, in Hyde Park, and while so en- 
 gaged a gentleman who stood near him had directed his 
 attention to the principal manoeuvres of the large body 
 of soldiers ; also pointing out several persons of distinc- 
 tion, who, on horseback or in carriages, were watching 
 the interesting spectacle. When the review was over, 
 he felt very warm, for the day was sultry, and the dust 
 created by the rapid evolutions of the cavalry and in- 
 fantry had provoked a sensation of great thirst. At the 
 request of the gentleman who had been so attentive to 
 him in the Park, (seeing, as Adolphus supposed, that he 
 was a stranger,) he had accompanied him to a tavern to 
 obtain some refreshment. He recollected calling for 
 some sandwiches and a glass of Burton ale, and there his 
 recollection failed him. He indistinctly remembered, 
 however, being in the company of several other persons 
 dressed as sailors, who he fancied carried him from place 
 to place, until they prevailed upon him to visit Greenwich 
 Hospital. He seemed to have lost all power of volition of 
 
 8*
 
 THE LAWYER'S STORY; OR, 
 
 bis own, but knew that somehow or other he arrived 
 at Greenwich, and entered, with his companions, either 
 the Hospital or some other dwelling, where there was 
 a great bustle going on. While here he became per- 
 fectly unconscious, and the next morning when he 
 awoke he found himself handcuffed to a rough looking 
 seaman, on board the tender, in company with a great 
 number of other pairs, in a similar unpleasant predica- 
 ment. His mouth was parched, and he felt a horrid 
 sensation of sickness at the stomach, and came to the 
 conclusion that, for some purpose or other, the first 
 glass of ale he had taken had been drugged. However, 
 he had little time for consideration, for in a few mo- 
 ments the tender was got under way, and she bore down 
 alongside a large ship, with three rows of cannon, 
 which he was told was a seventy-four he had shipped 
 on board of on the previous evening, and had sub- 
 sequently been placed in the tender and handcuffed, 
 lest he might alter his mind and take French leave 
 in the morning, after having legally sold himself when 
 he had taken Her Majesty's shilling. 
 
 The reader is conversant with the remainder of his 
 history up to the date of his obtaining his discharge from 
 the admiral at Malta. 
 
 CHAPTER XVII. 
 
 The Abduction of the Heroine A little private transaction 
 between a Noble Lord and his Legal Adviser, and a 
 Lawyer and his man of All Work. 
 
 I NOW introduce the reader to the drawing-room of 
 Mr. Hughes' house on Clapham Common. Mrs. Hughes 
 is sitting with Georgianaat an open window which looks 
 upon a neatly kept lawn, lavishly, but not too profusely 
 bedecked with flower beds, from which, with good taste 
 all the more gaudy specimens of the floral tribe have
 
 THE ORPHAN'S WRONGS. 179 
 
 been excluded ; the less showy but really more beautiful 
 moss-rose, the lily and the pink, intermingled with 
 southern-wood and other perfumed shrubbery, setting 
 oil' their delicate beauty like the frame- work to a pic- 
 ture, being more in keeping with the quiet, trim, com- 
 pact little pleasure ground, than woull have been the 
 gay hollyhock, the many colored tulip, or the gorgeous 
 sunflower. Around the bay window clings in rich pro- 
 fusion the creeping woodbine filling the air with its 
 delicate perfume. The house is a lovely specimen of a 
 suburban villa. Both ladies are engaged in conversa- 
 tion and at the same time watching the pedestrians 
 and the carriages, as they pass along the road across the 
 Common, a few hundred yards distant from the gate 
 of Mr. Hughes' dwelling. The postman is seen crossing 
 the road and making his way towards the house. Mrs. 
 Hughes is the first to see him, and she points him out 
 to Georgiana, saying playfully : 
 
 "Suppose, my dear, the man should bring news at 
 last of the knight errant. Let us walk down to the gate 
 and meet him." 
 
 Both the Indies rose and stepped from the window on 
 to the lawn. 
 
 " A letter for Mrs. Hughes threepence if you please," 
 said the postman when they had met him. 
 
 Mrs. Hughes took the letter and paid the man, 
 saying 
 
 " A letter from Mr. Hughes, I declare ! What can 
 have caused him to write from the city ? He has not 
 been gone away three hours." 
 
 She broke the seal and read as follows : 
 
 11 LINCOLN'S INN, . 
 
 "Mr DEAR MARY: In the course of half an hour a 
 carriage will arrive for Miss Fitzherbert, whom I wish 
 to meet me at the 'Inn' at two o'clock precisely and I 
 will then accompany her to ' Doctor's Commons.' 
 
 " I have not time to explain further than to say that I
 
 180 THE LAWYER'S STOEY; OB, 
 
 have heard good news respecting Adolphus, and MissF. 
 will meet her brother at the ' Commons.' 
 
 " Pray desire her to prepare herself immediately, so as 
 to cause no delay when the carriage calls. I would have 
 sent John back with my gig, but this unexpected busi 
 ness will keep him employed in town. The man I send, 
 however, has full directions how to proceed. 
 
 " I will bring Adolphus and Georgiana home with me 
 this evening. 
 
 " Your affectionate husband, 
 
 " HUGHES H. HUGHES." 
 
 " Am I not a true prophet," exclaimed Mrs. Hughes, 
 when, after having perused the note, she placed it in the 
 hands of Georgiana. "Said I not we should have news 
 of the wandering knight ?" 
 
 A flush of joy passed over the pale features of the poor 
 girl as she read the happy intelligence of her brother's 
 safety and of his return, and without power to utter a 
 word in reply to the playful badinage of Mrs. Hughes, 
 she bounded into the house, and made instant prepara- 
 tions for her visit to the city. 
 
 In the course of a few minutes she was ready, and 
 shortly afterwards a post chaise drove up to the gate, 
 and the coachman descending from his seat, informed the 
 ladies that he had come, by request of Mr. Hughes, to 
 convey Miss Fitzherbert to Lincoln's Inn. 
 
 Mrs. Hughes kissed Georgiana, as the latter sprung 
 gaily into the carriage, saying: 
 
 " Tell Mr. Hughes, dear, that I shall have a feast pre- 
 pared to-night to welcome the return of the prodigal." 
 
 The carriage rolled away rapidly in the direction of 
 the city, and Mrs. Hughes, after watching it until it was 
 no longer visible, returned into the house. 
 
 For the remainder of the day the good lady was in a 
 great state of curiosity and excitement, and as five 
 o'clock, the hour of her husband's usual return home, 
 drew near, she posted herself at the gate at the entrance 
 of the lawn, where she could obtain a view of the well-
 
 THE ORPHAN'S WRONGS. 181 
 
 known gig as soon as it turned the angle of the road at a 
 considerable distance from the house. 
 
 At length, she heard the rumble of wheels, and she 
 knew the sound of those wheels almost as well as she 
 knew the sound of her husband's footsteps. The ap- 
 proaching vehicle turned the angle of the road, and she 
 knew the outline of the gig. They were coming at last, 
 and to such a pitch of excitement had she wrought her- 
 self, that she could almost hear the pulsations of her 
 heart as it seemed to thump violently in her bosom. 
 
 Nearer and nearer came the gig, and she could at 
 length distinguish her husband and the servant man 
 John ; but neither of the young folks were with him, 
 that was certain. 
 
 "They are coming afterwards in another carriage," 
 said she to herself; "but it is strange Hughes did not 
 bring them with him. I declare, if they are detained in 
 town on business, I shall feel quite disappointed." 
 
 The gig stopped at the gate, and Mr. Hughes alighted 
 from it. 
 
 " A delightful evening, dear Mary," said he, as he 
 opened the gate and kissed his wife ; "but the air is rather 
 chilly, my love, for you to be standing here without your 
 bonnet and shawl." 
 
 " What have you done with Adolphus and Georgiana, 
 my dear ?" said she, unheeding her husband's precau- 
 tionary observations. 
 
 " With whom, Mary ?" 
 
 "With Mr. and Miss Fitzherbert, dear?" 
 
 " What are you speaking of, Mary ? I don't under- 
 stand you." 
 
 " Have you not seen Georgiana ?" said Mrs. Hughes, 
 in amazement; " did you not meet the carriage? Has 
 not Adolphus arrived?" 
 
 '' Adolphus arrived ! seen Miss Fitzherbert ! met the 
 carriage !" repeated Mr. Hughes ; " why, my dear, you 
 are dreaming. Pray, explain yourself." 
 
 " Now, Hughes, you shouldn't joke, when you see 
 me in such a state of nervous anxiety. It's cruel of
 
 182 THE LAWYER'S STOKY; OK, 
 
 you," exclaimed the poor woman ; " you know how anx 
 ions I must have been after I received your letter, and 
 sent Georgian a to meet you at Lincoln's Inn, according 
 to your request." 
 
 " My dear Mary, for Heaven's sake, do cease this non- 
 sense, and tell me what you are driving at; I sent you 
 no letter, neither have I seen Miss Fitzherbert since 
 breakfast time this morning; and, as to poor Adolphus, 
 I and Mr. are as much in the dark as ever." 
 
 Mrs. Hughes stood petrified with amazement. She 
 evidently thought her husband was out of his senses ; 
 but, without replying, she drew from her pocket the 
 letter she had received in the morning, and placed it in 
 his hands. 
 
 Mr. Hughes took the letter, read it, and stood trans- 
 fixed with astonishment and dismay. Tor some moments 
 he could not speak. At length he said : 
 
 " Mary, this letter is a fac simile of my handwriting, 
 hit it is a forgery ; I never wrote a line of it. Good 
 God ! to what means will these people resort. I see it 
 all now; those who have made away with Adolphus 
 have now taken this plan to get Georgiana into their 
 power ; but if there be a God in Heaven, and justice to 
 be obtained on earth, I will move Heaven and earth but 
 they shall suffer for this they shall swing for it. Good 
 God ! what barefaced, what audacious depravity. Let 
 us go in doors, Mary. I do not blame you my confi- 
 dential clerk would have been deceived by this hand- 
 writing I should have been deceived myself. How- 
 ever, matters have now gone too far to be borne with 
 any longer. The whole affair must be made public, and 
 the police must be actively employed in ferreting out 
 and bringing to punishment the actors in this most dam- 
 nable conspiracy ;" and thus speaking, he walked with 
 his wife into the house. 
 
 The evening before the day on which the events took 
 place which are above recorded, Mr. Gripes suddenly 
 made his appearance at Alton Castle, and requested an
 
 THE ORPHAN'S WRONGS. 183 
 
 interview with the Earl of Shropshire, which was granted 1 
 and the earl and the lawyer met in the library. 
 
 " I had the honor, during our last interview, to inform 
 your lordship," said Gripes, after some preliminary con- 
 versation, " that there was a London barrister of note 
 concerned in this business relative to the heirs of Fitz- 
 herbert, and I said I should track him out. I have done 
 so, my lord. The person is Mr. Hughes, of Lincoln's 
 Inn, whom your lordship must have heard of. A dan- 
 gerous customer to come into collision with ; yet, one who 
 is perfectly unused to the wiles and tricks practised in 
 such cases as this in which I have the honor to act for 
 your lordship (the earl scowled fiercely at this covert 
 hint), and under the present circumstances, clever law- 
 yer, as he is, he may find himself outwitted. The girl, I 
 have learnt, is residing with him and his wife at Clap- 
 ham Common, and I have had some conversation 
 respecting this matter with that fellow Cheatem, and we 
 have so managed that if your lordship is willing to ad- 
 vance a trifle say three or four hundred pounds we 
 can get her taken out of the way, as cleverly as we 
 managed to get rid of the boy. This done, we will open 
 the suit bring it before the court (your lordship's in- 
 fluence and wealth will go a good way toward this), and 
 then a verdict, once decidedly given in our favor, we may 
 snap our fingers at any future attempts that may be madte 
 to contest the property. What does your lordship think 
 of my proposal ?" 
 
 " i would have no objection, Gripes, of course, to get 
 the girl out of the way, provided I received a pledge 
 that no mischief should befal her; but, I wish to remind 
 you, sir, that when I employed you and your partner, 
 it was on condition that my name should not be men- 
 tioned in the matter. In fact, I told you that should it 
 fail, you must be prepared wholly to bear the blame 
 altogether exonerating me, as, in any case, you will be 
 well paid. I was therefore, much surprised to hear you 
 make use of the expression you did just now, when you 
 said you were acting for me, sir. I beg you to under-
 
 L84 THE LAWYER'S STORY; OR, 
 
 stand that you are acting for yourself; and now, sir, on 
 the conditions I have mentioned, viz. : that my name is 
 not mentioned and that no harm befals the girl, I will 
 give you a check, not for three or four hundred, but for 
 five hundred pounds mind you, Gripes to aid in the 
 prosecution of a lawsuit, in which you are engaged, and to 
 carry on which, you have sought my pecuniary aid, I 
 being unaware of its nature ; but believing it to be just and 
 honorable" 
 
 " Exactly so my lord ; nothing could be more ex- 
 plicit. Your lordship would, had your condition in 
 life been a more humble one, have made an excellent 
 lawyer." 
 
 " As to law, I know but little of its technicalities, 
 Gripes," said the earl, rather pleased with the compli- 
 ment;" but I flatter myself that I have considerable skill 
 in the art of diplomacy." 
 
 The earl drew a check on Coutt's, and the wily law- 
 yer returned to town by the railroad that same evening, 
 and immediately sent for Cheatem, who, indeed, was on 
 the qui vive of expectation, to hear how his superior in 
 villainy had succeeded. 
 
 " Cheatem," said Gripes, when the two worthies met, 
 " so far all is satisfactory ; but the earl thought the 
 charge rather high. I, however, got a check for two 
 hundred from him. One-half of that sum is yours to- 
 morrow evening, if you succeed, and the remainder will, 
 perhaps, suffice to pay the expenses of the girl's journey, 
 if used economically. Be very careful though, how you 
 go to work. It's dangerous ground to tread upon, and 
 everything must be so arranged as to admit of no possibi- 
 lity of mishap, or it had better be left alone altogether." 
 
 Cheatem left, expressing his confidence in his ability 
 to carry the business safely through, and Gripes, as be 
 took from his pocket-book the 500 check, exclaimed 
 with glee : 
 
 Well, I've made 300 clear by that job ;" but, 
 changing his tone, and shaking his head, as he paced to 
 and fro in his narrow office, " it's ticklish ground to 
 stand upon very ticklish ground."
 
 THE ORPHAN'S WRONGS. 185 
 
 CHAPTER XVIII. 
 
 Cheaiem shows Ills practical benevolence A clever forgery 
 and a slight altercation between two knaves. 
 
 LET the reader now accompany me to the office of 
 Crawley Cheatern, Esquire, solicitor and attorney at law 
 Globe-street, White Chapel- road. We have visited this 
 office before, and its general aspect is not sufficiently en- 
 ticing to render a second description of it desirable. 
 
 It was at an early hour of the day on which Mrs. 
 Hughes received the forged letter which led to the ab- 
 duction of Georgian a, that Cheatem was seated in his 
 office with his clerk Wilkins, who looked as wretchedly 
 poor and as seedy as ever, only, as the facetious expres- 
 sion runs, "a little more so." The door is locked and 
 Cheatern and Wilkins are both in the inner office. The 
 latter looks as if he had been up all night, for his eye- 
 lids are heavy, and he has altogether a wretched appear- 
 ance. Under the table at which he is seated are strewn 
 a number of sheets of letter paper, perhaps two or three 
 quires, written upon, and then, apparently, condemned ; 
 several other sheets are lying beside him on the table on 
 which he appears to have tried his hand with like ill 
 success, and he is still busy copying with great care the 
 peculiar style of handwriting of a law record which lies 
 before him. 
 
 Cheatem takes up one sheet after the other and throws 
 them aside impatiently. At length he examines one 
 more narrowly and then rises and compares the writing 
 with that of the manuscript before the clerk. 
 
 " That's something like it, Wilkins," says he, " rather 
 too much flourish to the e'es and s's, and the tails of the 
 g's and y's are a leetle too long. There, that's famous,"
 
 186 THE LAWYER'S STORY; OR, 
 
 he added, as the clerk laid another sheet before him. 
 " You've got the way of it now ; capital. The signature 
 is perfect. Now make a fair, free copy of that; not too 
 carefully written you know, but rather as if you were 
 writing in haste, and your 5 will have been earned, 
 and I fancy you will consider you've made a good night's 
 work of it. Now let me ask you one thing, Wilkins ; 
 don't } T OU find your mind easier now that you have 
 earned five pounds by your own skill and industry than 
 if I had advanced it out of your salary as you requested 
 me to cio? You see you can now get your wife decently 
 buried, (Mumps will do the job in good style for three 
 pounds) and have a couple of sovereigns to spare to buy 
 mourning for 3'ourself and the children. Let me see, 
 you've six children, and yourself makes seven. Sevens 
 into forty is five times seven's thirty-five and five over; 
 that'll be a five shilling suit for each of the children and 
 leave ten shillings for yourself. Now, when the letter 
 is sent off, you can take the rest of the day from ten till 
 four o'clock, to buy your mourning and get your wife 
 buried, provided you promise to be back punctually at 
 four, as I shall have a number of affidavits for you to 
 copy this evening ; but you will get through, if you 
 make haste, by nine o'clock, and then you can go home, 
 as you have been up all night, and get a good sleep, and 
 by-the-bye, Wilkins, Moses, in Houndsditch, is the 
 place I should advise you to buy your mourning at. 
 Moses will lump the whole lot, and furnish you with 
 seven good respectable suits for two pounds. How 
 lucky that I wanted this little job done, Wilkins. I felt 
 very much for you when you told me your wife was 
 dead, and begged me to advance a trifle in order that 
 you might bury her without being beholden to the pa- 
 rish; but you see I have taken an oath never to lend or 
 give, or even advance money it's a bad practice leads 
 to improvidence and all sorts of bad habits; but my 
 heart bled for you, Wilkins, and I thought to myself, 
 ' Can't I help the poor fellow any way, without violating 
 rny conscience?' and then I thought how I wanted nfuc
 
 TIIE ORPHAN'S WRONGS. 187 
 
 rimile of Mr. Hughes's handwriting and signature, and I 
 said, ' Wilkins is the man that can do the job if any- 
 body can, and it will be a God-send to him ;' so I made 
 up my mind at once. Not but I could have got it done 
 cheaper I might have got the job done for three pound 
 ten ; and according to my business principles I should 
 by rights have got it done for that but under the cir- 
 cumstances I stretched a point and if i have, in a mea- 
 sure, violated my oath by doing so why, I hope con- 
 sidering the occasion, I shall be pardoned. Now fold the 
 letter and seal it neatly and direct it to Mrs. Hughes, 
 Clapharn Common. There, that'll do, and there's a spick 
 and span new five pound note for you." 
 
 Wilkins took the note in his hand and looked wistfully 
 at it. It was many years, poor fellow, since he had had 
 so much money of his own, and yet his hand trembled 
 as he held it and thought how he had earned it. 
 
 He had been too full of grief for the loss of his wife 
 and the knowledge that he could not even watch by the 
 side of her who had for years uncomplainingly shared 
 liis poverty and wretchednees, in consequence of the 
 stern exaction of his attendance at the office, by his em- 
 ployer, and he knew too, that he was unfit for and un- 
 able to obtain other employment, and if he was .dis- 
 charged, his miserable pittance of fifteen shillings a week 
 would cease and his children would starve, while by 
 working as he had done, all night, while his wife lay 
 dead at home, he could at least pay her the last sad duty 
 of respect and love by burying her at his own expense, 
 and thus avoiding a parish funeral, and perhaps, after- 
 wards, the dissecting-room ; while not one shilling would 
 his employer advance for this purpose, though he had 
 begged of him, with tears in his eyes, to do so. He had 
 accepted the job, unknowing, unheeding what it was, 
 tmd it was only now that it was completed that he felt 
 the full sense of the enormity of the crime that he had 
 been guilty of. 
 
 " What are you fumbling the paper about in tha,t way 
 for?" said Cheatern, who sat watching the motions of his
 
 188 THE LAWYER'S STORY; OR, 
 
 clerk ; " one would think you had never felt a five-pun 
 note before. Well, they do feel nice and crisp, don't 
 they ? What on earth are you trembling and shaking 
 about?" 
 
 " Mr. Cheatera," replied the clerk, " for God's sake, 
 sir, take back the money and allow me to destroy the 
 letter and these papers that I have been writing-on. I 
 have been working mechanically, sir. I have not known 
 what I was doing. It is only now that I feel I have been 
 committing iorgery. Good cannot come of it. Better 
 my wife be buried by the parish ; better my children 
 and myself perish by starvation than linger on a wretched 
 existence, sustained by the wages of crime." 
 
 Mr. Cheatem turned deadly pale, and bit his lips till 
 the blood started. 
 
 " A pretty cunning hypocrite you are," said he, 
 slowly, through his clenched teeth, as he g<ized at his 
 trembling clerk, with the fury of a tiger expressed in his 
 small twinkling black eyes. " You have been commit- 
 ting forgery, eh ? / know you have my fine fellow, and 
 I have rny grasp upon your throat. 1 can squeeze you 
 to death so," he continued, as he pressed his thumb 
 hard upon the table " I can hang you. See here," ex- 
 hibiting one of the spoiled sheets, " I have got this safe, 
 as a proof. Here are the names, in your hand-writing 
 ' George Wilkins,' ' Hughes H. Hughes,' ' Hughes H. 
 Hughes,' ' George Wilkins' so on to the bottom of the 
 page, and the last signature resembles Mr. Hughes much 
 more than the first one ; don't you think it does ? My 
 fine fellow, I advise you to burn all the pieces of paper 
 that are laying about every scrap but this letter forged 
 Uy you. I will send to its destination, and this proof of 
 your skill in chirography, /shall keep in my own pos- 
 session ; and you had better keep a still tongue in your 
 head, for if I hear one whisper respecting this last night's 
 work, the next hour will find you under lock and key 
 in Newgate. This is the return you make for the cha- 
 rity of years ; keeping such a scarecrow as you to disgrace 
 my office, and paying you fifteen shillings a week, when,
 
 THE ORPHAN'S WRONGS. 189 
 
 in fact, you are not worth your salt. Take my advice, 
 go home, bury your wife, and be thankful that a wretched 
 thing like you have got clear of the expenses of keeping 
 her, and pray God that your weazing children may soon 
 follow her, and when they do, don't think of burying 
 them, but sell them to the doctor. He! he! he!" and 
 he laughed a hideous laugh, " that's how such as you 
 should dispose of your dead children and your wives, 
 too, for that matter. It's the only way they can ever 
 become profitable to you. You must bury your wife at 
 your own expense, forsooth ! I've no patience with such 
 pride. Now, my fine fellow, take that money, go off, 
 and do as J have bid you, or in half an hour you will 
 feel ;i policeman's grip at your throat, and your puny 
 children, in the course of a few weeks may, perhaps, get 
 a holiday from the workhouse, to go and see their father 
 hanged. How do you fancy the picture I have drawn, 
 eh r 
 
 \V ilk ins took the note, put it in his pocket mechanic- 
 ally for he was so bowed down with grief that he knew 
 not what he was doing, and he dared not say anything 
 further to increase the anger and renew the taunts of his 
 tyrant then he made the best of his way to his miser- 
 able dwelling. 
 
 Cheatem carefully burned every scrap of the loose 
 paper that was laying about, and then having locked the 
 door of the office, he put the key in his pocket and 
 started off towards the city. In the course of half-an- 
 hour he entered the office of Mr. Gripes, who, after wish- 
 ing him good morning, thus addressed him: 
 " Well, Cheatem, have you been successful ?" 
 Cheatem triumphantly placed the letter he had re- 
 ceived from his clerk in Gripes' hands and bid him look 
 at he superscription. 
 
 "Capital, upon my word," replied he, after carefully 
 oxamining it. " Hughes's hand-writing to a T. Whose 
 handiwork is this?" 
 
 <- My clerk Wilkins," replied Cheatem. "Nothing 
 could have been more ajsropos to the occasion. You
 
 190 THE LAWYER'S STORY; OR, 
 
 know Wilkins is a capital hand at imitating handwrit- 
 ing; but the fool pretends to be conscientious, and I 
 have never before been able to get him to do a job of 
 this kind for me ; while, at the same time, I can't turn 
 him away, for, in the first place, he knows too much, 
 and then I only pay him fifteen shillings a week, and no- 
 body else would work as he does for twenty shillings. 
 Well, on Monday evening, when he reached home, he 
 found the children all crying, and his wife, who has not 
 been about since the last child was born, lying dead and 
 cold in bed, the infant screaming on the bed by its dead 
 mother's side. The next morning the fellow came to 
 me with a long face, and had the impudence to ask me 
 to lend him five pounds, in advance of his salary, in 
 order that he might bury his wife ; and he also asked 
 for leave to remain away from the office till after the 
 funeral. Of course, I refused him, and told him if he 
 was not punctual to his duties, to the minute, as usual, I 
 would send him adrift, to starve with his beggarly chil- 
 dren. I can always humble the stupid fool by telling 
 him that, for he thinks I am in earnest. He doesn't 
 know the service he is to me. Shortly afterwards, you 
 mentioned this scheme to me, and it struck me directly 
 that Wilkins was the man to do it and now was the 
 time to make him do it. So I called him into my pri- 
 vate office, and set him to work to imitate the specimen 
 of handwriting you procured for me from Hughes's office, 
 and told him if he would sit up all night until he could 
 imitate it exactly, and freely, I would give him the five 
 pounds he needed. He gladly consented, and I locked 
 him in the office and went home. This morning I went 
 to the office early, with a draft of the letter 1 wanted 
 written, and got him to copy that repeatedly until he 
 was perfect in it ; and then, before he was aware of what 
 he was doing, I made him add Mr. Hughes's signature 
 and seal, and direct the letter. " When he had finished 
 it, I gave him the five pounds, and then the fool began 
 to grumble at having been compelled to commit forgery, 
 as he called it. I soon quieted him, however, by a little
 
 THE ORPHAN'S WRONGS. 191 
 
 bullying and threatening, and after sending him off to 
 bury his wife, I came here. I shall now put the letter 
 if you will return it to me in the post-office near Mr. 
 Hughes's place of business. The carriage will be sent 
 as agreed upon, and the girl will be in Southampton by 
 three o'clock to-morrow morning. The vessel will sail 
 with the tide at daylight, and no one can get the slightest 
 cue as to where the girl has gone. You, I suppose, have 
 obtained the necessary letters for the captain of the ship 
 from the earl ?" 
 
 " Yes, I have ; but, to tell you the truth, I am some- 
 what fearful of the result of this business. Suppose 
 Wilkins should blab?" 
 
 " He dare not. I should charge him with forgery, and 
 get him arrested at once." 
 
 " And then he would acknowledge having written a 
 letter to Mrs. Hughes, imitating, at your request, her 
 husband's handwriting, and forging his signature." 
 
 "Who would believe him, if he did? Besides, 1 
 believe the fool is so completely cut up, in consequence 
 of his wife's death, that he scarcely knows what he has 
 been doing." 
 
 " I am not so sure that no one would believe him. 
 At all events, it would blow up the whole affair, and 
 make a pretty expose. You would have to make your- 
 self scarce as soon as you could, and be lucky if you got 
 off at all." 
 
 "I would?" exclaimed Cheatem, with his sardonic 
 smile and demon-like expression of countenance that 
 usually accompanied it. "I would! Well, I rather like 
 that; it's cool and refreshing. I would, eh! Well, Mr. 
 Gripes, and of course you would be entirely safe. Your 
 character would remain unimpeachable, under any cir- 
 cumstances. Would it? Let me tell you, sir, should 
 any difficulty arise through this last business, you row 
 in the same boat, chained to the same* oar with me, and 
 if I mistake not, some persons, holding a very lofty 
 head, will bear us company." 
 
 " Cheatem, I have had nothing to do with forging
 
 192 THE LAWYER'S STORY; OR, 
 
 that letter. I merely talked the subject over with you, 
 and you carried it out. I wash my hands of it alto- 
 gether, sir." 
 
 " And pray, who procured the letters from the earl, 
 and who gave you, Mr. Gripes immaculate as you are 
 two hundred pounds you say, although I shouldn't 
 wonder if it were twice that amount, to carry out the 
 project. Answer me that/' 
 
 " As to the letters from the earl that you speak of, 
 my dear Cheatem, how do I know what is contained in 
 the letters a nobleman, high in rank, gives into my pos- 
 session, to transmit for him, to some friends abroad; and 
 as to the two hundred pounds upon my honor, Cheatem, 
 that was the whole amount his lordship is excessively 
 stingy I have given him an acknoAvledgment that tho 
 sum is a loan, for the purpose of enabling me to carry 
 on a lawsuit according to the belief of his lordship, per- 
 fectly honorable in its nature." 
 
 " And what about the hundred pounds I am to receive 
 to-night ?" exclaimed Cheatem. 
 
 " Why, my dear fellow, unless you choose to give me 
 just such an acknowledgment as I gave the earl, my 
 opinion is, that you won't get the hundred pounds, nor 
 yet a penny towards it ; and you will have to carry the 
 job through at your own expense; for my boy has put 
 the letter you showed me in the post-office before this, and 
 therefore it is now too late to retract." 
 
 " Gripes," exclaimed Cheatern, " upon my soul you 
 are a smart fellow ; you are, indeed ! You have out- 
 witted me. However, it's no use complaining, and I 
 have no doubt the thing will succeed famously. As soon 
 as the carriage arrives with the girl at Phoenix Tavern 
 at Knightsbridge, where the post boy will change horses, 
 I will see him fairly started, and come to you and write 
 the acknowledgment, and receive the hundred pounds. 
 Then I will call at my office and set Wilkins three or 
 four days work, to keep his mind fully employed, and 
 leave by the train to-night for Southampton, so as to
 
 THE ORPHAN'S WRONGS. 193 
 
 arrange matters, and see the girl fairly off out of the 
 country." 
 
 " That is talking sensibly, Cheatem. You see you 
 are* in my power, and it is better that we should do 
 things in a friendly manner. When the girl is clear of 
 London without any suspicion having been aroused, I 
 will pay the hundred pounds ; and if you manage mat- 
 ters so as to get her off to sea without exciting suspi- 
 cion, I promise to give you twenty pounds more, though 
 I should have to pay it out of my own pocket. Now, 
 as I am somewhat busy for the present, I wish you good 
 day." 
 
 The two rascals then parted, Gripes retiring to his 
 private office, and Cheatem proceeding to put his plans 
 into operation. 
 
 CHAPTEE XIX. 
 
 The Convent of St. Euphemia The Lady Abbess receives a 
 visitor, who does not appear to be very welcome. 
 
 IN a lovely, romantic valley a few miles distant from 
 the city of Turin, in Italy, lying a furlong or more off 
 the public road, and closely secluded amidst groves of 
 venerable forest trees, whose majestic girth and wide- 
 spreading limbs betoken the growth of centuries, is 
 situated the convent of Saint Euphemia. However rigid 
 may be the mental discipline to which its inmates are 
 subjected, there is nothing ascetic in its outward ap- 
 pearance; for even the somewhat solemn aspect of the 
 stately monastic pile of buildings of which it is com- 
 posed is strictly in keeping with the wild and yet 
 beautiful scenery by which it is surrounded, and the 
 grounds immediately contiguous to the convent are 
 laid out in a style of artistic elegance that tli3 princely 
 occupant of a palace might well envy, for nature and 
 art have both done their utmost to embellish the spot. 
 The delicious fruits which the glorious climate and fer- 
 9
 
 194: THE LAWYER'S STORY; OR, 
 
 tile soil of Italy produce in such abundance hang in 
 tempting festoons from hundreds of fruit trees of the 
 choicest description, and the soft balmy air is redolent 
 with the perfume of flowers ; the shade afforded by the 
 trees tempers the heat of the sun's rays, which might 
 otherwise be too oppressive in a country where for the 
 greater portion of the year the sky is without a cloud ; 
 and from amidst the thick foliage of the trees is heard 
 from morn till night the song of birds, who in this safe 
 and peaceful retreat have built their nests and reared 
 their young from generation to generation, and who 
 seem as though they sought to repay the hospitable se- 
 curity thus afforded them with the sweetest music that 
 can enliven the solitude and enhance the charms which 
 nature has so bountifully lavished. 
 
 The visitor to this lovely place and though few are 
 allowed to intrude upon the sanctity of the convent, 
 most travellers visit the grounds might almost fancy 
 that here ilasselas might have found the happiness he 
 sought for in vain, after having escaped from the lovely 
 gardens of the Abyssinian palace. 
 
 Over this convent presides Sister Anathasia, or the 
 Countess de Tivoli, the sister-in-law of the Earl of Shrop- 
 shire, and here did Lady Mary Alton receive her early 
 education under the direction of Father Anselmo, who, 
 as I have heretofore mentioned, was for several years 
 chaplain and confessor of the convent. Well might the 
 youthful imagination of Lady Mary have been impressed 
 with the beauty and repose she saw around her here ; 
 well might she long, after having passed through years 
 of mental suffering, to return and pass the remainder of 
 her life in this peaceful sylvan retreat, where, to outward 
 appearance at least, it would seem impossible that the 
 trials and troubles incident to worldly life could find 
 admittance. 
 
 The Countess de Tivoli was the second daughter of the 
 Prince de Tivoli, upon whose estates this convent and 
 its grounds were situated, and who had sold it to the 
 church for a very large sum of money with the condi
 
 THE ORPHAN'S WRONGS. 195 
 
 tion, that a member of his family, if so inclined, should 
 always preside over it. The eldest daughter of the 
 prince had married the Earl of Shropshire, and on the 
 death of her father the youngest daughter having sig- 
 nified her intention to take the veil had succeeded to 
 the paternal estates, from which the earl still draws a 
 considerable revenue. 
 
 I have already mentioned that the Countess of Shrop- 
 shire died while Lady Mary was quite an infant, and 
 it was in consequence of this sad occurrence that she 
 was placed, at the Countess de Tivoli's request, under 
 her care, until she was of sufficient age to receive in- 
 struction from competent teachers at her father's pater- 
 nal mansion. As is customary, the Countess de Tivoli 
 had, upon assuming the veil, taken the name of a fa- 
 vorite saint by which name she was always spoken of 
 by the inmates of the convent, although abroad she 
 was still known by the title which she inherited through 
 her noble birth. 
 
 She was, although, of course, a strict Catholic, by no 
 means bigoted or averse to cheerfulness, and as she was 
 very fond of her little niece ; the natural desire peculiar 
 to woman to concentrate her love on one darling object, 
 which had not been destroyed, if it had perhaps been 
 deadened by her severe mental and religious training, 
 being apparent in the mother's care she bestowed upon 
 the infant ; who thus was early taught to love her, and 
 deeply as she sometimes felt the cold sternness of her 
 father's disposition, in after life, to yearn, in secret, for 
 the affection she so well remembered as having been 
 lavished upon her when a child. 
 
 The elder sister of the Countess de Tivoli had been re- 
 markable for her beauty ; but such was not the case 
 Avith sister Anathasia, who had suffered severely from the 
 small pox when a child, and the fell disease had left its 
 imprint upon her features, besides otherwise destroying 
 their symmetry. I would not wish to speak disparag- 
 ingly ; but perhaps the knowledge that she possessed 
 few or no personal attractions and was therefore, at least
 
 196 'THE LAWYER'S STORY; OR, 
 
 until she was intimately known, and the sweetness of 
 her disposition acknowledged, little calculated to win the 
 affections of the gay gallants around her, was the pri- 
 mary cause of her having resolved to devote her life 
 to the service of religion. To this determination she 
 found no obstacle presented; her father was anxious 
 that the convent should be ruled by one of his daughters, 
 although the estate had passed from his hands, and he 
 was riot displeased (according to rumor) that his homely, 
 and while young, somewhat sickly child, should thus 
 find good reason to absent herself from the gay festivi- 
 ties of his palace. 
 
 It was late in the evening of an early autumn day; 
 the vespers had been said or sung, and the inhabitants 
 of this little community had retired to their own small, 
 cell like apartments, when the sound of wheels was heard 
 and a carriage drove up to the gate of the convent and 
 the bell was loudly rung. Sister Anathasia was startled 
 from the perusal of a large illuminated missal spread 
 open on a table at which she was seated, and she was 
 advanced to -the door of her apartment with the inten- 
 tion of summoning the portress and inquiring the cause 
 of this unexpected and unwonted intrusion at that late 
 hour, when she was met by the nun, upon whom, in 
 turn, the duty of portress had fallen, who informed her 
 that two ladies were below who had arrived in the com- 
 pany of a gentleman who had driven off in the carriage 
 as soon as she had answered the summons of the bell. 
 
 "Two ladies! who can they be who seek the hospi- 
 tality of the convent at this late hour, sister Bertha?" 
 said the abbess. 
 
 " Indeed ! know not, my lady," replied the nun ; 
 " but the elder lady bade me present this token to the 
 lady abbess." 
 
 "Ah!" said the Abbess, taking from the hands of 
 sister Bertha a signet ring and reading the inscription on 
 the stone ; " De Paoli ! strange indeed that she should 
 visit me, and in this guise. This however is a token that 
 she would have secrecy observed regarding her visit."
 
 THE ORPHAN'S WRONGS. 197 
 
 These latter words were muttered in whispers rather than 
 spoken ; but after musing for a few moments, the abbess 
 turned to the portress and said aloud : " Come they late 
 or early we must not be deficient in the rites of hospi- 
 tality to those of our own sex and our holy religion. 
 
 Bertha, show the Countess 1 mean usher the ladies, 
 
 into my presence. 
 
 When the nun had retired to obey this order, the ab- 
 bess paced the room in a rapid, impatient manner, which 
 showed that however she might desire to extend the 
 outward semblance of hospitality, she was by no means 
 pleased at the arrival of her visitors. 
 
 " Who can it be that has come with the Countess," she 
 thought ; " it cannot surely be Maria ; and yet something 
 tells rne it can be no other than she. Well, sister Maria 
 is welcome back to St. Euphemia, albeit that she is bound 
 in thraldom to those who I fear me are by their own zeal 
 doing injury to our holy faith ; for her conscience is too 
 pure, if she still remains the sister Maria of former days, 
 to permit herself calmly to do evil that good may come 
 therefrom. But the countess; stern, haughty and repell- 
 ing as is her brother: intrigue follows wherever she 
 plants her footsteps. It is now years since I have seen 
 her, and I had hoped when she married de Paoli that I 
 had seen the last of her; but I must assume an appear- 
 ance of composure. I must not betray before her, the 
 prejudice I feel; besides, it would be churlish not to bid 
 her welcome after so long an absence." 
 
 As these thoughts crossed her mind, the lady who has 
 been already introduced to my readers as being con- 
 cerned in the futile endeavor to carry off Georgiana from, 
 Philadelphia, made her appearance, and accompanied by- 
 Maria, who it will be recollected wrote the letter which 
 planned the method of the poor girl's escape. 
 
 The meeting between the abbess and the countess was 
 constrained, notwithstanding the endeavor of both to 
 throw as much warmth and cordiality into it as possible. 
 But sister Maria's reception was marked by a kindness 
 of tone and a friendly solicitude that showed the abbess
 
 198 THE LAWYER'S STORY ; OR, 
 
 really held her in high estimation, although she dif- 
 fered, as we have seen, from some of her peculiar tenets. 
 
 " You can leave us, sister Maria," said the Countess 
 de Paoli, after the first greetings had been exchanged ; 
 " I would speak to the Lady Abbess alone. Perhaps 
 her ladyship will at once permit you to go to your dor- 
 mitory, for I am sure, that like me, you must be fatigued 
 with the travel we have lately undergone." 
 
 Sister Anathasia desired Bertha to conduct the newly 
 arrived visitor to her sleeping apartment, and as soon as 
 the two nuns had quitted the room, the Countess de Pa- 
 oli said 
 
 " I thank you, my noble sister, that you so well recog- 
 nized the symbol of secrecy I sent to you by the portress. 
 I have reasons wherefore I would not wish it to be known 
 that I am here at present, and after I have made certain 
 disclosures to you, I must beg your permission imme- 
 diately to retire from the convent, as I have business of 
 importance on hand, which must be attended to to-mor- 
 row morning. I will, however, solicit an extension of 
 your hospitality for sister Maria, who, with your per- 
 mission, will, for the present, remain here. I can place 
 implicit confidence in her discretion. 
 
 " You are doubtless astonished at receiving a visit from 
 me after so long an absence, and at this untimely hour; 
 but I will briefly explain the cause. Know in the first 
 place that the business on which I have come, although 
 unhappily it has fallen through, closely concerns your 
 noble brother-in-law and my brother the Earl of Shrop- 
 shire. It is long since } 7 ou have seen your niece, Lady 
 Mary Alton?" 
 
 " Long since !" replied the abbess. " Yes, it is long 
 indeed since I have seen her. Years and years ago, 
 when she was a mere child, she left me to join her father 
 in England, and never since then has she paid me a visit, 
 although my heurt still yearns towards her as that of a 
 mother to an absent child." 
 
 " And therefore you are deeply interested in her wel- 
 fare?"
 
 THE ORPHAN'S WRONGS. 199 
 
 " Deeply so, indeed ; more deeply so, I fear, than be- 
 seems one whose affections should be centred on things 
 heavenly, to the exclusion of aught else ; but we cannot 
 cast aside at pleasure, the weakness of our frail hu- 
 manity." 
 
 " And yet. my lady, it is our duty to do so at the bid- 
 ding of the Church, whose authority has been sanctioned 
 by Heaven. We must heed not the vain affections of 
 the flesh where duty bids us throw them off, even though 
 we, in our weakness, fancy that we are doing that 
 which is in itself evil. We must recollect always that 
 there are those placed over us in saintly authority whose 
 province it is to command as it is ours to obey. You 
 si^h ; I know that you are strangely opposed to some of 
 the stricter principles of the Order to which I arn bound 
 in secular obedience, although I have not taken upon 
 myself the vows of its holier, loftier duties. ' Those also 
 serve who only stand and wait/ and it is necessary that 
 some, while they bow to the behests of the church, should 
 mingle, unsuspected, amidst the busy throng of the 
 world. However, I will not dwell upon this subject. 
 Your nieces' future prospects have been greatly clouded 
 for some years past, in consequence of false claimants 
 having risen up to wrest from her certain property she 
 possesses, and which (mark this, Sister Anathasia) she 
 will liberally dispense for the support of the church. 
 The Earl of Shropshire naturally became alarmed at the 
 demonstrations that were made by those who urged these 
 parties on to this foul scbeme, and he sought my assist- 
 ance, promising, should I be successful, to bestow a con- 
 siderable portion of the estate contiguous to this convent, 
 on the church. I sought counsel from those who are 
 bound to advise as I am to obey, and received their sanc- 
 tion 10 use my utmost influence to put a stop to the ini- 
 quitous proceedings. With this object in view, a search 
 for certain parties in America was commenced ; these 
 parties being ignorant themselves of the part they were 
 called upon to play ; but their acquiescence being neces- 
 sary to carry out the intentions of Lady Mary's enemies. 
 They were found a boy and a girl and since it was
 
 200 THE LAWYER'S STORY; OR, 
 
 necessary for the prosecution of the scheme that they 
 should together visit England, it was determined 10 
 secure the girl and bring her hither, where, by kind 
 treatment, and a judicious course of proceeding, mingled 
 with threats, provided she should continue to hanker after 
 the evil advice of those who are seeking to lead her 
 astray, it was hoped that she might be induced, even- 
 tually, to take the veil, and thus hiding herself from the 
 world, effectually to baffle the evil-minded men who 
 would lead her to assist in the committal of this evil. 
 Not only would Lady Mary thus be rescued from the 
 difficulties which threaten her, but a soul would be 
 rescued from the schisms of heresy and received into the 
 bosom of Mother Church. All was arranged, and the 
 Count de Paoli and I, accompanied by Sister Maria, who 
 had been deputed to act under our orders in this matter, 
 had succeeded in discovering the girl, and had taken 
 passage for Trieste, with a view of bringing her hither 
 to be placed under your instruction and control. But, 
 alas for the vanity of earthly endeavors ! when we 
 thought that we had succeeded, and the vessel had ac- 
 tually left the port of Philadelphia, the girl was missing. 
 How, no one knows ; for she was brought on board but 
 a few minutes before, under the eye of Sister Maria. 
 Whether any accident has befallen her, or whether she 
 has been decoyed away from the vessel at the very mo- 
 ment of her departure from the wharf, we are ignorant; 
 enough for us to know that our plans have, for the pre- 
 sent, failed, and all has to be done over again." 
 
 " And in what degree am I concerned in this misad- 
 venture ?" said the abbess. 
 
 " Only," replied the countess, "inasmuch, that believ- 
 ing you would be inclined to aid us (should the girl be 
 still alive, and again fall into our power) when once you 
 were made aware of the nature of the case and the danger 
 which threatens your niece, I thought it advisible to 
 make the disclosure to you, in order to prepare you for 
 any event that may happen." 
 
 " Even now, I am ignorant of the real facts respecting 
 \ny niece," replied the abbess.
 
 THE ORPHAN'S WRONGS. 201 
 
 " And the details are too long and too complicated 
 for me to define them in this brief interview," said 
 the countess. " Jt is enough that I tell you 1 have your 
 brother-in-law's sanction, and the higher sanction oif mj 
 Superiors, to ask you to receive the girl in the convent, 
 should she again fall into our power ; for we suspect that 
 she is still living, and that treachery has been employed 
 to effect her escape." 
 
 " If it be as you say, I will do my best to convince the 
 child of the heavy guilt of her course, and the evil that 
 must eventually grow out of it." 
 
 " And should she be delivered into your charge, you 
 will retain her here, at least until you are satisfied that 
 my suspicions are unfounded." 
 
 " I know not that I have a right even to do this ; but 
 I will use my utmost powers of persuasion to induce her 
 willingly to comply with my desires." 
 
 " It is enough. I will now bid you farewell." 
 
 " Not surely at this late hour ; it is near the stroke of 
 midnight. It would not be seemly or safe to quit the 
 convent alone at this hour." 
 
 " Be not alarmed, my dear Lady Abbess. My husband 
 awaits me without, with a carriage, in which we will 
 return to Turin, whence we came this evening. It is but 
 four days since we landed at Trieste. I will thank you 
 to order sister Bertha to let me out secretly, and will 
 leave Sister Maria, for the present, with you. Sister 
 Anathasia, I bid you farewell." 
 
 She left the chamber of the abbess, and in a few minutes 
 the latter heard the sound of carriage wheels, which gra- 
 dually died away in the distance. 
 
 The abbess then retired to her couch, much troubled in 
 mind at the promise she had been by such plausible argu- 
 ment, led to make, for she was not at all satisfied of the 
 truth of all she had heard. The reader has already seen 
 that she mistrusted the Countess de Paoli; "but," said 
 she, as she laid her head upon her pillow, " I will speak 
 to sister Maria upon the subject to-morrow." 
 
 9*
 
 202 THE LAWYER'S STORY; OR, 
 
 CHAPTER XX. 
 
 Cheatem appears in a new phase of villany An elopement, 
 but not to Gretna Green. 
 
 WE now return to the abduction of Miss Fitzherbert, 
 spoken of in a former chapter. 
 
 As the carriage in which Georgiana was seated drove 
 rapidly towards the city, the young girl gave herself up 
 to a delightful reverie, occasioned by the anticipated 
 meeting with her brother. " Where had he been ; what 
 had he been doing, and what had now brought him back?" 
 were questions which she revolved in her own mind, 
 and then she answered them triumphantly by thinking 
 "but I shall soon hear all from his own lips" and so 
 the time passed away until the post-chaise stopped to 
 change horses at Knightsbridge ; when, ignorant as she 
 was of London localities, and busy as were her thoughts, 
 she still was surprised at the idea of changing horses, 
 when she knew that it was but eight miles from Mr. 
 Hughes's residence at Clapham to his office in London. 
 
 Somewhat alarmed, she opened the door of the chaise, 
 and was about to put some questions to the postboy, 
 when she was accosted by a rather elderly gentleman, 
 with hair as white as driven snow, which gave him a 
 venerable appearance, that his weasel-like features at 
 the same time did their best to belie. 
 
 " Pardon me," said the gentleman, who was no other 
 than our friend Cheatem, disguised in a white wig, and 
 a decent suit of black clothes, instead of his own red hair 
 arid well-worn suit of rusty, seedy cloth, from which the 
 original dye had well nigh faded ; " pardon me, miss ; 
 may I ask if I have the pleasure of seeing Miss Fitzher- 
 bert?"
 
 THE ORPHAN'S WRONGS. 203 
 
 "My name is Fitzherbert, sir," said Georgiana, not 
 half liking the appearance of the interrogator, notwith- 
 standing his made-up respectability. 
 
 " I am happy to make your acquaintance, miss. I am 
 deputed on the part of Mr. Hughes to inform you that 
 your brother Adolphus has been unexpectedly detained 
 at Southampton, and he has gone there to meet him. 
 He could not wait to see you, but he requested me to 
 escort you thither, as you will perceive when you have 
 read this letter." 
 
 He presented her a note, written in the handwriting 
 of Mr. Hughes, which ran as follows : 
 
 " Miss Fitzherbert will excuse my having failed to 
 meet her as 1 have promised in the note I sent to Clap- 
 ham this morning ; but the unexpected detention of her 
 brother at Southampton has induced me to hasten 
 thither without losing a moment's time. I have re- 
 quested Mr. Wilson, a particular friend, to whose care 
 Miss F. may safely confide herself, to accompany her to 
 Southampton, at which place her brother and I will meet 
 her. I have sent a note to Mrs. Hughes, apprising her 
 of this change in my intentions. 
 
 " HUGHES H. HUGHES. 
 
 "Lincoln's Inn 3 P. M." 
 
 The perusal of this note at once quieted the misgiv- 
 ings that had already began to fill the mind of Georgiana 
 with apprehension. Nevertheless, she could not but 
 think the proceedings rather strange. " Why," thought 
 she, "did the carriage stop here instead of proceeding 
 to Mr. Ilughes's office, at Lincoln's Inn ? and why should 
 lie have sent a friend to meet me at the stage office, 
 instead of requesting him to meet rne at his own cham- 
 bers?" Still, the note, in connection with that which 
 had been received by Mrs. Hughes in the morning, 
 plainly showed that all was right. However, she could 
 not help putting the questions to her companion de
 
 204 THE LAWYER'S STORY; OR, 
 
 voyage, who had already ensconced himself in the post- 
 chaise by her side. 
 
 " My dear Miss," replied Cheatem, alias Wilson, " it 
 will be necessary for us to change horses several times 
 in the course of the journey, and this is the first post- 
 house, and the one nearest to Lincoln's Inn. In meeting 
 you here, I have saved much delay, and as Mr. Hughes 
 has the start of us he wished me to save as much time 
 as possible." 
 
 (They were full two miles distant from Lincoln's Inn, 
 and quite in a contrary direction from Clapham ; but 
 that, of course, Miss Fitzherbert was entirely ignorant of, 
 as she knew nothing of the localities of London.) 
 
 " I wish I had only known that before I left Clapham," 
 she replied, " and then I would have made preparations 
 for a longer journey, for I am really now quite unpre- 
 pared with any change of clothing." 
 
 " It must, of course, be a source of annoyance to a lady 
 to undertake a journey at so short a warning," replied 
 Cheatem, " but it will scarcely be twenty-four hours 
 before you are back again in London with your brother 
 and Mr. Hughes ; therefore, I trust you will experience 
 little inconvenience." 
 
 " At any rate, I must make the best of any I may 
 experience," replied Georgiana, gaily, and she really felt 
 not a little girlish delight at the thought of such a singu- 
 lar and unexpected escapade. " When shall we arrive 
 at Southampton ?" continued she, after some moments 
 silence. 
 
 " I should imagine about three o'clock to-morrow 
 morning," replied her companion. 
 
 "And shall we have to travel all night? that will, in- 
 deed, be something new, .to me here," and then a shade 
 of melancholy crossed her countenance as she thought 
 how once before she had made a midnight journey in 
 the United States, under widely different circumstances ; 
 " then," she thought, " I did meet my brother, at last, 
 though I thought I was going away from him for ever : 
 I am now going purposely to meet him," and she fell
 
 THE ORPHAN'S WRONGS. 205 
 
 into a train of thought, superinduced by the reflections 
 she had made, until about nine o'clock, when the post- 
 chaise stopped at an hotel at Windsor, where she was 
 aroused from her reverie by her companion asking her 
 if she would now alight and take some supper, before 
 they proceeded on the next stage of their journey. 
 
 This she was glad to do, for she had fasted since break- 
 fast time, the excitement of her mind preventing her until 
 now from feeling inclined to eat ; but now she felt really 
 hungry. Having dispatched a hasty and plain, but sub- 
 stantial meal, Cheatem and his unconscious victim again 
 entered the post-chaise, and the rascally lawyer, having 
 partaken at the hotel, of two or three glasses of whisky 
 punch, was soon sound asleep. 
 
 Not so, however, his companion. The novelty of 
 her situation, and the many strange thoughts that came 
 crowding into her mind as the post-chaise rolled rapidly 
 and smoothly along the road, kept her awake through- 
 out the whole night ; nor did she experience the least 
 sense of weariness ; for the road from Windsor to South- 
 ampton passes through some of the finest scenery in 
 England, and towns and populous villages are thickiy 
 interspersed. The night was moonlight, and, altogether, 
 to Georgiana the journey was scarcely less delightful 
 than it was novel. At length, about half-past three 
 o'clock, when the dawn of day had just began to show 
 symptoms of its approach, she caught from the summit 
 of a rising ground, over which the post-chaise was pass- 
 ing, a distant view of the fine harbor of Southampton 
 and the sea beyond, apparently smooth and glistening 
 as a polished mirror, and reflecting on its surface the 
 golden tints of the sun which had just shown its rim 
 above the horizon. A turn in the road shut out the bril- 
 liant picture from view, and in twenty minutes more they 
 filtered Southampton, just as Cheatem had awoke from 
 his long nap. 
 
 The post-chaise stopped at the hotel. 
 
 " This is Southampton, I do believe," said Cheatem,
 
 206 THE LAWYER'S STORY; OR, 
 
 who was rubbing his eyes and arranging his clothing, 
 being as yet but half awake. 
 
 "Southampton, sir," said the postboy, opening the 
 door, and touching his hat, " Please to remember the 
 postboy, your honor." 
 
 Cheatem placed a sovereign in the man's hand. 
 
 '' You have driven famously, my good fellow," said 
 he, " and managed matters very well. There is a sove- 
 reign, over and above your bargain.'' 
 
 "Thank your honor, and when you want another 
 little job like this done, I'rn on hand. You'll remem- 
 ber Jack Horton, your honor." 
 
 " Aye, aye, my man," replied Cheatem, as after this 
 confab with the postboy, which had taken place on the 
 steps of the hotel, he assisted Georgiana to alight. 
 
 " A runaway match, I'll be bound," said the post 
 boy, as he looked on at some little distance: "but the 
 bridegroom be a kveer old 'un, for sitch a jolly young 
 bride. 'Puzzles me as they did'nt make headvay to 
 Gretna ; my osses knows every inch o' that road : 
 Howsomever may hap it be safer to place salt vater 
 atween them and the young 'uns dadd, who'se sure to be 
 arter heron the old Gretna road. I guess this be a new 
 dodge." 
 
 "Are my brother and Mr. Hughes here?" exclaimed 
 Georgiana, as she ascended the steps in front of the en- 
 trance to the hotel. 
 
 " I do not see them," replied Cheatem : " but I will 
 conduct you to a place of safety, and then endeavor to 
 find them out: May be, they are expecting us at some 
 other hotel." 
 
 He led Georgiana into the ladies waiting-room, and 
 having ordered a cup of coffee to be brought to her, re- 
 quested her to wait his return with her brother and Mr. 
 Hughes. 
 
 In a few moments he returned, saying that he had 
 been informed that Mr. Hughes had gone on board a 
 brig lying in the harbor, on board of which was Adol- 
 phus, who had been on a sea voyage, and he proposed
 
 THE ORPHAN'S WROXGS. 207 
 
 that they they should hire a boat and go on board and 
 surprise them ; "unless," he added, "you are too tired, 
 Miss Fitzherbert ?" 
 
 " Not at all," she replied, " indeed, I should like it 
 above all things. The harbor looked so calm and 
 beautiful as we came over the hill just before we 
 entered the town, and Adolphus will be so surprised." 
 
 '' You are quite a heroine, Miss Fitzherbert, I declare," 
 said Cheatem, with an affectation of gallantry, as they 
 sallied from the hotel and walked towards the beach, 
 where a number of boats were waiting to be hired. 
 
 "Boat! yer honor boat! lady a fine morning for 
 a row in the bay," was the salutation from twenty voices 
 as they drew near. 
 
 " We wish to be put on board that Italian brig," 
 said Cheatem, addressing one of the boatmen. 
 
 "All right, sir," said the man addressed; "capital 
 boat mine, sir. Have you on board in less than five 
 minutes. Easy, sir; take care how you step along, the 
 plank so that's well. Now, my pretty young lady, 
 let an old sailor carry you across the plank, and sit you 
 down beside your father, or else may be you'll wet your 
 pretty feet. There, don't be frightened ; lor bless you ! 
 I've got darters at home older nor you, and Jim Crispo's 
 never the man to see a lady inconvenienced when his 
 strong arm can perwent it." 
 
 Having been safely placed in the boat, the sturdy old 
 sailor bent to his oars and in a few moments they were 
 alongside the brig. One of the crew assisted the young 
 lady up the side, followed by Cheatem, who, when he 
 had seen her safely landed on the deck, and exchanged 
 signals with a middle aged female who was on board, 
 jmmediatety, somewhat to the surprise of the boatman, 
 again descended into the boat and desired him to pull 
 ashore. At the same moment the order was given on 
 />oard the brig in Italian, to " brace for'ard the main 
 yard ;" for the main yard had been backed, to allow of 
 the approach of the boat, and the vessel glided swiftly 
 out of the bay before a light favorable breeze.
 
 208 THE LAWYER'S STORY; OK, 
 
 There was a scream of hopeless agony and despair 
 heard from on board the vessel, and then the distance 
 was too great to hear more. The breeze had separated 
 the brig far apart from the boat. The boatman ap- 
 peared bewildered. 
 
 "Pull ashore, my man," said Cheatem. 
 
 " Well, this be a strange how d'ye do," said the old 
 seaman, scratching his head, "blow me if I know what 
 to make on it." 
 
 " The poor girl is insane," replied Cheatem, " she has 
 been for some time under my care, and now her parents 
 wish her to return to them, in hopes that the climate of 
 Italy, where t} y are at present residing, may be bene- 
 ficial to her. IShe has become so attached to me, that it 
 was necessary to employ this little ruse to get her off 
 quietly. Poor child ! I shall be glad to hear that the 
 change of air and scenery does her good ; but I fear her 
 case is incurable." 
 
 " Only to think on't," said the boatman, as he bent to 
 his oars, " such a sweet, pretty young lady to be mad, 
 and she so mild and gentle spoken, too. Her father and 
 mother are to be pitied, poor things, as much as she her- 
 self. Do you know, sir, I tho't as how you were her 
 father at first, tho' to tell the truth on't, there be'ant 
 much resemblance between you ; but you, I s'pose, be 
 a mad doctor ?" 
 
 " Yes, my good fellow," replied Cheatem. 
 
 "You must see a powerful heap o' orful sights," said 
 the sailor, as the boat grounded on the beach and 
 Cheatem stepped on shore. " Good-day, your honor, 
 and thankee," added the boatman, as Cheatem, in high 
 glee at his success, handed him half a crown, over and 
 above his fare. 
 
 The sailor went home to tell his good fortune to his 
 wife and family, pondering however, as he strolled care- 
 lessly along, on the supposed sad malady of the hapless 
 lady, and Cheatem hastened back to London, where he 
 speedily sought out his friend Gripes, showed satisfactory 
 proof of the success of his adventure, and received the 
 promised reward.
 
 THE ORPHAN'S WRONGS. 209 
 
 CHAPTER XXI. 
 
 Another Visitor to the Convent of St. Euphemia The 
 Abbess takes charge of a Novice, ivliom she believes belter 
 fitted for a Lunatic Asylum. 
 
 SOME months after the events had transpired, which 
 are recorded in the foregoing chapter, a carriage, with 
 the windows and blinds closely drawn, drove up the 
 avenue to the convent of Saint Euphemia, heretofore 
 described ; the hall bell was rung and the portress ad- 
 mitted two females, the elder of whom demanded an 
 audience of the Lady Abbess. 
 
 This was granted and she was shown into an ante- 
 chamber, where she was met by sister Anathasia, having 
 left her younger companion in the great hall of the con- 
 vent, in charge of the portress. 
 
 The young female did not appear to be more than 
 twenty years of age, and it was evident some secret sor- 
 row was preying upon her mind, for she sighed deeply 
 at times and held her head bowed down upon her breast ; 
 but she was so closely veiled that the portress, though 
 not a little curious as became her sex, even in a convent, 
 could not obtain a glimpse of her features. 
 
 The portress made one or two attempts to draw the 
 lady into conversation, and to ascertain the nature of 
 the business on which she and her companion had visited 
 the convent ; but receiving only evasive and brief re- 
 plies, she soon tired of her scrutiny, and with a slight 
 toss of the head, indicating insulted dignity, she set her- 
 self to work again at the sewing she was employed upon 
 while engaged in the almost sinecure duty of portress, 
 for the visits to the convent were rare. 
 
 Leaving the sister and the youthful visitor, each to
 
 210 THE LAWYER'S STORY; OR, 
 
 the enjoyment of their own thoughts, since no conversa- 
 tion appears likely to ensue, we will follow the elderly 
 female into the presence of the abbess. 
 
 '' I have the honor," said she, in Italian, " to see the 
 Lady Abbess?" as the Countess de Tivoli entered the 
 room. 
 
 " I am Sister Anathasia, whose humble duty it is to 
 preside over the convent of Saint Euphemia," was the 
 reply. 
 
 " Your ladyship some time since received a visit from 
 the Countess de Paoli, who mentioned to you some in- 
 cidents relative to a young female, who had been in- 
 veigled by some designing persons into fraudulently re- 
 presenting herself as the heiress of a certain property of 
 immense rental, which belongs to your niece, Lady Mary 
 Alton, or rather I should say, which will be hers on the 
 event of her marriage ?" 
 
 " I did receive a visit from the Countess de Paoli ; it 
 must be three months since, and she mentioned some- 
 thing of this kind to me ; although I do not recollect 
 that she made any allusion to the marriage of my niece. 
 If I understood her aright, the property she spoke of as 
 sought to be despoiled by fraudulent parties, belonged 
 to my niepe in her own right." 
 
 " The countess was mistaken, signora, or probably she 
 was not thoroughly acquainted with the merits of the 
 case. The property of right belongs to Lord Henry 
 Fitzherbert ; but there is a lien upon it, which will pre- 
 vent his taking possession, unless he likewise marries 
 the lady Mary." 
 
 " There must be some singular misconception some- 
 where," replied the abbess, " Lady Mary Alton has re- 
 peatedly written to me stating her desire to devote the 
 remainder of her days to a religious life, within the walls 
 of this peaceful convent, and has asserted frequently that 
 she had given up all idea of marriage, since she expe- 
 rienced a blight of her youthful affections years ago." 
 
 "Circumstances have since occurred, my lady, to 
 alter her intentions ; but the purpose for which I have
 
 THE ORPHAN'S WRONGS. 211 
 
 now sought an interview is to inform you that the 
 young female of whom the countess spoke is now in 
 attendance in the hall, and it is the wish of those most 
 deeply interested in your niece's welfare and happi 
 ness that she should be detained here, at least until 
 your ladyship hears further from the Earl of Shrop- 
 shire, or the Countess de Paoli. The mind of this 
 young woman, I am sorry to say, is much shattered, 
 arid she talks strangely of matters which have no founda- 
 tion save in her own excited fancy. It is no doubt for 
 this reason she has been chosen as the dupe of design- 
 ing men to carry out their infamous plot as regards 
 your niece. Her absence, and their ignorance of her 
 place of seclusion, will thwart the designs of those un- 
 principled persons and in due time her mind may re- 
 gain its balance, and she may be induced to take the 
 veil or she may be released from durance; in the former 
 case, the Earl of Shropshire will liberally reimburse the 
 convent for the extra charge incurred : in the latter, his 
 lordship will supply the young woman with means to 
 earn her future living in her own proper station of life." 
 
 " I know not by what right the Earl of Shropshire or 
 the Countess de Paoli assume the control of this con- 
 vent," said the abbess, somewhat haughtily, " nor for 
 what reason I should be placed in the position of a 
 keeper over one, who, according to your own admission, 
 is the more fitting occupant of a lunatic asylum, than a 
 religious house ; nor do I knqw who you are who make 
 these propositions to me." 
 
 " Will your ladyship be pleased to read this letter? 1 ' 
 was the reply of the stranger, who was perfectly un- 
 moved at the wrath of the superior of the convent. 
 
 " The Countess de Tivoli took the letter and exam- 
 ined the seal, which bore the crest of the Earl of Shrop- 
 shire, she then tore open the envelope, and read as fol- 
 lows : 
 
 " Dear sister, by the holy lies of religion, as well as 
 by those of consanguinity, I herewith introduce to your
 
 212 THE LAWYER'S STORY; OR, 
 
 notice, Louisa Tirozzi a lay sister of the Holy Order of 
 Jesus one in whom every trust and confidence may b : 
 placed, and one highly respected by rny sister, tli 
 Countess de Paoli. She brings with her an unhappy 
 young woman, of whom, as de Paoli has informed me, 
 you have already heard ; one whom, on account of he: 1 
 sad mental affliction, has been deemed by my personal 
 enemies, as well as the enemies of our mutual Holy Faith, 
 a fitting instrument to carry out a scheme of fraud of the 
 most atrocious nature, of which, you sister, in your peace- 
 ful and happy seclusion, and in your ignorance of the 
 vice and wickedness 'of the world, can form no concep- 
 tion. 1 have succeeded in rescuing the unfortunate young 
 woman out of the hands of those wicked and designing 
 men, and think it advisable as well for her own sake as for 
 the welfare of my daughter, your niece, that she should, 
 for the present, be removed from the country. Perhaps 
 in the peaceful and happy solitude of the convent of 
 Saint Euphemia, she may in time recover the tone of her 
 mind, and you will not only benefit an unfortunate girl, 
 but likewise serve your niece, Lady Mary, by receiving 
 her. I need not say that I will gladly pay any expenses 
 that may be incurred on the poor girl's account, as I con- 
 sider her merely the unwilling dupe of others, who alone 
 are really guilty. The girl is an American, and has been 
 schooled to pass herself off under the name of Fitzherbert, 
 and is given to talk wildly of a brother she calls Adol- 
 phus, and of other strange, matters which have existence 
 only in her own imagination. Is it not strange how 
 easily insane persons are trained to follow a course of 
 systematic deceit? Yet it is easily accounted for: for 
 the frailty of their minds leads them to identify them- 
 selves with any fable they have been schooled in. 
 
 " Lady Mary Alton sends her love to her beloved 
 aunt, and were it not that circumstances have occurred 
 which have led her to alter her mind as regards the in- 
 tentions of years, she would wish to pass the latter part 
 of her life as she passed the earliest, happiest days of 
 her youth in the peaceful convent of St. Euphemia,
 
 THE ORrilAN's WRONGS. 213 
 
 under the guardianship of the aunt she has never ceased 
 to remember with feelings of earnest affection. She will 
 shortly write and fully explain that which I have only 
 hinted at the cause of her having changed her mind. 
 
 " Trusting that your ladyship may long preside ovet 
 the convent which has so thriven beneath your happy 
 rule, and that you will lend your assistance to your 
 niece in this present difficulty, I sign myself, with 
 feelings of the deepest respect, your unworthy brother- 
 in-law, SHROPSHIRE." 
 
 Having finished the perusal of this letter, Sister 
 Anathasia mused for some moments. " There surely 
 can be nothing wrong," she thought to herself, "in 
 carrying out the request of my sister's brother, for the 
 sake of my beloved niece. Indeed, if it be, as it is 
 stated and why should I think otherwise? it will be 
 an act of charity to a poor, unfortunate of my own sex, 
 who may thus, by my influence be rescued from the 
 vortex of crime, towards which evil-minded men are 
 guiding her. Yet, it is strange, this alteration of pur- 
 pose on the part of my niece ! and singular that she 
 has not addressed me a line! However, I will receive 
 and duly care for the unhappy girl." Then, turning to 
 the female who had been introduced through the letter 
 as Louisa Tirozzi, she said : 
 
 " Pardon me for a sharpness of tone and a suspicion 
 which ill becomes any one, and least of all, one in my 
 position. I will receive the young person my brother- 
 in-law has sent me. Perhaps you had better call her 
 up stairs and I will see her at once." 
 
 " My Lady Abbess," replied the female, " the Earl 
 of Shropshire, and my lady the Countess of Paoli, will 
 be laid under deep obligations to you for this conde- 
 scension on your part, but perhaps it \\ould be as well 
 that I should quit the convent without seeing the poor 
 child; for she, like most unfortunates in her situa- 
 tion, has her peculiar antipathies, and is most violent 
 when I am present. For some days past she has become
 
 214 THE LAWYER'S STORY; OR, 
 
 subdued in temper, for I have, with some difficulty, at 
 last taught her that resistance would be useless; but 
 seeing me in the presence of a stranger, may cause a re 
 newal of her paroxysms." 
 
 " Be it so then. You can retire and tell those who 
 have employed you, that I will do my best to aid them 
 in all that my conscience tells me is right, and I will 
 see the young woman alone. She is harmless I hope ?" 
 
 "Perfectly harmless, my Lady Abbess. It is only in 
 unmeaning words and fancies that her malady finds vent, 
 and she thinks, poor girl, that I am one of those who 
 have wronged her and torn her away from the brother 
 and friends she fancies she possesses." 
 
 "But I thought the Countess de Paoli said she had a 
 brother. If I mistake not, she spoke of two dupes in this 
 concerted viilany a boy and a girl." 
 
 " She has a brother, my Lady Abbess, but he is an 
 American, and she fancies that he came to England with 
 her, and has been decoyed away or murdered.'' 
 
 " Poor, unhappy child ! : ' replied the abbess. 
 
 " Then, now I will bid your ladyship farewell," said 
 the woman ; and as she turned to quit the apartment, she 
 added : " Peace be with this holy house of religion." 
 
 " Peace be with you," replied sister Anathasia ; and as 
 soon as her visitor had quitted the convent, she sent for 
 the unfortunate girl. 
 
 Before proceeding further with my narrative, I may 
 as well state that the woman Tirozzi, as the reader has 
 probably already surmised, was the female who had ap- 
 peared on the deck of the Italian brig when Cheatem 
 had carried his victim on board, and who had been 
 charged to take care of Georgiana on her passage, and to 
 see her safe into the convent, by Cheatem. She was 
 a woman capable of the committal of any atrocity, and 
 possessed sufficient intelligence, cunning and audacity 
 to enable her to carry through almost any scheme she 
 took in hand. She had been previously employed in 
 Italy and in England, by the Countess de Paoli, who 
 was a Jesuitical intriguante of the most skillful and de
 
 THE ORPHAN'S WRONGS. 215 
 
 termined character ; and she had recommended this 
 woman, then in London, to the earl, who had mentioned 
 her to Gripes, who, in his turn, had spoken of her to his 
 fac totem, Cheatem ; and when the latter had determined 
 upon his plan, he had visited and arranged matters with 
 the woman Tirozzi, and sent her on board an Italian 
 brig, then, about sailing from the St. Catherine's Dock, 
 London, for Italy, and which was to touch, on her way- 
 down channel, at Southampton. When Georgiana found 
 herself entrapped on board the brig, she felt all her 
 courage fail her, and considered herself as lost forever to 
 her friends. She gave one piercing shriek of agony, 
 and then fell fainting on the deck. She was conveyed 
 to the cabin, under the direction of Tirozzi, by the cap- 
 tain's orders, he having been given to understand by 
 Cheatem, before he left London, that he was to receive 
 on board his vessel, at Southampton, a young lady from 
 a lunatic asylum, who was to be taken to her friends at 
 Turin. 
 
 When Georgiana came to herself, she found Tirozzi 
 watching by her side ; and as soon as she saw the poor 
 girl's eyes open, she addressed her in broken English, 
 desiring her not to be alarmed, for she would be well 
 treated and taken care of. It was in vain she sought to 
 discover whither she was being carried to, or what was 
 in store for her, and she was reduced to the necessity 
 of waiting patiently and in silent agony until matters 
 explained themselves. She endeavored to interest the 
 captain, who seemed a good-natured man, in her behalf; 
 and one day, when Tirozzi was asleep in the cabin, she 
 forced herself into conversation with- him, and began to 
 tell him the story of her woes ; but he spoke and under- 
 stood but little English, and although he listened good 
 humoredly, and, as the poor girl hoped, interestedly, she 
 had the mortification of seeing him, after she had con- 
 cluded her pathetic narrative, turn to his mate, when he 
 thought she did not observe him, and place his finger 
 significantly upon his forehead, while at the same time
 
 216 THE LAWYER'S STORY; OR, 
 
 his lips forced themselves into a smile, in which pity and 
 irony were blended. 
 
 The truth then flashed upon the unhappy girl. 
 
 " They believe that I am mad," she thought to herself; 
 " I can no longer bear this wrong, in patience;" and she 
 sought the cabin of Tirozzi, where she gave vent to a 
 torrent of indignant reproaches. The heartless, infamou? 
 woman used this occasion to her own advantage, and she 
 subsequently, in many little unseen ways, so annoyed 
 her charge, that she almost tortured her into real mad- 
 ness nay, sometimes Georgiana thought to herself, " can 
 it be possible that I am insane that my past life has 
 been a dream 1 If this be so, why should I care to live 1 
 Death would be a relief to me. Oh, God ! relieve me of 
 this horrible doubt deliver me from my oppressors, or 
 take me to thyself!" and she would press her fevered 
 hands to her aching forehead. 
 
 In due time, after a favorable passage, the vessel ar- 
 rived at her port of destination, and Tirozzi hastened 
 with her charge to the convent, carrying with her, as 
 we have seen, a letter from the Earl of Shropshire to the 
 abbess, his sister-in-law. 
 
 Georgiana had by this time become completely sub- 
 dued, as Tirozzi said to the abbess, and she followed the 
 bidding of her keeper without an outward murmur. 
 Her agony had reached and passed its climax, and now 
 she thought any change of scene from the dirty, close, 
 crowded little vessel, which would again allow her to 
 breathe the pure air of heaven were preferable. Thus, 
 in the company of Tirozzi, she arrived at the convent. 
 As I mentioned above, the abbess (after Tirozzi had 
 quitted the convent, having successfully completed her 
 share of the work) sent for Georgiana, who immediately 
 answered the summons. 
 
 " Do you speak Italian, my poor child?" said the ab- 
 bess, speaking in that language. 
 
 Georgiana shook her head. 
 
 '' Then," continued the abbess, " I must speak to you 
 in such English as I can string together. Poor child,"
 
 THE ORPHAN'S WRONGS. 217 
 
 she added in Italian, after pitifully contemplating her 
 for a few moments, "so young, so gentle-looking, and 
 so pretty ! and to be afflicted with so frightful a malady." 
 Then she again spoke in English " What is your name, 
 my poor girl ?" 
 
 " Georgiana Fitzherbert," signora. 
 
 The abbess smiled mournfully, and shook her head. 
 
 "Shall you be happy here, think you, Georgiana?" 
 she continued. 
 
 " Indeed, signora," said Miss Fitzherbert, reassured by 
 the kindly tones and benevolent countenance of her in- 
 terrogator, " I shall be happier if I stay here than if I 
 were to be again placed under the charge of that bad, 
 deceitful woman who received me on board the ship in 
 which I was conveyed from England; but I cannot 
 know happiness until I hear of my brother, and know 
 his fate; and until I am again icstored to my friends." 
 
 " Poor child ! poor child !" sighed the kind-hearted 
 abbess, " what I have heard respecting her insanity is 
 indeed too true." Then she added " if you think you 
 would be happier with me, my daughter, you may stay 
 here, and perhaps by and by you may learn to be really 
 happy in this place. Now go, my child, take some food 
 and refreshment after your weary journey, and, if you 
 feel tired, retire to rest." 
 
 And summoning one of the sisters, she placed the poor 
 girl in her charge, after having exchanged some whis- 
 pered conversation. 
 
 " You look kind and your words are gentle in their 
 tone, signora," said Georgiana, as she was about to leave 
 the room with the sister, " tell me then, why and for 
 what purpose I have been brought hither and shall I 
 again be placed under the charge of Signora Tirozzi ?" 
 
 " I cannot now reply to your first question, my daugh- 
 ter," said the abbess, sadly; "as to the second one, Sig- 
 nora Tirozzi has left the convent and left you behind, 
 under my care, so you may rest easy as regards her." 
 
 " Thank heaven for that mercy," said Georgiana, as in 
 10
 
 218 THE LAWYER'S STORY; OR, 
 
 charge of the attendant sister, she left the room, and re- 
 tired to the confectionary. 
 
 The reader will recollect that in a former chapter it 
 was mentioned that sister Maria was an inmate of the 
 convent, having been left there by the Countess de Pa- 
 oli on the occasion of her visit to the Abbess. Georgian a 
 had been but a few days in the convent when she recog- 
 nized sister Maria, as the female who had procured her 
 liberation from the machinations of her enemies at Phi- 
 ladelphia. The recognition took place in the chapel 
 during the solemnization of the morning orisons, and 
 was mutual. Georgiana could scarcely express an ex- 
 clamation of delight, but Maria placed her fingers to her 
 lips and made signs to her to be silent. In the course 
 of the day, however, she found means to enter into con- 
 versation with her, and Georgiana related all that had 
 befallen her since their last interview. 
 
 In sister Maria she found a listener who gave her 
 ready credence ; but she advised her to be patient and 
 things would work together for her release, and especially 
 to cultivate the favor of the abbess, who thus would be 
 led to converse with her, and perhaps, by and by, would 
 begin to doubt the truth of her alleged insanity, (for it 
 had been hinted abroad through the convent, that the 
 new novice was insane) and then sister Anathasia would 
 listen with interest to her story ; " and she is too good a 
 lady," added sister Maria, " to willingly connive at any 
 unjust proceedings. As for myself I dare not, for rea- 
 sons that I cannot explain to you (but which bind me by 
 a solemn vow) openly do anything in your behalf; but 
 the time may arrive when I may be of service to you, 
 and now, my dear girl, go, and do not be seen too 
 anxiously to seek my companionship. When / see a 
 good opportunity we will converse together." 
 
 Some weeks passed away and Georgiana followed the 
 advice she had received and had already begun to at- 
 tract the favorable notice of the kind-hearted abbess, 
 who still had no doubt of her pupil's insanity, but who 
 began to flatter herself that her teachings and her gentle
 
 THE ORPHAN'S WRONGS. 219 
 
 usage would eventually completely eradicate the malady; 
 but with all the kindness with which she was treated, 
 these weeks seemed years in length to Georgiana, who 
 brooded despondingly over her heavy and complicated 
 misfortunes. 
 
 CHAPTER XXII. 
 
 A party visit the Convent The unexpected meeting of the 
 Brother and Sister Georgiana is released from the Con- 
 vent Matters look badly for the Conspirators. 
 
 IN the course of a week from the introduction of 
 Adolphus to his newly-found aunt and cousin, related in 
 a preceding chapter, the party returned to Naples, 
 Adolphus had written, as I believe I have already stated, 
 to his friends in England, and had told them, and myself 
 among the number, to direct his letters to Paris, where 
 he might find them on his arrival at that city on his way 
 to England. 
 
 After quitting Naples, the party proceeded to Rome, 
 and thence to various other Italian cities of note. At 
 length they arrived at Turin, where Mrs. Lyman deter- 
 mined to remain for a few days, as she was expecting to 
 receive letters from America, which she had directed to 
 be addressed to her there. 
 
 The scenery around the city of Turin is remarkably 
 beautiful, and the young folks of the party rode out 
 every morning in the environs of the city. 
 
 " What a paradise of a spot is that," said Juliet, one 
 morning to her two cousins, as they passed by the 
 grounds of the Convent of St. Euphemia. " What place 
 can it be, I wonder? See, you can just perceive, em- 
 bowered amidst the thick foliage of yonder clumps of 
 trees, the roof of some large building, and now, through 
 the opening we have just reached, I can discern the up- 
 per windows of a large mansion. I should like to know 
 who resides there. It must be the palace of some Italian
 
 220 THE LAWYER'S STORY ; OR, 
 
 prince or nobleman of rank" and wealth. See, Adolphus 
 and Eobert," (addressing her cousins,) "see the deer 
 bounding to and fro upon the smooth lawns ; and look 
 there, Anna, (turning to her English friend,) is not that 
 a noble buck that is now staring so boldly at our caval- 
 cade. I must find out who lives there, in order that I 
 may jot it down in my note-book." 
 
 " Blot it down in your note-book, you should have 
 said, Juliet," exclaimed her cousin Eobert, laughingly ; 
 " for I caught a glimpse of your note-book, as you call 
 it, the other day, and upon my honor, it put me in mind 
 of the remarks of somebody, I forget whom, upon the 
 hand- writing of Lord Byron. He said it looked for all 
 the world as though a drunken spider had fallen into an 
 ink bottle, and then, after getting out, soaked with the 
 dark fluid, had staggered over the paper." 
 
 " What a very ungallant speech, Robert. I am sure 
 Adolphus would never have been guilty of such an un- 
 just criticism. I assure you I take great pride in my 
 note- book." 
 
 " And what may you intend to make out of it, my fair 
 cousin; do you intend to publish ' Notes of Travel, by 
 an American Lady,' a la Trollope, after you get back to 
 the wild lands of Virginia ?" 
 
 " No, sir, I do not ; and as to those wild lands of Vir- 
 ginia, which you speak so disparingly of at times, I as- 
 sure you neither Italy or England have more glorious 
 scenery to boast of than may there be found. Now, to 
 make amends for your rudeness, just leap that low fence 
 and penetrate into the grounds until you meet some one 
 of the domestics, and inquire for me to whom this lovely 
 place belongs." 
 
 " And get a bullet, or an inch of cold steel into my 
 body for my pains. No, my fair cousin, I have no fancy 
 for trespassing on Italian grounds." 
 
 " Well, I declare ! you are indeed excessively polite 
 this morning. If I had asked Adolphus, he would have 
 had his horse over the fence in a moment. I would, ask 
 him, only he has ridden on ahead with Anna."
 
 THE ORPHAN'S WRONGS. 221 
 
 "OTi! to be sure, Adolphus is everything in your 
 eyes, Juliet ; only he doesn't happen to be in the way 
 when he is wanted to make these gallant demonstra- 
 tions. However, I will for once oblige you, so here 
 goes." 
 
 Just, however, as the young man was reining back 
 his horse to prepare for the leap, a peasant passed on his 
 way to market in the city, and to him Juliet preferred 
 her request, asking him if he knew to whom that man- 
 sion and those beautiful grounds belonged.. 
 
 " That is the convent of Saint Euphemia, signorina" 
 replied the man, " and the grounds you are admiring 
 belong to the convent." 
 
 " The convent of St. Euphemia I oh I I should so like 
 to see a convent. Can we not gain admittance, at least 
 to the grounds?" 
 
 " Si Signorina, if you prefer your request beforehand 
 to the lady abbess, you can visit the grounds, and also a 
 portion of the convent." 
 
 " Then I declare I shall make it a point for aunt to do 
 so this very day ; and to-morrow we will all go ; will it 
 not be delightful to visit a convent, and that convent a 
 real Italian one ?" continued the lively girl. 
 
 "I hope you don't mean to take the veil," replied her 
 cousin ; " because sooner than you should be reduced to 
 that sad extremity, I would myself beg your acceptance 
 of my hand." 
 
 " Indeed, sir ! Well, suppose, upon second thoughts, 
 I should ' think the veil' itself preferable to such a dire 
 extremity. Upon my word, Robert, you are unendur- 
 able this morning. I shall ride forward and join Adol- 
 phus and Anna." And she put her pony into a canter, 
 and joined her female companion. 
 
 On the return of the party, the proposition to visit 
 the convent was made by Juliet, and it being warmly 
 seconded by all the rest, permission was sought from 
 the abbess, and politely granted. The entire party had 
 permission to see the grounds and certain portions of the
 
 222 THE LAWYER'S STORY; OR, 
 
 convent, and the ladies were informed that they might 
 see the whole of the interior. 
 
 On the following day they accordingly visited the 
 place, and greatly admired the beauty of the grounds, 
 and the admirable cultivation of the gardens. 
 
 While the gentlemen amused themselves by examin- 
 ing the horticultural treasures of the place, the ladies 
 were hospitably received by the Lady Abbess, and shown 
 the mysteries of the interior of the convent. 
 
 "Prayer is just about .to commence in the chapel," 
 said the abbess, after having shown them over the suites 
 of apartments. " You can either amuse yourselves for 
 half an hour in the library until I return, or, if you 
 choose, you can follow me into the chapel." 
 
 " Oh, let us see the nuns at their noonday devotions, 
 by all means," whispered Juliet to her aunt, and as all 
 the ladies were equally desirous of witnessing this no- 
 velty to them, they thankfully accepted the offer of the 
 abbess to take the party into the chapel. The abbess 
 left them, after having escorted them to a convenient 
 place for witnessing the proceedings, and Mrs. Lyman, 
 who had previously visited a convent, was pointing out 
 to her interested companions the various degrees of the 
 nuns and novices present. 
 
 " Those," she whispered, pointing to a group of young 
 women from sixteen to twenty-five years of age, " are 
 novices who have just entered the convent, and are now 
 becoming initiated in the primary duties of a monastic 
 life. You perceive that, although they have adopted a 
 uniform dress, their hair has not yet been cut close, and 
 their faces are still unveiled. Now, listen to that chaunt. 
 Is it not delightful ? They cultivate music in these con- 
 vents to a high degree. Let us be silent until this sweet 
 chaunt is concluded." 
 
 The party listened with delight to the almost celestial 
 music of the choir, and when it was brought to a conclu- 
 sion, Juliet, who had been for some moments intently 
 gazing at the features of a young girl, among the novices,
 
 THE ORPHAN'S WRONGS. 223 
 
 who happened to be nearest to her, and in full view of 
 the whole party, said : 
 
 " Dear aunt, just look at the features of that young 
 woman. Is she not like Adolphus ? If he had not told 
 us his sister was in England, 1 could almost have sworn 
 they were brother and sister. Surely she cannot be an 
 Italian her complexion is too fair. Poor thing! she 
 looks in ill health, too. Is not the resemblance striking, 
 aunt?" 
 
 " It is indeed, my dear," replied Mrs. Lyman, and the 
 entire party, having their attention directed to the girl, 
 were equally struck with the resemblance. 
 
 Just at this moment they were rejoined by the abbess, 
 the devotions being ended. Observing them to be in- 
 terested in the young woman, she said : 
 
 " I see you are struck with the pallid looks of one of 
 my latest novices. Poor thing! if you knew all, you 
 would feel for her yet more deeply. She is a country 
 woman of yours, too (for I presume you are English), 
 and, I am sorry to say, is laboring under the dreadful 
 disorder of insanity, although the quiet of the convent 
 has already effected much good, and I have no doubt she 
 will be eventually completely cured. It is a pity, for 
 she is a mild, and gentle, as well, as you see, a very 
 pretty girl. When she first came here, she clung very 
 pertinaciously to her wild fancies. Now, I am. happy to 
 say, she seldom alludes to them, although, in spite of 
 all my care and attention, I fear her health is declin- 
 ing." ' 
 
 u What is her name, pray ?" said Mrs. Lyman, still 
 more deeply interested, as she learnt the young woman 
 was not an Italian, while, at the same time, a strange 
 presentiment crossed her mind. 
 
 " She states her name to be Georgiana Fitzherbert," 
 replied the abbess ; " but I have reasons to believe that 
 is not her real name ; still, although I have sometimes 
 questioned her sharply, I can get no other reply from 
 her. Perhaps, after all, poor child, she really conceives 
 that to be her real name.
 
 224 THE LAWYER'S STORY; OK, 
 
 "Greorgiana Fitzherbert !" exclaimed Mrs. Lyman, in 
 a tone in which amazement and deep emotion were 
 mingled, while the other ladies were equally astonished 
 on hearing the name. 
 
 "Dare I ask," she continued, "under what circum- 
 stances this young woman came to the convent ?" 
 
 " That I am not at liberty to tell," said the abbess , 
 "but, (noticing the astonishment that appeared in the 
 faces of all the ladies,) surely you, madam, are not ac- 
 quainted with the girl?" 
 
 " Will your ladyship allow me a few moments' private 
 conversation," said Mrs. Lyman to the abbess, in an agi- 
 tated tone, and without replying to the question of prior 
 acquaintance. 
 
 " Surely, madam," answered the abbess (her own cu- 
 riosity being now strongly excited,) and she led the lady 
 into the antechamber, which constituted her customary 
 hall of audience. 
 
 They were closeted for the space of half-an-hour, and 
 at the expiration of that time Greorgiana was summoned 
 by the abbess. 
 
 " Can she not be confronted with the young man ? 
 that would at once corroborate or disprove the truth of 
 her statement?" asked Mrs. Lyman, in reply to some re- 
 mark of the abbess. 
 
 " It is against all rule that it should be so and yet, 
 under the circumstances, I will not refuse the ordeal," 
 said the latter. And greatly to the surprise of the young 
 men, who were waiting somewhat impatiently in the 
 grounds, wondering what detained their female friends 
 so long, and making some confidential and not very 
 complimentary remarks upon the proverbial tardiness 
 of the ladies, Adolphus was summoned by one of the 
 domestics of the convent, and requested to follow her 
 into the cloister. 
 
 " There is no one ill nothing the matter, I hope ?" 
 said both the young men in the same breath. 
 
 " Oh, no, signors. The cavalier is only wanted to 
 Ipeak with one of the novices."
 
 THE ORPHAN'S WRONGS. 225 
 
 "Whew I the d 1!" exclaimed Kobert, not very 
 
 reverently, considering the consecrated ground on which 
 he stood; "I say, 'Dolph, what's up now? Don't be 
 playing Don Juan, old fellow ; nor yet taking the veil. 
 Egad ! you're a lucky fellow to get a peep inside. I'd 
 almost agree to take the veil myself, for a year or two, 
 at any rate, if they would only give me the privilege of 
 talking to the girls when I pleased." 
 
 Adolphus followed the domestic into the convent, 
 wondering what on earth he was summoned for. 
 
 "He is coming now," said Mrs. Lyman to the abbess, 
 as she heard the tread of his footstep. 
 
 " Do not speak, then," said the abbess ; " let us see if 
 they recognize each other." 
 
 Georgiana had not been apprized of the intention of 
 the abbess of sending for her brother, nor had she even 
 been told he was in Italy, and actually so near her. She, 
 poor girl, had simply told her tale of woe, and although 
 the abbess had often heard and disbelieved her story, 
 (latterly, perhaps, more properly speaking, rather doubted 
 than disbelieved it,) she was now nearly convinced that 
 the poor girl had been wronged ; that she herself had 
 been deceived, and that her story was really true. Hence 
 her half unwilling consent so far to infringe upon the 
 strict rules of the convent as to permit a male visitor to 
 see even one of the youngest novices. 
 
 Georgiana was resting her head upon a table, and 
 weeping bitterly, when her brother entered the room in 
 a perfect state of wonderment as to what all this mystery 
 meant. 
 
 "Lookup, my daughter," said the abbess, and the 
 poor girl raised her head ; but she no sooner caught 
 sight of Adolphus than she uttered a cry of delight, and 
 springing towards him she fell upon his neck, murmur- 
 ing 
 
 " Adolphus, my dear dear brother! this is happiness 
 jnlooked for I" 
 
 " My sister I dear Georgiana ! What is the meaning 
 10*
 
 226 THE LAWYER'S STORY; OR, 
 
 of all this ?" exclaimed the young man, almost equally 
 affected yet still apparently doubting his senses. 
 
 The ladies were too much affected to speak for some 
 moments. At length the abbess said 
 
 " It is enough. I have been cruelly deceived, and 
 you, poor child, most terribly wronged. Not for another 
 hour will I lend my sanction to such atrocity as this : I 
 could not have believed it possible that such villany ex- 
 isted in the world." 
 
 Meanwhile, the rumor that the strange ladies had sent 
 for the new novice, had become known throughout the 
 convent ; and in this community, occurrences of any de- 
 scription, that interrupted the monotony of their daily 
 duties, occasioned no little curiosity. Thus the news 
 had reached the ears of Sister Maria, who, immediately 
 acting under an impulse she could no longer control, 
 forgot the rules of decorum and forced herself into the 
 presence of the abbess : 
 
 " Lady Abbess," she said, " I have known this a long 
 time. I have known how this poor child has been 
 wronged. It was I who freed her from the machinations 
 of the Countess de Paoli, at Philadelphia. I am the 
 Maria of whom she has told you. It was I who sent the 
 letter to her brother. Here, in this convent, I recognized 
 her when first she became an inmate of it ; but I re- 
 frained, for reasons which you can judge of, from making 
 our recognition known to others ; but now I can bear 
 this yoke no longer, and be the consequences to me what 
 they may, I am ready to prove how grossly how cruelly 
 the poor child has been treated." 
 
 " Sister Maria, you have done well," said the abbess, 
 taking her hand, " and, come what may, you shall have 
 rny protection. Ladies, my charge over this poor orphan 
 ceases. She is free to rejoin her brother, and may suc- 
 cess attend them both." 
 
 The party bid adieu to the kind-hearted abbess and 
 left the convent together. 
 
 " Wonders will never cease," said Eobert, as he saw
 
 THE ORPHAN'S WRONGS. 227 
 
 them approach. "By Jove ! Adolphus has run off with 
 a young nun, and a devilish pretty one, too." 
 
 He was proceeding with his badinage, when he was 
 checked by his aunt, who briefly told him the story. 
 
 The party returned to Turin, and it was resolved that 
 the enemies of the orphans should not know as yet that 
 Georgiana was released from the convent. The abbess 
 herself having advised that silence should be maintained 
 on the subject. 
 
 In a few days Mrs. Lyman received the letters she 
 expected, and the party set out on their way to England 
 via Paris. 
 
 CHAPTER XXIII. 
 
 The Confessor has an intervieio with the Earl Its results 
 are unsatisfactory The Struggles of Ambition. 
 
 I LEFT Father Anselmo at his midnight devotions in 
 the chapel of Alton castle, after having listened to the 
 story of Lady Mary Alton and given her his advice how 
 to act. When the worthy father heard from Lady 
 Mary the result of her attempts to induce her father to 
 give up his ambitious and unjust designs, at least so 
 far as she was involved in their consummation, he was 
 utterly at a loss how further to proceed. 
 
 Bred in the strictest school of Jesuitism, Father An- 
 selmo had been trained from his earliest youth to re- 
 verence authority of any kind, whether of spiritual or 
 temporal character, and next to the authority exer- 
 cised by the superiors of his Order and of the Church, 
 he recognized that of a parent over his children. 
 
 How then could he reconcile the principles to which 
 his life had been devoted, with thost his conscience told 
 him he should, as regarded the present difficult case, 
 advise Lady Mary to follow ? How, if it were right to 
 turn aside and disobey the highest temporal authority
 
 THE LAWYER'S STORY; OR, 
 
 at the dictates of conscience, was it right and proper, 
 heedless of the warnings of the same monitor, to follow 
 blindly the biddings of spiritual authority, ordained by 
 man ; for although the worthy father could bring scrip- 
 tural and inspired authority to his aid in the first in- 
 stance ; for is it j^ot said, '' Children, obey your parents 
 in all things?" he could find none in the latter instance 
 which could be construed as bearing otherwise than on 
 the church at large, and not upon any particular sect or 
 order. 
 
 In fact, the priest found himself in that very awkward, 
 although undefinable position, styled "between the 
 horns of a dilemma." 
 
 Then again the pleadings of affection came to increase 
 his difficulty, for ascetic as he was, he hadJelt the human 
 craving for something to love, and the affections of the 
 stern priest, whose life was devoted to Heaven whose 
 bride was the Church whose children her faithful mem- 
 bers had allowed almost unwittingly the daughter of 
 his earthly patron, she whose mind he had trained, 
 whose disposition he had watched over from the lisping 
 days of her childhood, to secure a hold upon his heart 
 as firm and undying as that held by a beloved and 
 only child upon the affections of a fond and indulgent 
 parent. 
 
 After much cogitation he sought an interview with 
 the earl, which, of course, was readil} 7 " and promptly 
 granted, for the Earl of Shropshire probably respected 
 Father Anselmo more than any other human being. 
 
 He met the earl, and plainly told him the reason 
 wherefore he had sought to speak with him. 
 
 " And has my daughter dared to make known to 
 others the family secrets with which she has necessarily 
 been intrusted ?" said the earl, after he had listened to 
 the explanation of the reverend father, his voice trem- 
 bling with the passion he could not control, even in the 
 presence of the priest. 
 
 " My lord," said Father Anselmo, calmly and solemnly, 
 " your lordship forgets that in the privacy of the con-
 
 THE ORPHAN'S WRONGS. 229 
 
 fessional, the heart must not know dare acknowledge 
 no secrets, or the sacrament would be a mere mockery, 
 not of the humble servant of God, but of the High and 
 Omnipotent Supreme himself. In matters of a temporal 
 nature, I, the humble, dependent priest, bow with re- 
 verence to your rank; but in those matters in which 
 I am called by my great Master to serve His Church, 
 and to obey His behests, I owe no reverence but to 
 Him acknowledge no authority save His alone." 
 
 " Pardon me, father," replied the earl. " I was be- 
 trayed by the infirmity of my temper into the expres- 
 sion of words I should not have uttered. But you, in 
 the calm pursuit of the duties of your holy profession, 
 know not the difficulties and anxieties which surround 
 other men especially men whom it has pleased God to 
 place in a prominent position in the busy conflict with 
 the world. You cannot know the many reasons which 
 have urged me to this course regarding my daughter's 
 marriage. On this subject you cannot feel as I do." 
 
 " My lord, pardon me for correcting a false impres- 
 sion your lordship, in common with the world, appears 
 to entertain ; the conscientious priest, who would 
 honestly do his duty towards his heavenly Master, has 
 more difficulties to wrestle with more troubles to con- 
 tend with than the busiest man of the world ; for he 
 feels that the welfare of living souls is placed in his 
 hands ; while mere worldly men, but regard matters of 
 a temporal nature. Believe me, my lord, the responsi- 
 bilities of a priest of God's Holy Church, far, far exceed 
 those of other men." 
 
 For some moments the earl and the priest sat silently 
 engaged in thought. The earl was the first to break the 
 silence. 
 
 " Father Anselmo," he said, "this business has now 
 progressed too far to be suspended. To put a stop to it 
 now would involve me in ruin." 
 
 " And better temporal ruin, my lord, than the eternal 
 ruin of the soul's welfare of yourself and your only child. 
 Allow a humble priest to otter your lordship some ad-
 
 230 THE LAWYER'S STORY; OR, 
 
 vice. I believe, my lord, I have ever been a faithful 
 counsellor to your lordship, so far as my poor abilities 
 allowed me to arrive at conclusions. Absolve Lady Mary 
 from her allegiance to parental authority in this matter; 
 bid her choose for herself the husband she would take ; 
 or, if she prefers it, as I believe she does, let her pre- 
 serve a life of celibacy and living unmarried, ever to be 
 to you a daughter whose filial duties can better be ren- 
 dered when no other earthly object shares her love." 
 
 "Father Anselmo, this cannot be. Even to you I 
 cannot unburthen my mind with respect to this matter ; 
 neither does Lady Mary know the causes which drive me 
 to this course. I do not ask you as a priest of our Holy 
 Church to violate your conscience by bidding my child 
 to obey her father in this, since you conceive it wrong so 
 to do ; but I pray you to be silent regarding this busi- 
 ness, and to believe that Lady Mary is wrong in her 
 surmises ; that no evil is intended her or can possibly 
 befal her; and in so doing, to let matters take their 
 course." 
 
 " Then your lordship is determined not to alter your 
 intentions in this regard? ' 
 
 " Necessarily determined, father." 
 
 " I regret that it is so, and trust your lordship may 
 yet think better of it : but, since my poor counsel is of 
 no avail, I will intrude no longer upon your lordship, 
 but will withdraw to my own apartment, and there, 
 wrestling in earnest prayer, will leave the result with 
 
 Father Anselmo left the room, the earl rising from 
 his seat to show him to the door. 
 
 When he had retired, Lord Alton threw himself into 
 his luxurious arm chair, and sat for half an hour ab- 
 sorbed in thought; that those thoughts were not pleasing 
 ones, might be known from the working of his features, 
 and at length he gave vent to his feelings in the follow- 
 ing soliloquy ; 
 
 '' What slaves our religion makes us to our spiritual 
 advisers, even though those advisers be our earthly ser-
 
 THE ORPHAN'S WRONGS. 
 
 vants. I dare not offend this meddling priest nor dare 
 I accuse my daughter of tampering with him to suit her 
 purposes. With both I am thus compelled to maintain 
 an outward show of respect and yet I almost wish 
 this business had never been commenced. Father An- 
 selmo is so far right, that a parent has no authority to 
 control the conscience of his child ; but now that it has 
 gone so far, there is no retreat save in exposure and dis- 
 honor, to which death were preferable. Strange ! how 
 ambition sears the heart. I can sympathize deeply with 
 the orphans of Herbert I can feel in my own heart the 
 agony I am compelled dto inflict upon his daughter. 
 There are moments, in the still hour of the night, when 
 the eyes are sleepless and conscience is most accusing, 
 when I could almost rise from my troubled couch and 
 countermand further proceedings in this matter; but 
 with the morning ambition steps in and conscience shrinks 
 from its presence. Pride lends its aid and asks whether 
 the spirit can brook the world's contumely can laugh 
 at the finger of scorn pointed in derision, and the re- 
 pentant feelings of the midnight hour take wing and fly 
 away. After all, what am I seeking to do, loorse than is 
 being done every hour, and that has been done in every 
 age. Pshaw ! those sentimental ideas are foolish only 
 fitted for women and drivelling priests. There is Mary 
 approaching the castle from the garden. I cannot see 
 her now. My spirits are strangely oppressed with what 
 Father Anselmo has said. I will ride and see if I can 
 shake off these gloomy thoughts." And rising languidly 
 from his seat, the earl rang the bell and desired the 
 servant to order the groom to saddle his horse. " And 
 tell Lady Mary, Edward," continued he, "that I am 
 going to ride, and probably shall not return home until 
 dinner time." 
 
 When Father Anselmo quitted the presence of the 
 earl, he retired to his own chamber and there com- 
 muned with himself as to the course he should pursue 
 in future. But study as he might, wrestle in earnest 
 prayer, as he did, he could arrive at no satisfactory con-
 
 232 THE LAWYER'S STORY; OR, 
 
 elusion. He thought of quitting the castle and retiring 
 to the monastery of his Order in Italy, and then a secret 
 yearning at his heart, forbade him to entertain the idea 
 of leaving Lady Mary exposed, as he believed, to the 
 machinations of her enemies, and among those enemies 
 her natural protector her only parent. 
 
 Again, he struggled within himself on account of the 
 disloyalty he had felt, in spirit, towards the behests of 
 those superiors, whom he had been taught to revere 
 next to heaven. Was he wrong in this ? To doubt the 
 wisdom of the founders of the Order, to which he be- 
 longed, appeared to him to be equal to sacrilege. He 
 felt as though in not at once banishing the first suspi- 
 cion against the spiritual authority he . was bound by a 
 solemn, sacred oath to obey, unchallenged and unques- 
 tioned he had committed the deadly sin ; and yet he 
 could not resolve to bid her whose spiritual instructor 
 he was, to peril her soul by voluntarily committing evil. 
 
 Amidst these conflicting thoughts, hours passed away 
 and the evening drew near. He retired at his usual 
 hour to the chapel, and there, with feelings more re- 
 verential even than usual, he spent the greater portion 
 of the night in prayer. 
 
 Just as day began to dawn he left the chapel and re- 
 tired to his dormitory, and as he composed himself to 
 take the few short hours of sleep he allowed his aged, 
 weary frame, he murmured, even as the feeling of un- 
 consciousness which precedes sleep stole over him 
 
 " It must be so. I have sought guidance from Hea- 
 ven in prayer for hours strongly have I wrestled 
 with God, and he has answered my prayers. 1 am re- 
 solved." 
 
 A moment more and the weary eyes of the venerable 
 priest were sealed in slumber.
 
 THE OKPHAN'S WRONGS. 233 
 
 CHAPTER XXIV. 
 
 Vague rumors afloat A poor look-out ahead " Hope 
 springs eternal in the human breast." 
 
 HAVING succeeded, as they believed to their heart's 
 content, in removing the rightful heirs from the country, 
 and, at the same time, in avoiding suspicion as to the 
 means of the removal, the arch schemers in this despe- 
 rate conspiracy began to urge forward the suit before the 
 Ecclesiastical Court, where viva voce evidence could not 
 be heard, and proverbial as are the law's delays in such 
 cases as these, the influence sub rosa, of the Earl of Shrop- 
 shire, and the untiring energy and perseverance of the 
 harpies, Gripes and Cheatem, did at length succeed in 
 arousing the torpid energies of the sleepy proctors of 
 "Doctor's Commons," and soon the newspapers of the 
 day began to put forth mysterious announcements, so 
 worded (after the style of the gentlemen of the press), 
 that while the public was quite unable to discover their 
 meaning, something appeared to be hidden in the equi- 
 vocal language, which led to the belief that the sapient 
 editors knew more than they chose to disclose'; and thus, 
 whenever the half-promised future disclosures should be 
 made, and whatever might be their purport, the editors 
 could, without fear of challenge or compromise, safely 
 assert that what they had predicted in a former num- 
 ber of their paper, had come to pass ; and so manage to 
 keep up, in the estimation of the good, easy, confiding 
 public, the idea that they knew everything about every- 
 body. 
 
 At length these vague rumors began to assume a more 
 tangible shape ; and there was an unusual stir and bustle 
 among the gentlemen of the " long robe," and the " blue
 
 234 THE LAWYER'S STORY; OR, 
 
 bag," and one fine, morning, the mountain which had 
 been so long in labor, was delivered of its burden, and 
 out crept not a mouse, bat the announcement of the 
 fact, that the great case of Fitzherbert vs. Fitzherbert, 
 was to commence at the beginning of the next term, 
 immediately after the present vacation had come to an 
 end. 
 
 Now, the mountain needn't have labored so long and 
 so hard ; for, although the matter assumed an appear- 
 ance of most extraordinary interest in the eyes of the 
 learned gentlemen of the legal profession, brief-full and 
 briefless, who may be considered in the light of the ac- 
 couche rs in such cases as these the busy public cared 
 very little about the matter, and would not have been 
 greatly discomposed, had the Fitzherbert property, con- 
 tending parties and lawyers on both sides, into the bar- 
 gain, been submerged in the ocean, or buried beneath the 
 Godwin quicksands. 
 
 However, after all, it was a great case a very great 
 case and it did occasion a great deal of chit-chat and 
 caused a great deal of long-buried and almost forgotten 
 scandal relative to certain courtly personages to be ex- 
 humed and revivified. As the day drew near, the earl 
 of Shropshire betrayed a great deal of nervous anxiety, 
 and once or twice made some very absent-minded and 
 incoherent remarks, from his place in the House of Peers, 
 when that most honorable House was engaged in the 
 heat of debate upon the corn law question, which 
 caused some of the noble lords present to whisper and 
 nod mysteriously to each other, and to tap their fore- 
 heads with their forefingers, as much as to say that the 
 stalwart earl, whose constitution, mentally and physically, 
 had hitherto appeared to be of iron, was beginning to 
 feel the infirmities of age, and was verging towards the 
 condition of second childhood ; for no one suspected so 
 cunningly had matters been managed, that the noble 
 earl had any peculiar interest in the case of Fitzherbert 
 vs. Fitzherbert. 
 
 Lord Henry Fitzherbert likewise was a little agitated,
 
 THE ORPHAN'S WRONGS. 235 
 
 notwithstanding his constitutional indolence. He felt 
 more ennui and fatigue than usual, he assured his anxious 
 friends of the Life Guards, that the arduous duties of his 
 profession these " tewible marchings and counter- 
 marchings in St. James's Park, had become more insup- 
 portable than ever. He would have resigned his com- 
 mission in disgust only, his pay formed a very consi- 
 derable portion of his somewhat limited income, besides, 
 his position as an officer in that distinguished corps (of 
 the peace establishment), helped him materially in the 
 way of victimizing tradesmen and money lenders ; but 
 one thing he was resolved upon, if he succeeded in his 
 business and married Lady Mary that is, wedded the 
 Huntingdonshire estates, with the encumbrances there- 
 unto belonging he should immediately retire from the 
 army, obtain a seat in the House of Commons, and de- 
 vote the remainder of his life to horse-racing. But 
 even this favorite amusement had gone wrong with Lord 
 Henry of late, for while engaged in mentally figuring up 
 the amount of income and money in the funds, which 
 he hoped soon to handle, he had made sundry awkward 
 mistakes in figuring up his betting book (he was a man 
 of one idea, who could never manage to keep the run 
 of two things at a time), and had consequently lost con- 
 siderable sums of money, while, as if purposely to 
 aggravate him, the money letfders had grown excessively 
 cautious of late, and our old friend Jacob of the Mino- 
 ries, positively refused to advance another " farden." 
 Indeed, Jacob, about this time, was remarked to be 
 often at " Doctor's Commons," prying curiously into old 
 worm-eaten MSS., and copies of wills and title deeds; 
 and while many an habitue of the place wondered what 
 the old Jew was seeking after with such caution, some 
 of the younger loiterers in this venerable, dreamy 
 lounging place, would place their fore-fingers on the 
 side of their noses, and winking at each other, shrewdly 
 and very explicitly remark, that the " old codger was 
 up to snuff." 
 
 For my part, I will acknowledge that I was in a great
 
 236 THE LAWYER'S STORY; OH, 
 
 state of excitement, and anxiety, for although not being, 
 of course, eligible to act in this case, in England, I had 
 set rny heart upon the success of my proteges, and had 
 aided Mr. Hughes, not only gratuitously, but with eager- 
 ness, in every possible way that I could ; and now to 
 lose sight of both the young people, in this unaccount- 
 able manner, and to kn^ir that the suit was to be hurried 
 forward at a time whe no contestants could be produced 
 to present a counter claim against, as I believed them to 
 be, the defrauding conspirators, and in a court where 
 viva voce evidence would not be received, annoyed me 
 very much, to say nothing of the terrible state of anxiety 
 I was in about the Fitzherberts themselves. 
 
 The composure of Mr. Hughes contributed to increase 
 my vexation. Nothing seemed to put this man out of 
 the way; whatever he felt on the subject he kept to 
 himself. 
 
 On calling one morning at his office, I found him en- 
 gaged in earnest conversation with a little, sharp-featured 
 man, who held in his hand, and lugged about with him 
 wherever he went, a great, blue bag, stuffed with papers, 
 and almost as big and as heavy as himself. 
 
 "Good morning, Mr. ," said Mr. Hughes, when 
 
 at length the conference being over, the little man had 
 retired. " It's lovely weather, is it not ? The ' Garden' 
 looks quite rural and charming this morning." (The 
 " Garden" was an inclosure in the court of Lincoln's-Inn, 
 from which it derives its appellation of Lincoln's-Inn- 
 Fields, and it presented to view from Mr. Hughes' office 
 windows some stunted shrubbery smothered in dust, and 
 a lawn the color of green baize. Certainly it looked very 
 rural and charming.) 
 
 " That gentleman who has just left me is Mr. Ferret, 
 one of the sharpest and cleverest attorneys in London. 
 I have engaged him in the Fitzherbert case." 
 
 " Then you intend to contest the case ?" said I, some- 
 what astonished. 
 
 " Of course I do. I am the counsel in the case. I 
 have pledged myself to do my best to win it, and I never
 
 THE OEPHAN'S WRONGS. 237 
 
 break my word ; and a better fellow than Ferret to pry 
 and peer about, and to hunt up, and collect and unite 
 facts and circumstances, and bring them to bear on the 
 subject, I say again, could not be found. He put many 
 a job into my hands years ago, when a young man and 
 a briefless barrister, and I help him all I can, now that I 
 have worked my way up in the world. We work to- 
 gether as counsel and attorney whenever we can get a 
 chance. I would trust anything in the hands of Ferret." 
 
 "But, my dear Mr. Hughes," said I, "you forget that, 
 in the first place, they have made a Chancery case of it, 
 and besides that, our, or rather I should say, your clients 
 are missing and not to be found, and to come into any 
 court without them would be ridiculous and useless." 
 
 " I know full well all you have said ; but a good many 
 things may turn up between now and the day the case 
 is to come on. Let me see ; to-day is the 14th, and the 
 case comes up on the 7th of next month ; fourteen from 
 thirty one and seventeen remains, seventeen and seven is 
 twenty-four full three weeks, exclusive of the present 
 date and the day of issue. My good sir, a great many 
 strange things happen in the course of three weeks. I 
 have engaged my wife's brother, Counsellor Green, as 
 junior counsel, and he too is hard at work. Even if 
 nothing transpires between now and then to better our 
 chances, I shall at least attempt, although it may be use- 
 less, to obtain a stay of proceedings, and to get the case 
 transferred to the forthcoming assizes at Huntingdon ; 
 indeed, I have reason to believe I can insist upon the 
 suit being taken out of Chancery and tried in the county 
 in Avhich the disputed estates are located, and that, you 
 see, will give us another week ; for the assizes will not 
 commence in Huntingdon until the fourteenth day of 
 the next month." 
 
 I could not do otherwise than express my satisfaction 
 at the determination evinced by tne worthy barrister ; 
 but still I gave expression to doubt, almost approaching 
 to hopelessness, as regarded our final success, under the 
 present dreary prospects.
 
 238 THE LAWYER'S STOKY; OR, 
 
 " Well, certainly our prospects are not the most flat- 
 tering in the world, but my dear sir, the doctor tells us, 
 ' while there is life there is hope,' and your experience, 
 as my own has done, must have taught you that some- 
 times the quirks and quibbles of the law, present some 
 very unexpected phases in the position of a case, especi- 
 ally such an one as this, and what should we think of 
 ourselves, if just at the eleventh hour something should 
 turn up favorable to our clients, and find us unpre- 
 pared." 
 
 I acquiesced in his remarks, and seeing that he was 
 extremely busy, wished him good morning. 
 
 On the other side, all that at this time, I could learn, 
 (for I have already informed the reader, that it has been 
 necessary for rne to disclose to him in the regular course 
 of this narrative, facts, which I, even at this late hour, 
 was ignorant of, and many of which I did not learn until 
 months after) was, that the parties who had virtually 
 claimed possession of the property, had engaged as chief 
 counsel, Isaak Gripes, Esq., of the Inner Temple, Bar- 
 rister, with whom was associated as junior counsel, 
 Archer Snap, Esq., and that Mr. Crawley Cheatem was 
 the attorney in the case. These were to act, should the 
 case, as even they seemed to anticipate, be thrown out 
 of Chancery. I made inquiry of Mr. Hughes and others 
 relative to the standing of these men, and the reply I 
 generally received was: 
 
 " Well, sir, Gripes has rather lowered himself in the 
 opinion of the aristocracy of the profession in conse- 
 quence of his having worked his way up in the criminal 
 courts ; but he is a very able counsellor, sir very able, 
 and difficult to catch tripping. As to Snap, he is one of 
 the quickest and most subtle-minded barristers in Lon- 
 don ; and though I don't know much about Cheatem, as 
 he is one of the ' Old Bailey' lawyers, as they are termed, 
 who don't bear a very good name in the profession, and 
 will do any dirty job for gain, I am told he is a clever, 
 cunning attorney a man that will grope in the mud for 
 facts to bear upon any case he takes in hand, and is not
 
 THE ORPHAN'S WRONGS. 239 
 
 very particular as regards the cleanly appearance of the 
 facts he gathers when he produces them before the court. 
 They will be a tough trio to deal with, sir, I can assure 
 
 you " 
 
 Thus stood matters at this time, apparently upon the 
 eve of the decision of the suit, for it must be borne in 
 mind that as yet no news had been received respecting 
 young Fitzherbert. 
 
 CHAPTEE XXV. 
 
 A man of the world in a desperate strait. 
 
 I STATED in the preceding chapter that Lord Fitzher- 
 bert was in rather an awkward position as regarded 
 money matters ; in fact he was beginning to experience 
 the difficulties which had beset his royal father during 
 the earlier portion of his life, being constantly pestered 
 by vulgar, dunning tradesmen, who had not delicacy 
 and refinement enough in their base, plebeian blood, 
 to appreciate the honor of having the name of a gentle- 
 man on their books, or to feel how very annoying it is 
 to the privileged classes to be asked to pay their debts, 
 when they have not got the money to pay them with, 
 or have debts of honor to meet, of much greater import- 
 ance in the estimation of a gentleman, or wish to ap- 
 propriate their money to their own pleasures. 
 
 Gentlemen of Lord Henry Fitzherbert's stamp, don't 
 often lower themselves to the grade of the common 
 people by keeping their tradesmen's accounts square; 
 but there are times when it becomes necessary for them 
 to pay up a part at least of their outstanding debts in 
 order to obtain future credit. Tradesmen, as we obser- 
 ved in the early portion of this narrative, are not all 
 blessed with the patience of Job, and sometimes they 
 grow pertinacious if not absolutely insolent in their de- 
 mands.
 
 240 THE LAWYER'S STORY; OR, 
 
 Lord Fitzherbert, then was dunned every day : his 
 valet presented him with an imposing array of trades- 
 men's bills every morning along with his post-office let- 
 ters, and whether he walked out into the parks, or 
 lounged in Regent-street, or Bond-street, he was sure to 
 be met by some of his creditor's and most impudently, in 
 the face of the whole world (of fashion) and in the broad 
 glare of day, asked to settle that small account as soon 
 as convenient ; and to meet all these demands, amount- 
 ing to many thousands, Lord Henry had 50 and his ex- 
 pectations. As it happened that his lordship was not a 
 peer of the realm, there was nothing in the way to pre- 
 vent his being arrested by the more obdurate of these 
 vulgar tradesmen, and to tell the truth, his tailor had ac- 
 tually threatened to cause his arrest if his account due 
 for five years, was not settled by the end of the follow- 
 ing week. Lord Shropshire had been victimised several 
 times to the tune of a cool thousand, and the last time 
 the earl had given his check, he had rebuked Lord Henry 
 pretty sharply for his extravagance, and positively as- 
 sured him that he would lend him no more money. The 
 money lenders had all grown shy of making further 
 loans, and the advances he had lately received from this 
 source had, besides the heavy interest which had been 
 deducted for the first year, been so much further reduced 
 by the miscellaneous articles forced upon him as part of 
 the advance, as to have been rendered useless. For in- 
 stance, with much humiliating persuasion, his lordship 
 had obtained, a few weeks previously, the sum of five 
 hundred pounds (a mere fleabite compared with what 
 his necessities demanded, even had he obtained the whole 
 sum in money) but this was fur from being the case ; in 
 fact 20 per cent., or one hundred pounds, had been de- 
 ducted for the first years' interest, leaving only four hun- 
 dred pounds; and his lordship had actually received, 
 two hundred pounds in cash ; a Cremona violin (which 
 he could make no use of) valued by the usurer at seventy- 
 five guineas ; a pair of stuffed owls twenty pounds ten 
 shillings ; a doubled handled sword a great relic, being
 
 THE ORPHAN'S WRONGS. 241 
 
 one of those which had belonged to Sir William Wal- 
 lace, cheap, as the Jew said, at fifteen pounds ten ; four 
 tin cases filled with bottle corks, labelled, and with com- 
 position tops elegantly silvered four pounds two and 
 six pence ; a barrel of Day and Martin's blacking ; a set 
 of harness ; a box of shaving soap and a parcel of fine 
 old port of the year 1804, which the Jew had lately pur- 
 chased from a friend of his, a manufacturer of old wine 
 and pure French brandies, who resided in the classic 
 neighborhood of Houndsditch. These made up the sum 
 total of the advance to the unfortunate nobleman, and it 
 may be well imagined he was not a great deal better off 
 by his bargain. His lordship sat in his apartment in 
 the Albany absorbed in a brown study ; at length he 
 started up and muttering something between his clinched 
 teeth, which sounded very like an oath, he said, " It's 
 of no use, I must try Jacob again." 
 
 In the course of a couple of hours after having arrived 
 at this determination, he made his appearance in the 
 dingy office in the Minories into which we have, in 
 imagination, already twice conducted the reader. 
 
 Putting on as bold a front as possible, his lordship 
 entered the money lender's office. 
 
 " Ah !" exclaimed Jacob, who was sitting in his ac- 
 customed seat at the table, busily engaged in perusing 
 some parchments, while still, in the old corner, sat the 
 withered anatomy of dry bones the centegenarian 
 Mordecai. " Ah, happy to see your lordship. Vat ish 
 your lordship's bishness? Hash you called to make ar- 
 rangements to shettle up de advances I have had de 
 pleasure to make to your lordship?" 
 
 "You are facetious, rny dear friend Jacob," replied 
 Lord Fitzherbert, endeavoring to appear unconcerned, 
 " 1 am glad to see that neither the multitude of your 
 business nor the close atmosphere of this place pre- 
 vents you from indulging in a joke. So far from 
 calling, as you pleasantly and good humoredly observe, 
 to settle our account immediately, my business this
 
 242 THE LAWYER'S STORY; OR, 
 
 morning is to beg an additional loan of five thousand 
 pounds." 
 
 " Can't be done, anyhow," replied Jacob. " Your lord- 
 ship is twenty-five thousand pounds in ray debt, without 
 counting de interest, and vere de payment ish to come 
 from nobody knows. De securitish ishn't vorth a 
 ' pheugh/ " snapping his fingers in the air. 
 
 " My dear friend, I must have the money, positively, 
 or I shall be arrested for debt, and my prospects of future 
 payment ruined." 
 
 '' Oh yesh ! It ish my dear friend, mine goot friend 
 Jacob ; but if you didn't vant de monish, how long 
 should I be your goot friend Jacob, eh, my lord ? Vat 
 ish it to me whether you are arrested or not ? Answer 
 me that, mine goot friend Lord Henry Fitzherbert." 
 
 " It matters this much, Jacob, that the suit is about to 
 come off on the success of which your repayment de- 
 pends. It is sure to go in our favor, and the property, 
 even in ready money, is sufficient to pay off the debt I 
 owe you twenty times over. A few more thousands will 
 only give you so much more profit, when the day of set- 
 tlement comes. Should I be disgraced by an arrest, it 
 must come to the ears of Lord Alton, and he would at 
 once break off the marriage at any cost to himself aye, 
 at the cost of the whole property I know his lordship 
 well, and the means of paying you the money I owe 
 would forever be taken from me. Now, Jacob, I have 
 told you how I am situated ; do you not see the neces- 
 sity of granting me a further loan ?" 
 
 " No, my lord, 1 don't shee no necessity, because de se- 
 curitish ish all gammon. Suppose you gain de suit, you 
 can't hold possession of de property should there be 
 another claimant. It ish ail a fraud." 
 
 " A fraud, sir ! You are insolent," exclaimed his 
 lordship. 
 
 " Insholent ! God of my fathers, hear de Christian ! 
 Insholent ! ven I have advanced tousands of my monish 
 on securitish victi turns out to be no securitish at all 
 Insholent 1 dat ish too goot."
 
 THE ORPHAN'S WRONGS. 248 
 
 " I have given you security, sir, upon the Brampton 
 Manor property, which will shortly be in my possession, 
 and if a rental of 15,000 per annum, and nearly 
 200,000 of arrears is not good security for the loan of 
 a few paltry thousands, I should like to know what more 
 you require." 
 
 " My Lord Fitzherbert, ven you came to get de loan 
 of the lasht five thousand from me, I advanshed it to 
 you vid good will ; but I thought it would be as well to 
 make sure dat de securitish vash goot. So I called at 
 Doctor's Commons and examined de title deeds, and I 
 found dat de claim made by you and your friends was 
 fio claim at all. Dat de securitish for mine monish 
 
 was not vort one Christian d n ; dat de propertish 
 
 was belonging to von Herbert Fitzherbert, and his heirs 
 forever ; and dat you yourself vash not even make de 
 claims, but some von Fitzherbert and his sister, vot vash 
 no Fitzherbert at all. Yesh, my lord, de lawyers may 
 be gammoned, but de Jew can grope and search vere de 
 lawyers vill not take de trouble ven thejPfsh paid not to 
 be too particular. My lord, you cannot gammon de 
 Jew ven de monish and de securitish iaifcat fault." 
 
 " De goot securitish is everything in the vorld," ex- 
 claimed the shrivelled centegenarian, in a sepulchral 
 voice from an obscure corner of the room. 
 
 " Can't you hold your tongue, you old shinner vat 
 ish de securitish to you now ?" 
 
 " Ah, you speak ! Yesh, it vash a goot prince I will 
 lendde monish, but I must have goot securitish," replied 
 the old man, who was evidently in the very last stage 
 of dotage, and who was accustomed now to harp upon one 
 idea, that of his former dealings with the Prince of Wales. 
 
 " Bosh !" replied Jacob ; " and ash to you, my lord, I 
 have lent too much monish already, and will not ad- 
 vansh another farden. I told you so ven you came here 
 de oder day ; now I have told you de reason vy ; and 
 more, I shall wait till de shuit is decided, and den if 
 I am not paid by de Earl of Shropshire, who, I have 
 learned, is concerned in dish matter, I shall expose de
 
 244 THE LAWYER'S STORY; OR, 
 
 whole affair." Goot day, my lord mine goot friend 
 I am very sorry I cannot accommodate you with de 
 monish ; but monish ish scarche very scarche." 
 
 The tones were bitterly ironical, and too abashed to 
 make any reply, Lord Henry left the room. 
 
 Regaining the street, he pushed his hat far over his 
 brow, and scarcely knowing whjther next he would 
 direct his steps, he turned habitually after reaching the 
 head of the street, towards the Strand. A heavy rain was 
 falling, but Lord Fitzherbert heeded 'not the rain ; for 
 once in his life he was insensible to creature discomforts, 
 and overpowered by the mental distraction produced by 
 the knowledge of the ruin impending over him, could 
 he not find some means to extricate himself from his 
 overwhelming pecuniary difficulties. 
 
 There was no alternative but to write a penitential 
 letter to the Earl of Shropshire, stating the exigencies 
 of the case, and soliciting a loan, promising, at the same 
 time, that it should really be the last he would ask 
 for.' 
 
 He hurried hpme to his apartments in the Albany, 
 wrote the letter^Jpnd dispatched his valet with it to the 
 post-office, for the earl had gone to his castle in Shrop- 
 shire, and then hurried to his club, to forget, if he could, 
 in the conversation of his friends and companions of the 
 hour, the troubles which harassed his mind. 
 
 A few days afterwards, just about the hour of the 
 post-office delivery of country letters, he was sitting im- 
 patiently on the tenter hooks of expectation, awaiting 
 the earl's reply, hoping it would be favorable, yet fear- 
 ing a denial, when his valet hurried into the room. 
 
 " A letter for me, Harrison, eh?" said Lord Fitzher- 
 bert. 
 
 " No, my lord ; but I have hurried up stairs to inform 
 your lordship that the Earl of Shropshire has just en- 
 tered the Albany, and is now engaged in conversation 
 with Sir John Harvey in the hall. I seized the oppor- 
 tunity to hasten up and inform your lordship that the 
 carl is here.'
 
 THE ORPHAN'S WRONGS. 245 
 
 " That is well, Harrison ; but go down and be ready 
 to announce his lordship when he has disengaged him- 
 self from Sir John." 
 
 The valet left the room, and in a few minutes returned, 
 and, throwing open the door, announced the Earl or 
 Shropshire. 
 
 As the earl entered, Lord Fitzherbert rose from hia 
 seat, and advanced to meet him. He appeared unusually 
 serious, and Lord Fitzherbert anticipated an explosion 
 of anger. 
 
 " What is the meaning of the letter you sent me, re- 
 questing a further loan of money, Henry?" said the 
 earl, when he had taken a seat, without taking the 
 younger gentleman's proffered hand. 
 
 " My lord, I have explained all in my letter. I have 
 been recklessly improvident, of that 1 am well aware. 
 I have no excuses to offer ; but I faithfully promise to 
 be guilty of such indiscretions no more, should your 
 lordship kindly relieve me from my present difficulties." 
 
 " Henry, I told you when last I advanced you money, 
 that it should be the last I would lend, under the cir- 
 cumstances. Shameful! disgraceful!^ your time of 
 life, thus to involve yourself in difficulties by a course 
 of reckless expenditure which would be unpardonable 
 in a spendthrift youth of high expectations, and heir to 
 a certain succession in entail. There is no excuse, sir, 
 for your conduct." 
 
 " My lord, I offer none; but you must be aware that 
 my income is sadly disproportioned to my necessary ex- 
 penses, in order to maintain my proper position in so- 
 ciety. But I will, as I have said, be more guarded in 
 future." 
 
 " Your income may be small, sir, but it is sufficient 
 for your maintenance in comfort. I will grant it is not 
 large enough to warrant your attendance at the gaming 
 table and the race course." 
 
 " And these my lord, I will forswear, if once I can 
 get out of my present difficulties." 
 
 For some moments the earl pondered over the case.
 
 246 THE LAWYER'S STOKY; OK, 
 
 Matters were now in a critical position, and the arrest 
 of Lord Fitzherbert might disconcert all his ambitious 
 and avaricious views. It was not, therefore, any 
 personal regard for the young nobleman, but solely 
 motives of personal advantage, that led the earl to 
 say: 
 
 "And if I now come forward, and advance the 
 money to pay your debts, you will faithfully promise 
 that you will call upon me no more for any such pur- 
 pose, under any circumstances." 
 
 " I promise, my lord." 
 
 " Then give me a full list of the debts you owe. 
 Hide nothing, sir, and I will decide how to act." 
 
 Lord Fitzherbert, thus brought to this humiliating 
 condition, wrote down in pencil the full amount of the 
 various accounts that had been sent in to him, amount- 
 ing in the w r hole to over 5,000, and silently handed 
 the paper to the earl. 
 
 Lord Alton took it and glanced over the items : 
 
 " This ik all ? this leaves no debt of honor ; nothing 
 else to be paid ?" 
 
 " Nothing, TQM lord ; my debts of honor have always 
 been scrupulously paid when due." 
 
 " I am glad, at least, that amidst your extravagance 
 you have preserved intact your honor as a gentleman, 
 although those debts of honor have led to the nonpay- 
 ment of the others. You should not have incurred them ; 
 but having incurred them, you have done well in dis- 
 charging- them. I will give you a check for 6,000, 
 which will cover the amount of your debts, and leave a 
 small sum of ready cash in your hands ; but mark me, 
 Henry, this is the last time I will step between you and 
 ruin." 
 
 Lord Fitzherbert acknowledged the generosity of the 
 earl, and received the check, which was shortly after- 
 wards cashed at Coutts' by his valet. 
 
 The earl rather coldly bid him good day, and drove 
 to his mansion in Grosvenor-square. 
 
 Lord Fitzherbert felt his mind greatly relieved, for
 
 THE ORPHAN'S WRONGS. 247 
 
 the loan had saved him from immediate ruin ; but the 
 words of the Jew had considerably alarmed him, although 
 he did not fully comprehend their meaning; but he 
 knew he had carelessly used the name of the Earl of 
 Shropshire in the presence of the cunning Israelite, who, 
 as the reader is aware, had vaguely threatened him with 
 exposure ; he knew the earl was quite unaware that his 
 expected future son-in-law was a victim to, or rather had 
 victimized the money-lenders, and involved his name in 
 these transactions. Had the earl known this his rage 
 would have been uncontrollable, and this Lord Fitzher- 
 bert knew full well, and consequently his mind was ill 
 at ease, notwithstanding the temporary relief afforded by 
 the loan from Lord Alton. 
 
 CHAPTEE XXYI. 
 
 Sad news from abroad " When rogues fall out" &c. Ex- 
 planations of rascally dealings. 
 
 THE day fixed for the settlement of the suit Fitzher- 
 bert vs. Fitzherbert, in the Ecclesiastical Court, Doctor's 
 Commons, drew near ; but just when everything seemed 
 progressing favorably for the conspirators, Cheatern was 
 overwhelmed with consternation, on learning from a pri- 
 vate source, (for he had a spy in the vessel on board of 
 which Adolphus had been kidnapped), that the youth 
 had received his discharge at Malta. 
 
 The seaman who had sent this information, knew 
 nothing of the reason of the discharge, but he stated 
 briefly that Adolphus had saved the life of a young 
 American lady, and on the following day had gone on 
 shore with the Captain, to see the admiral, and had then 
 received his discharge papers, and he had learnt that he 
 had subsequently left Malta in company with the lady 
 whom he had saved from drowning, and her party ; he
 
 248 THE LAWYER'S STORY; OR, 
 
 believed they had gone to Naples, on their way back to 
 England, and this was all he knew of the matter. 
 
 About the same time Mr. Hughes and I received let- 
 ters, dated from Malta, from Adolphus, giving us the 
 particulars of his impressment, as it may be termed, 
 and informing us of all that had transpired besides, with 
 which, however, the reader is already acquainted. 
 
 In the packet of letters, there was one which we 
 looked upon with sad feelings it was directed to " Miss 
 Georgiana Fitzherbert," and was taken in charge by 
 Mrs. Hughes. "No doubt," thought we, " it contains 
 expressions of the deep brotherly love the poor lad feels 
 for his sister; and where is she? A sad disappoint- 
 ment awaits him upon his arrival in England. It seems 
 as though fortune had especially made these poor chil- 
 dren her football to kick hither and thither, as malicious 
 fancy tempts her." The letters from Adolphus to our- 
 selves, however, were a strong point in our favor, espe- 
 cially as Mr. Hughes had hopes of yet getting the case 
 out of the fatherly care of the Lord Chancellor, and 
 causing it to be tried before a civil court in the county 
 in which the property in litigation was situated. But I 
 must not anticipate this portion of my narrative, as it 
 was left to Messrs. Gripes and Cheatem in due time to 
 make the discovery that Mr. Hughes had succeeded in 
 effecting this, and thus not only postponed the decision 
 they were so anxious to hurry forward, but completely 
 overthrown their plans of privacy in the method of con- 
 ducting the case. 
 
 On the receipt of the letter alluded to above, Cheatem 
 lost no time in hurrying to his employer, Gripes, whom 
 he found at his office perusing, with a very serious face, 
 a letter he had just received by mail. 
 
 " A pretty mess you have made of it, Cheatem," said 
 Gripes, as the former entered the office ; " I never heard 
 of such a bungling piece of business before. You have 
 got yourself into a pretty pickle, for I wash my hands 
 of having anything to do with the abduction. That part 
 of the business rests with you. However, your bungling
 
 THE ORPHAN'S WRONGS. 249 
 
 has very probably lost our clients the suit into the 
 
 f 
 bargain. 
 
 " It may not be so bad as you think," replied Cheatem, 
 rather astonished to find that Gripes had got the news 
 as soon as he ; " the young man, to be sure, has man- 
 aged to get his discharge, but it may be from some rea- 
 son altogether extraneous from this matter ; besides, he 
 is probably still in Italy, and before he can get here the 
 suit will be decided, and then we shall be all right. Let 
 them fight it out among themselves afterwards." 
 
 " What the deuce are you talking about, you fool," 
 exclaimed Gripes, in a paroxysm of rage ; " who is 
 speaking of the young man and his discharge. The 
 man's mad ! Here is a letter from Turin, in the hand- 
 writing of Signora Tirozzi, informing me that the girl 
 has by some means escaped from the convent, and has 
 thrown herself, as she believes, on the protection of 
 some English family who are travelling in Italy. A 
 pretty mess you have made of it, indeed." 
 
 " The girl escaped from the convent ! the girl escaped 
 from the convent!" muttered Cheatem, thoroughly 
 frightened by this fresh piece of intelligence. 
 
 "Yes, sir the girl has escaped from the convent, 
 thanks to your infernal mismanagement, and here you 
 come to me with a long rigmarole story about the young 
 man having got his discharge from the seventy-four. 
 What do you mean, sir? have your senses left you alto- 
 gether ? Will you please to speak and explain yourself," 
 continued Gripes, as Cheatem still stood, apparently pa- 
 ralyzed by the news he had heard. 
 
 "Mr. Gripes," he said at length, "I have received a 
 letter from Malta, this morning, informing me that young 
 Fitzherbert has obtained his discharge from the man-of- 
 war, and it was this I came to inform you of when you 
 met me with such a fury of passion. I was not aware of 
 your having also received a letter from Italy. Dear 
 me I this is unpleasant intelligence, indeed !" 
 
 " The young man escaped too,, eh ? Well, really, 
 Cheatem, I congratulate you on your address in mana- 
 11*
 
 250 THE LAWYER'S STORY; OR, 
 
 ging these matters. Admirably managed upon my word! 
 There is a fine field for legal practice, I understand, at 
 Botany Bay, to which distant penal colony you are in a 
 fait way of paying a visit, Mr. Cheatem, unless, indeed, 
 you should grace the gallows at the Old Bailey, in which 
 case the journey would be spared you. I would give 
 you a piece of good advice, Mr. Cheatem : take passage 
 in the first vessel that sails for America, while you have 
 it in your power to be a free agent. Even I may find it 
 necessary to bear testimony against you. Once let these 
 young people arrive in England and the game is up with 
 you. Take my advice and make yourself scarce as soon 
 as possible." 
 
 " And so throw all the suspicion upon myself by my 
 flight when the matter comes to be inquired into, and 
 leave you to white-wash yourself and blacken my repu- 
 tation as you please," replied Cheatem, stung to anger 
 by the taunts of Gripe. 
 
 " I have nothing to do with the business, nothing at 
 all, I tell you. I told you so before, and I repeat it. 
 You kidnapped the young man ; you forged the letters 
 which led to the abduction of the girl ; you managed 
 the business with Signora Tirozzi ; and Mr. Cheatem, I 
 I have your acknowledgment in black and white that I 
 know not for what purpose you required the money. I 
 don't know, indeed, that it is not my duty to cause you 
 to be arrested sir ; for your name is mentioned in this 
 letter of Tirozzi's as having been an accomplice in the 
 abduction of the young woman." 
 
 Cheatem by a sudden movement endeavored to snatch 
 the letter from the hand of Gripe, who, however, was too 
 quick for him, and both the villains, perhaps equally ap- 
 prehensive of future consequences, stood gazing at each 
 other with an expression of diabolical malice upon their 
 sinister features. 
 
 Gripe at length broke the silence, and endeavoring to 
 assume a conciliatory tone, he said : 
 
 " Cheatem, I may have been too hasty ; there is time 
 enough yet to prevent matters coming to an issue be-
 
 THE ORPHAN'S WRONGS. 251 
 
 tween us, and while we can, Jet us be friends. * The case 
 comes up in the Court of Chancery in three days' time. 
 So far everything is prepared for a successful issue. The 
 documentary evidence is all in our favor. Once let the 
 property come into the possession of the two young per- 
 sons who represent the real heirs, and thence into the 
 hands of Lord Alton, and we shall be well remunerated 
 for the part we have taken in prosecuting the claims of 
 the young people, and then we may snap our fingers at 
 what happens afterwards. A few years' residence abroad 
 say in the south of France, with 10,000, would not 
 be objectionable to you, Cheatem, and we could silence 
 Wilkins by threats and the promise of a better situation, 
 and then, you absent from the country, no trouble could 
 arise out of the business, you understand, and after a time 
 all would be forgotten. The young Fitzherberts might 
 do their worst, and the lawyers, whoever they are, who 
 are urging on their claims." 
 
 " It is we and ws," said Cheatem, as yet not quite paci- 
 fied, " when it comes to money matters, in speaking of 
 this business, but I am to bear all the burden of disgrace 
 and infamy that may arise out of it alone." 
 
 " Well well, Cheatem, we were both a little hasty. 
 Matters looked a little black at first ; but I fancy I can 
 see the way clear through. Let us say no more on that 
 subject." 
 
 " With respect to Wilkins," said Cheatem, "the sheet 
 of paper I have possession of will effectually keep him 
 quiet : however, I am not opposed, if the business is once 
 fairly settled, to doing something for him to put a still 
 closer seal upon his lips." 
 
 " Well, we will talk of that some other time ; let us 
 now to business. All the latest documents must be co- 
 pied to-morrow, so that everything may be in readiness 
 for Thursday," and the two lawyers set to work in ar- 
 ranging things to their satisfaction. 
 
 While engaged in conversation on the subject of the 
 approaching law suit, Cheatem observed: 
 
 '' By the way, Gripes, deeply as I have been involved
 
 252 THE LAWYER'S STORY ; OR, 
 
 in this btteiness, I could never yet understand for what 
 reason it was necessary to bring these false claimants of 
 the estates into the field. The question it appears to 
 me, relates to the possession of the estates by the Earl 
 of Shropshire instead of the heirs Fitzherbert. For what 
 reason then does the earl wish the false claimants to gain 
 the suit? I have been all along in the dark on this 
 subject." 
 
 " I will enlighten you," replied Gripe. " The estates 
 belong of right to Herbert Fitzherbert, who, whilst a 
 mere youth, in a fit of spleen occasioned by some threat 
 made by the earl, threw up his claims in disgust, after 
 having applied to me to know whether the earl had told 
 him the truth respecting the flaw in the title deeds. 
 While in conversation with him, after having led him to 
 believe that the title deeds were not good, I managed to 
 get him to write a letter to the earl relinquishing his 
 claims, and in a taunting way, for he was a lad of spirit, 
 he added, ' and your lordship can settle the estates on 
 my half brother, upon his marrying Lady Mary, whom 
 you seek to fasten upon me.' " 
 
 " Is this your will respecting this property ?" said I. 
 
 " ' It is,' he replied bitterly, ' a will by which I leave 
 property to which it appears I have no right, to my half 
 brother, on certain conditions that I would not bind my- 
 self to for the wealth of the Indies.' 
 
 " I pretended to be disgusted at the conduct of the 
 earl in this matter, and told Herbert it would be a good 
 jest to make out a testamentary form to this effect and 
 send it to his guardian. This he did, and so the matter 
 stands. Herbert never troubled himself further about 
 the business. He went out to America after having 
 married a physician's daughter at Canterbury, and died 
 there." 
 
 " Still that does not explain wherefore the earl, with 
 this will in his possession, should wish these false claim- 
 ants to obtain possession of the property. Indeed neither 
 they nor the real Fitzherberts have any claim that I can 
 see."
 
 THE ORPHAN'S WRONGS. 253 
 
 " The Fitzherberts have a claim. Herbert was not of 
 age when he affixed his signature to this will, and it is 
 worthless. He was, however, approaching the period 
 cf his majority, and no one but the earl's heirs would 
 discover the truth as regards this. Therefore, these 
 false claimants having obtained possession against the 
 Crown, which ha?, in fact, no claim, but a spurious one 
 purposely created by the Earl of Shropshire, after he 
 discovered the obstinacy of his ward, the earl will pro- 
 duce the will of Herbert. Of course, they will be paid 
 for the part they have played, and the earl quietly takes 
 possession of the property in behalf of his daughter on 
 her marriage with Lord Henry Fitzherbert. If the real 
 Fitzherberts gained the suit, and were to be ousted by 
 this will, they would naturally institute inquiries by 
 which they would discover that their father was a minor 
 when he signed it, and thus render it valueless. Hence 
 the necessity of destroying the identity of the real Fitz- 
 herberts ; and this can only be done by keeping them 
 out of the way rendering them non est inventus when 
 the suit is called up. They not being present, the suit 
 Fitzherbert vs. Fitzherbert falls to the ground, and it is 
 merely Fitzherbert vs. the Crown. Here the suit can be 
 easily won by the personators of the real Fitzherberts, 
 who, in the absence of the others, will be able, through 
 the measures that have been taken, legally to establish 
 their identity, for, as I have said, the claim of the 
 Crown is a mere fiction adopted by the earl at my sug- 
 gestion." 
 
 " Why, then, has the earl so long delayed his 
 schemes t" < 
 
 " Because he wished the overthrow of the Fitzher- 
 berts to be complete ; therefore he waited until time had 
 elapsed for the heirs of Herbert, had he any, or were 
 they living, to attain their majority ; otherwise it might 
 have been managed years ago. We were, furthermore, 
 in hopes that by this delay the real heirs, if in existence, 
 could not be found, in which case their personification 
 by others would have been unnecessary. In this we
 
 254 THE LAWYER'S STORY; OR, 
 
 were disappointed, as the agent sent to America dis 
 covered that they were living, and immediately set to 
 work to personify them by means of others. Besides, 
 the property has, during all these years, been accumu- 
 lating until it has reached an enormous amount. Then 
 there is said to be certain confiscated property in Vir- 
 ginia, which the earl intends, in the name of Adolphus 
 Fitzherbert, to sue that state for re-possession of. Such 
 things have been done successfully in the State of New 
 York, and why not again in Virginia? The property 
 was purchased by Herbert Fitzherbert, and confiscated 
 during the war of 1812-'14 ; but that will be matter for 
 future action. We must get the present suit settled 
 first." 
 
 " It is a complex affair apparently, and yet simple 
 enough when explained," said Cheatem. " The earl, 
 however, is as deep in the mire as any of us." 
 
 " Yes, but he has so managed as to prevent almost the 
 possibility of suspicion resting on him, unless through 
 some very untoward accident." 
 
 " Well, then, let us hope that a few days more will 
 settle the business." 
 
 Cheatem was j ust on the point of taking his depart- 
 ure when the office boy appeared with the evening 
 paper. 
 
 " I wonder if there is anything relative to this business 
 in the legal news," said Gripes, taking the paper from 
 the boy, and running his eyes over the columns. 
 "Damnation!" he exclaimed, "whoever it is that is 
 interested in the Fitzherberts is worrying us closely. 
 Confound it ! the case is taken out of Chancery, and is 
 to be tried by civil process at Huntingdon. There will 
 be a week's delay at least ; besides the annoyance of 
 having to plead in person. This, too, after everything 
 had been so nicely arranged. It is really too bad. 
 Fortune appears bent upon persecuting us. Still they 
 can scarcely reach England, I should hope, before tho 
 Assizes open at Huntingdon, and once keep them back,
 
 THE ORPHAN'S WRONGS. 265 
 
 and success is certain. Let us hope for the best, at any 
 rate." 
 
 Thus terminated the interview of the two lawyers, 
 which had commenced so fiercely, but which, they re- 
 cognizing the axiom that " when rogues fall out, honest 
 men get their rights," had terminated in such apparent 
 union and friendship. 
 
 CHAPTER XXVII. 
 
 Village gossip. 
 
 I AGAIN introduce the reader to the village of Hem- 
 mingford. It is evening, as it was, when in fancy, we 
 heretofore visited this quiet, rural retreat, and, as custo- 
 mary, a group of village gossipers have met in Dame 
 Harris's cottage, to discuss the events of the day. I 
 should have mentioned that Harris was the post-mistress 
 of the village, and although her duties were not very 
 arduous, the mail bag, which she fetched into the village 
 from the county town of Huntingdon, about four miles 
 distant, in a donkey cart, twice a week, along with her 
 marketing, seldom containing more than half a dozen, 
 or, at the most, a dozen letters ; yet the very fact of her 
 holding the appointment gave her considerable influence 
 among the village friends, besides which she really did 
 manage, in the course of her visits to the post-office, to 
 pick up a considerable quantity of heterogeneous informa- 
 tion which she made the most of when engaged in deal^ 
 ing it out piecemeal to her interested audience. 
 
 " What be t'news i' the town to-day, dame?" inquired 
 an old man who was seated in the corner of the ample 
 fire-place. " I seed thee a passin' i' the donkey cart as 
 I war a putten up t'plow, an' thou stopped at Dame 
 Draper's cottage. I know'd there was surnmat stirring, 
 for t'old dame be main fond o' hearin' news, and thou 
 and she had a mighty long confab together. So arter I
 
 256 THE LAWYER'S STORY; OR, 
 
 I had gotten my supper, I says to my old woman, 
 ' Mother,' says I, ' I'll een go down t' village and see 
 whatten news Dame Harris has got ?' and Bet, she says, 
 ' Aye, go fey ther and tell us when thou comes back if 
 there be anything fresh a-stirring. There doant be much 
 news now-a-days.' So I een put on my hat and put my 
 pipe in my pocket, and as I passed the ' public,' I hap- 
 pened in, and had a gill o' yill, and got my pouch filled 
 with bacca, so that I might pass away an hour or two 
 cosey and comfortable loike." 
 
 "Then, if thou's just gotten thy pouch filled, thou 
 canst give a body t'small matter of a pipeful, for blow 
 me if I've had a smoke to-day," said a young man in 
 the room, pulling a short, black pipe from his hat- 
 band. 
 
 " Aye, lad, thou'rt welcome to a pipe o' 'bacca ; but 
 thou shouldst save thy haa-pence and buy 'bacca for thy- 
 self. Thou'st always a-cadging from other voalk, and 
 that's a bad sign in a lad like thee." 
 
 " Nay, fey ther, doan't thou be a snudgin' me this a 
 ways," exclaimed the youth, rilling his pipe, at the same 
 time, from the old man's pouch. " Tell thee what I'll 
 do. I'll een stand sixpence for a mug o' yill. What 
 says thou to that ?" 
 
 " Well, lad, I've no objection to a mug o' yill, for it's 
 dry work smoking and talking without a drop o' yill to 
 wash a chap's throat down with ; but Lor' bless you ! 
 what's a mug or two mugs o' yill 'mong so many voalks 
 as be here to-night ?" 
 
 " Well, then, feyther, we'll make a gathering and send 
 for a gallon," and the youth went round among 
 the assembly, hat in hand, to receive their penny sub- 
 scriptions, having first deposited his own sixpence in the 
 hat, and the requisite sum for the purchase of a gallon 
 of ale, and a little tobacco besides, having been obtained, 
 Dame Harris's niece Sally was sent out to the village 
 public house, or, as it was styled in village parlance, the 
 " public," to procure the refreshments. 
 
 Meanwhile, several new comers had dropped into tbo
 
 THE ORPHAN'S WRONGS. 257 
 
 dame's hospitable cottage, among whom were our former 
 acquaintances, Sam Watson and Jim Boulton ; the latter 
 of whom, it will be recollected, had gone to sea with the 
 son of Squire Tapley, when he went his first voyage as 
 a midshipman, and had enlightened Sam Watson so much 
 respecting America. 
 
 The young midshipman had gone to sea again, but Jim 
 had staid behind, and now was hired as an in-door ser- 
 vant or a kind of half-footman, half-farming man, in the 
 squire's family. 
 
 "Sam, how dost thou, lad? How dost thee, Jim?" 
 was the greeting of the company, as the two young mer 
 made their appearance. 
 
 " Jim," said the young fellow who had made the re 
 quest for the tobacco of the old man, " a sight o' thee's 
 good for sore eyes, lad; sin' thou's gotten into the 
 squoire's family thou holds thy head mighty stiff. 
 What with thy going till 'Merica with squoire's son, 
 and then being made in-door sarvant, thou thinks 
 thou's gotten to be above poor voalks. Dash me, what 
 a plaguey foine waistcoat thou's got on, all cross-bars, 
 goold and scarlet. Moy eyes I but thou cuts a swell 
 doant thou." 
 
 " I know thou'rt only a jokin', Bill Spooley," replied 
 Jirn ; ' but to tell God's truth, it's mighty little time I 
 get to go a visiting, sin' I've been in the squoire's family ; 
 there be so much to do in the house, and the new butler 
 be a mighty queer sort of a chap. He keeps a fellow 
 pretty hard at work, I can tell you." 
 
 " Aye, he be one of your foine gentlemen from Lun- 
 nun, beant he, Jim ?" said another. " He holds his 
 head mighty stiff There, as if he couldn't stoop to look at 
 poor voalks. They be powerful proud, them Lunnun 
 sarvants." 
 
 "And they do say," said another, "that he be castin' 
 'sheep's eyes' at Fanny Watson," (Fanny Watson was 
 the sister of Sam Watson, who has been introduced to 
 the readei*, and was the belle of the village.) " They 
 say 't gard'ner's e'en a most crazy about it, for ho
 
 258 THE LAWYER'S STORY; OR, 
 
 has been looking after pretty Fanny for many a day ; 
 and now this here Lunnun jackanapes be come, Bob 
 shaves himself and blacks his boots every morning, to 
 make him look as smart as the butler ; but the gals is 
 fond o' finery, and I guess the Lunnuner '11 carry off the 
 prize. T ? butler guv Fan, a foine new sash riband t'other 
 day, and a tortus shell comb e'en a most as big as my 
 hand." 
 
 " I'd thank thou to hold thy tongue about moy sister, 
 Master Dick," said Sam Watson to the young man who 
 had last spoken. " Fanny cares nought either for gar- 
 d'ner Bob, nor yet for t' Squoire's new butler. Fan. 
 looks for a better match for either. Squoire's son tell'd 
 her when he was at home, that she was pretty enough 
 to be a foine lady and prettier than half the foine ladies 
 he met in Lunnun; and as for that powdered jacka- 
 napes, the Lunnun butler, dash moy wig ! if I catched 
 him palavering to moy sister Fanny, if I wouldn't kick 
 him with my hob nail shoes in the seat of his red plush 
 breeches till he wished himself back in Lunnun again." 
 
 " Ah ! Sam, lad, " said the old man who had been 
 sitting in the corner, quietly smoking his pipe, and list- 
 ening to the conversation that had been going on. " Ah ! 
 Sam, lad, thou should'st put such silly notions out of 
 thy sister's head as listenin' to the fine words of squoire's 
 son. Believe an old man ; when gentlemen like he, 
 whisper soft words in the ears of the daughters of their 
 fey ther's tenants, especially if the girls be pretty, it bodes 
 them no good. Take my advice Sam ; gard'ner Bob's 
 a good, honest young fellow, and Ipves thy sister, and 
 has loved her for a main long spell.! thee get her to 
 marry un 'afore t'squoire's son comes back again, and 
 thee and she'll both be glad on't. They sailor chaps, 
 especially when they be gentlemens sons, beant to be 
 trusted whisperin' love stories into the ears o'poor gals. 
 As for you scaramouch of a Lunnun butler, thou must'nt 
 be after misusing on him, but God forbid I should see 
 thy pretty sister Fanny, marry such as he, lad!" 
 
 " But this beant no news," said the old man, who had
 
 THE ORPHAN'S WRONGS. 259 
 
 come in from the outskirts of the village to hear the 
 news and carry it home to his wife Betsy. " T'assizes, 
 be a comin on in a day or two, and I'll be bound Dame 
 Harris when she was in Huntingdon to-day heerd sum- 
 mat worth tellin on, for I seed her stop at Dame Draper's 
 as she came home to-night, and I'se warrant she didn't 
 stop there for nought." 
 
 " Aye, t'assizes, sure enow do come on in a day or 
 two ; they say t' Judge came on yesterday, and be a 
 stopping at lady Shepherd's 'till the opening day," said 
 one of the company, " Dame ; dids't hear ought 'bout 
 t'assizes when thou was to Huntingdon to-day." 
 
 " Deed then, I did Feyther Hodges. I heer'd that 
 forby the trial o'Tim Larkins for robbing farmer Dain- 
 tree's hayricks, and stealing farmer Gidding's horse, and 
 the trial o'Bill Stukely for murderin' the old woman in 
 Brompton hollow, there be another mighty powerful 
 trial a commin' on that'll bring some o'the best lawyer 
 chaps from Lunnun, down till Huntingdonshire." 
 
 " And what be that, dame ?" exclaimed half a dozen 
 voices at once, " tell us, what be that ?" " Aye, and 
 take a horn o'yill afore thou tells us, for this smoke must 
 make thy throat dry," said the old man, cunningly, in 
 order to tempt the old woman to tell the news, for she- 
 had been slightly offended at so much of the conver- 
 sation, being monopolized by others in her own house. 
 Dame Harris took the horn of ale from the hands of 
 the old man, and having drank it, she said : 
 
 " Well, then, lads, the trial that I speak of, be that 
 of the Brampton Manor property. Some do say as 
 these voalks that was down here some time ago ; thou 
 recollects when, beant the real owners of the property 
 after all, and that other voalks ayont the seas be a 
 comin' over to appear agin 'em, and other voalks say 
 as how they do be corned over; but nobody knows 
 \\here they be. They say they've been spirited away 
 loike by the lawyer chaps as be engaged in the trial 
 at the sizes; and then agin, 1 heerd some voalk say 
 as there beant no such persons, and that it be only a
 
 260 THE LAWYER'S STORY; OR, 
 
 trick of some 'cute Lunnun lawyers to keep the young 
 voalks as was down here, out o' their rights. 1 don't 
 know what to make on't for moy part ; but there ap- 
 pears to be queer goings on 'mongst the gentle voalks, 
 that circumvents poor voalk like we, altogether." 
 
 " And be the young gentleman and lady in Hunt- 
 ingdon now, dame ?" asked one of the company. 
 
 " Aye, be they, lad, they coomed down from Lunnun 
 on t'coach this morning. I seed 'em get out and go 
 into the King's Arms hotel, and there was a mighty 
 cunning lawyer chap along with 'em, as looked for all 
 the world as though he could see through a body with 
 his little, glittering black eyes. Mr. Barker, the post- 
 master, tell't me as his name was Cheatem, and that he 
 was a great Lunnun 'torney, who was to proceed in this 
 trial ; but, lads, mark old dame Harris' words. That 
 lawyer chap be a rascal, if there be one on yarth, and 
 they would-be gentle voalks, bean't no real gentle voalks, 
 at all set 'em up for gentle voalks, indeed ! and never 
 said so much as " How d'ye do, dame Harris !" when 
 they was down here before, and squoire introduced me 
 to 'em. It takes me to know real gentle voalks, as has 
 lived gal and woman, at Lady Spatter's and at Lord 
 Hinchenbroke's a matter of twenty years and more. Real 
 gentle voalks never looks so mum and skeery at the 
 tenantry when they bows and curt'sey's to 'em, as they 
 voalks did ; and now I think on't that same lawyer 
 chap, or one very much like him, was down with 'em 
 when they was here afore." 
 
 " Well, dame, all / hopes," said the old man, " be, 
 that some one or other will get their right to the property 
 settled, for it be a mighty fine estate, just, as a body- 
 may say, a goin' to ruin for want o' 'tention, and get it 
 who may, it '11 make work mighty plenty next year." 
 
 " Yes, feyther, as thou says, it will be a powerful good 
 thing for laborin voalk ; but some how or 'nother, I can't 
 b'lieve as they be the rightful heirs." 
 
 " Perhaps t'others 'ill turn up afore the trial comes 
 on."
 
 THE ORPHAN'S WRONGS. 261 
 
 " Aye, perhaps, they may, though there beant much 
 time for 'em to come now, if so be as they beant a keep- 
 ing themsen quiet till the day o' trial." 
 
 "And was there no other news a stirin in town, 
 dame ?" 
 
 " Yes, there was the talk 'bout t'assize ball, and the 
 ladies are all buying new dresses for it, and some voalks 
 was a saying how the lord judge as was to preside at 
 'assizes, was a mighty severe man, and Stukely was sure 
 to be hanged if so be as he be found guilty ; but the 
 main talk was this trial about the Brampton estates ; and 
 they all do say as the young voalks sent their cards to 
 Lady Spatter and Lord Hinchinbroke as soon as they 
 arrived at the hotel. Sen 'em up indeed ! such as they 
 to be sending their cards to real lords and ladies." 
 
 " Well, dame, I shall wish thou good even, and go 
 home. My old woman, Bet, '11 grow skeery if I stay 
 any longer. Be'st thou a going over to town to see 
 t'judge open t'assizes." 
 
 " Yes, feyther, I think I shall go. It '11 be on post- 
 day, thou knows." 
 
 " Well, then, I promised my old woman to take her 
 to Huntington to buy a new gownd, and mayhap thou'll 
 gin her a lift i' th' cart, and I'll walk by the side and 
 lead the donkey." 
 
 " Aye, to be sure, feyther, and welcome." 
 
 "Thankee! dame. Goodnight," said the old man as 
 he left the cottage. 
 
 Shortly afterwards the company dispersed and retired 
 to their homes, chatting as they went over the news they 
 had heard and of the assizes ; for the assizes, held once 
 in six months, and always opened by the Judge and the 
 town officials with great form the judge in his wig and 
 ermine and scarlet robes proceeding to the court-house 
 in a carriage drawn by four horses, followed by the 
 county magistrates, and preceded by constables and 
 a trumpeter on horseback comprised the two great 
 events of the year, in the opinion of the simple villagers.
 
 262 THE LAWYER'S STORY; OR, 
 
 CHAPTER XXVIII. 
 
 News from the Convent The Confessor's advice and its 
 results. 
 
 IN a former chapter I spoke of the consternation of 
 Gripe and Cheatem on having simultaneously received 
 intelligence of the double release of Adolphus and 
 Georgiana the one from his imprisonment, as I may 
 justly term it, on board the seventy-four, and the other 
 from her incarceration under false and most cruel pre- 
 tences in the convent of St. Euphemia. It was not to be 
 expected that the Earl of Shropshire would long remain 
 ignorant of these occurrences the more especially as his 
 own sister-in-law was Abbess of the Convent, and it was 
 through false representations on his part that the pool 
 victim of his persecutions had been received by the Su- 
 perior. 
 
 The Countess de Tivoli, it will be recollected, had re- 
 commended, on permitting Georgiana to leave the con- 
 vent under the protection of her brother and aunt, that 
 for some time at least the affair should be kept secret, in 
 order that, no suspicion being engendered, no plots might 
 be hatched by the Countess de Paoli's accomplices again 
 to obtain possession of the young woman, or at least 
 subject her and her party to a very disagreeable surveil- 
 lance, in a country where the Countess de Paoli and her 
 friends possessed great influence and where the laws 
 were administered with very little regard to justice ; but 
 as soon as the good abbess thought she had allowed 
 them sufficient time to get beyond the borders of Italy, 
 she could contain her indignation, at having been thus 
 deceived and made the unwitting and unwilling party to 
 a gross and cruel fraud, no longer. About the time,
 
 THE ORPHAN'S WRONGS. 263 
 
 therefore, that Mrs. Lyman and her party reached Paris, 
 for they traveled leisurely, the Earl received a letter from 
 his sister-in-law, which ran as follows : 
 
 " Convent of St. Euphemia, near Turin, Italy. 
 " To the Eight Honorable the Earl of Shropshire, K. G. 
 " My Lord: It is with mingled feelings of indignation 
 and pity that I now address your lordship. I grieve that 
 you, holding the lofty and honorable position of a British 
 peer, and being a professed pillar arid supporter of our 
 Holy Mother Church, and the living representative of a 
 long line of noble ancestors, whose fame is in England 
 nearly coeval with the Norman conquest, and in France 
 with the days of the high and chivalrous Charlemagne ; 
 and who, notwithstanding my vows which sever me from, 
 all earthly ties, I cannot forget, was the husband of my 
 lamented sister, could have descended from your high 
 estate, so low, as to be guilty of falsehood, meanness, and 
 cruelty. I received a short time since an autograph let- 
 ter from your lordship by the hands of a woman who 
 stated her name to be Tirozzi, recommending to my 
 care a young female, said to be of unsound mind, and 
 the unconscious tool of wicked and designing men, who 
 were plotting evil to my dear niece, Lady Mary Alton. 
 My lord, believing your lordship to be the soul of honor, 
 I gave credence to the statements you made in the letter, 
 alhough I was led to mistrust the asseverations of the 
 woman Tirozzi; and, although against the rules of the 
 convent, I, in pity to the poor child, whom I believed to 
 be misled, and through deficiency of intellect, not to be 
 an accountable agent in the devices of evil minded per- 
 sons calculated to injure my niece, consented to receive 
 her into the convent of which 1 have the honor to be the 
 superior, and placed her under my own immediate eye, 
 in the hope (for I fancied I saw good traits in the child, 
 notwithstanding what Tirozzi said and what was stated 
 in your letter) that the quiet seclusion of the convent 
 might alleviate her disorder, and that eventually she 
 might recover the use of her reason, and either go forth
 
 264 THE LAWYER'S STORY; OR, 
 
 to perform a part of usefulness in the world, or devote 
 herself to a religious life. My lord, my lord, how have I 
 been deceived ? I have learnt, by proof uncontroverti- 
 ble, that not only were the statements of the woman Ti- 
 rozzi false, but false likewise were the statements of your 
 lordship's letter. My lord, I cannot mince my words, 
 and as is the way of people abroad in the world speak 
 equivocally, jmd in gilded phrases ; I was sought to be 
 implicated in this abominable conspiracy, the character 
 of which, I have partially, yet not wholly learnt, and 
 not / alone my lord, but through me, our Holy Church. 
 My lord, it does not become me a humble servant of 
 Christ and of the Holy Church to sit in judgment on 
 the sins of others, who, alas ! notwithstanding my seclu- 
 sion from the vanities and frivolities of the world, have 
 too many sins of commission and omission of my own to 
 answer for and to weep over ; nevertheless, I pray your 
 lordship to consider seriously the heinous offence, not 
 ,alone in the eye of God, but in the eye of man likewise, 
 that your lordship has been guilty of, and to repent 
 while yet there is time. My lord, let it not be said that 
 one so esteemed by our Holy Church as is your lordship, 
 and one who, from his high position, and has so much 
 influence to promote the welfare or to brand with dis- 
 grace that Church, has been guilty of this deadly sin, 
 unrepented of and unforgiven. My lord, I pray you 
 make what reparation is in your power while yet there 
 is time. Let not ambition nay, let not the fear of 
 worldly shame blind you to the necessity of reparation, 
 or hinder you in the good work. Seek counsel, my 
 lord, where it may best be found ; seek it of the good 
 Father Anselmo. He will not direct you astray, and I 
 pray Heaven, through the Holy Virgin, that I may hear 
 from your own hand that you have repented this mis- 
 deed. 
 
 And now, my lord, I wash my hands of this sad busi- 
 ness. I feel that, though unwittingly, I have been led 
 to aid in the furtherance of an evil action. May / be 
 forgiven, as I pray for forgiveness for others. I have
 
 THE ORPHAN'S WRONGS. 265 
 
 made such reparation as it has been in my power to 
 make. The innocent and unfortunate child has left the 
 convent in the care of her friends, and I trust will have 
 a happy journey to her native land. I can do no more 
 to serve her. 
 
 With many and earnest hopes and prayers, I sign 
 myself, SISTER ANASTHASIA, 
 
 Superior of the Convent of St. Euphemia." 
 
 Simultaneous with this letter, his lordship received 
 another from Signora Tirozzi, informing him of the es- 
 cape of Georgiaria from the convent, and also that Adol- 
 phus had unaccountably received his discharge from the 
 man-of-war, and (for this woman was at the head of an 
 army of intriguers and spies) that the brother and sis- 
 ter, in company, with a party comprised of English and 
 American travellers, had set out for England, via France. 
 " They had already crossed the frontier of Italy," said 
 Signora Tirozzi, ' before I was aware of the escape, so 
 secretly was it planned. Had it been otherwise, it 
 would have gone hard but I would have found some 
 means to arrest, or at least to delay their progress." 
 
 Good and evil news generally corne in a sweeping 
 avalanche ; the same mail brought his lordship a letter 
 from his sister, the Countess de Paoli, to the same effect 
 as that of Signora Tirozzi, with the additional informa- 
 tion, that the countess entertained suspicions of the re- 
 cusance of Sister Maria, heretofore supposed to be a 
 staunch and incorruptible adherent to the dictates of 
 her Superiors, in the Order to which she had plighted 
 her vows of obedience. The first blow falls the hea- 
 viest. It is said that the criminal broken alive upon 
 the wheel is insensible to pain from the reiterated 
 blows from the club of the executioner; the physical 
 ngony has been concentrated in the first blow ; the 
 rest fall unheeded upon the mangled body. If this be 
 true with regard to physical torture, it is not less true 
 with regard to mental suf&ring. The earl had re- 
 ceived the first intimation of this unpleasant, perhaj s 
 
 12
 
 266 THE LAWYER'S STORY; OR, 
 
 ruinous intelligence, from Gripes, who had been the first 
 to obtain the letters from the foreign mail, and who had 
 hurried to his lordship (who was then in committee in 
 the House of Lords) with the intelligence. Finding his 
 lordship was not at his mansion in Grosvenor Square, 
 Gripes had thought the intelligence of sufficient gravity 
 and importance, even to warrant the dispatch of an ex- 
 press messenger to the House to summon his lordship 
 to Grosvenor Square ; and when the earl arrived, and 
 was informed by the lawyer of the mischances that had 
 occurred, he felt almost paralysed by the thoughts of the 
 evil that brooded over him. He sat silent in his chair, 
 overwhelmed with the weight of the intelligence he had 
 received, and neither he nor Gripes spoke ; for though 
 the latter had, as the reader is aware, already arranged 
 upon the only plan that remained for him to follow, he 
 dared not address his lordship, under present circum- 
 stances, until he was himself spoken to. 
 
 At this moment the earl's valet entered with the let- 
 ters from the post-office, and his lordship immediately 
 singled ont thosj which bore the Italian post- mark, and 
 without uttering a word, broke the seals and read them 
 slowly from beginning to end. 
 
 Strange ! but this corroboration of the unpleasant in- 
 telligence communicated by Gripes which had com- 
 pletely unnerved the earl, served to rouse his almost col- 
 lapsed energies into action, and, greatly to the surprise 
 and delight of Gripes, he calmly, and apparently without. 
 a particle of alarm or displeasure, inquired what course 
 he now thought it advisable to pursue. The wily law- 
 yer, who knew how deeply he himself was implicated, 
 and who yet wished to complete the infamous job he had 
 taken in hand, and so far successfully carried out, re- 
 lated to his lordship the conversation he had held with 
 Cheatem that morning, and the determination they had 
 jointly arrived at, viz. : that now matters had gone so 
 far, they must be carried out to the end. It must be 
 " sink or swirn" there was no intermediate course left. 
 "Besides, rny lord," said Gripes, "the trial comes on at
 
 THE ORPHAN'S WRONGS. 267 
 
 Huntingdon in a day or two, and perhaps, under present 
 circumstances, it is just as well that the case is removed 
 from the control of the Lord Chancellor, as the slow 
 method of proceeding in the Court of Chancery, might 
 oblige the suit to lay over from day to day ere it \vas 
 decided, and thus waste a great deal of time, which to 
 us now is everything. In coming before the court of 
 Assize at a provincial town, we shall have this advan- 
 tage, that, the contestants not being present when ihe 
 case is called up, and not answering when called upon, 
 the suit will be decided in our favor, and I have every 
 hope that they may not arrive in time to appear. 
 They may come after the decision as soon as they please. 
 One thing I am sure of; they have not yet arrived in 
 England from Paris, for I have agents at the various 
 channel ports who would have given me information 
 had such been the case." 
 
 And thus the lawyer quitted Grosvenor Square with 
 the permission of his lordship still to prosecute the suit 
 with vigor, notwithstanding the news he had received, 
 and the earl felt his mind so relieved from the weight 
 of what had at first been felt as a stunning blow, by the 
 conversation with his lawyer, and the hopes he still en- 
 tertained of bringing the case to a fortunate issue, that 
 he actually returned to his duties at the House of 
 Lords in a more easy frame of mind than he had been, 
 not only before he had heard the unpleasant news, but 
 for several weeks previously. 
 
 These letters, however, to the earl and to the two 
 lawyers, were not the only ones directed to persons cog- 
 nizant of this unhallowed affair, brought by this mail. 
 There were also letters from the abbess to Father An- 
 sel mo, and to Lady Mary. The letter to her neice was 
 enclosed by the abbess in that which was directed to the 
 venerable father ; for she, notwithstanding she lived in 
 a convent, knew enough of the world to feel pretty well 
 satisfied that any letters received by the present post 
 from Italy, addressed to her neice in her (the abbess's) 
 handwritting, would be intercepted by the earl. Tho
 
 268 THE LAWYER'S STORY ; OR, 
 
 letters to Father Anselmo were always placed in a sepa- 
 rate bag from those directed to the earl, or others of the 
 members of the family or the residents at the castle, and 
 consequently were sent on to him, direct to the castle, 
 no matter where the earl might be residing. A few 
 hours, therefore, after the above recorded conversation 
 had taken place in Grosvenor Square, between the earl 
 and his lawyer, Father Anselmo and Lady Mary were 
 both intently perusing letters from the abbess at Alton 
 castle. 
 
 The letter to Father Anselmo was brief, but the abbess 
 conjured the venerable father to use his utmost efforts 
 to dissuade the earl from pursuing any further his evil 
 designs. The abbess stated that although she was ne- 
 cessarily ignorant of the real nature of this business, he 
 in all probability knew more respecting it. She begged 
 him, regardless of consequences, to seek a personal inter- 
 view with the earl ; and if need be, even to leave the 
 castle sooner than by remaining, in the character of con- 
 fessor and chaplain, to imply that the sanction of the 
 Church had been given to a scheme so unhoh T , and that 
 in a country where everything that could tend to weaken 
 the influence of the Church of Rome was so eagerly 
 seized upon by its implacable enemies. And above all 
 she conjured the venerable father to dissuade her beloved 
 niece from having anything to do with the matter; and 
 if she were persecuted on that account, even to accom- 
 pany her himself to Italy and place her in security within 
 the sanctuary of the convent of Saint Euphernia. 
 
 The letter to Lady Mary ran as follows : 
 
 it * * # j h a ve k u t little time to spare, my beloved 
 niece, as the courier must depart in a few minutes to 
 Turin, with the mnil bag, in order that it may reach 
 Trieste in time for the steamer ; and I have occupied the 
 greater part of the day, to the neglect, I fear, of my 
 spiritual duties, in writing to your father and to the 
 venerable Father Anselmo, upon a matter which trou- 
 bles me sorely (may Heaven forgive me for allowing my
 
 THE OKl'HAN'S WRONGS. 269 
 
 mind to dwell so long on temporal matters). Seldom 
 indeed do I write; and well may you be assured, dear 
 Mary, that it is a matter of serious import which thus so 
 deeply engages my attention. It relates indeed to you, 
 my beloved niece you whom I love perhaps to a de- 
 gree that is sinful. Go then, dear Man', immediately to 
 your confessor, and read this hurried note. Should you 
 be ignorant of the cause which has templed me to de- 
 vote so much of my time to epistolary correspondence, 
 he will explain all to you. Be guided, my dear Mary, 
 by his advice, ev n if it be contrary to that of your 
 earthly parent and natural protector; and should mat- 
 ters corne to the worst you will ever find a peaceful 
 refuge in the convent of St. Euphemia, and a warm and 
 heartfelt welcome from your aunt, its unuorthy abbess. 
 I can say DO more. Pietro is waiting for the letter-bag, 
 and I dare delay him no longer. 
 
 " Believe me, dear Mary, your affectionate aunt, 
 
 " LAURA TIVOLI SISTER ANATHASIA." 
 
 Having perused this brief epistle from one whom she 
 regarded with feelings of undying affection, Lady Mary 
 sat for some moments greatly agitated by a variety of 
 conflicting emotions. "This disgraceful purpose of my 
 father has became known abroad," she thought, " oh 1 
 where will it end; to what will this sad ambition drive 
 him ? If he has proceeded so far as this letter from my 
 aunt would seem to imply, then indeed is it time for ac- 
 tion. Dear aunt (kissing the letter) I will follow your 
 advice, I will see and be guided by the advice of Father 
 Anselmo, and if need be oh ! dreadful alternative I 
 will fly from the temptations that beset me even from 
 my father's house, and seek refuge and peace in the 
 cloisters of St. Euphemia." 
 
 A few minutes afterwards Lady Mary tapped softly 
 at the door of Father Anselmo's study, and the father in 
 a mild benignant tone bade her enter. 
 
 " Ah! my beloved daughter, is it you who seeks me?" 
 exclaimed Father Anselmo, as Lady Mary entered tka
 
 270 THE LAWYER'S STORY; OR, 
 
 apartment. " I was just on the point of coming to you. 
 7, and I presume you also have received a letter from 
 the Countess de Tivoli, the worthy Abbess of St. Eu- 
 phemia. My daughter, I feel it is on this subject that 
 you seek counsel from me ; but I have already marked 
 out the course for you to pursue and now I repeat, as you 
 value } r our future peace of mind, as you value the hope 
 of eternal happiness hereafter, swerve not from that line 
 of conduct. Earnestly did 1 seek counsel from Heaven, 
 as to how I should reconcile, in this matter, my duty as a 
 Christian priest, with my vows of obedience to the Su- 
 periors of my Order. The struggle in my mind was long 
 and arduous ; but Heaven answered me and at length I 
 felt an inward assurance that it was my duty at all 
 hazards to warn and advise you against any participation 
 in a deadly sin. The intelligence I have received from 
 the worthy Lady Abbess, your aunt, only seern to con- 
 firm me in this action of duty. My daughter, again 
 write to your father and urge him to discontinue this 
 business, and tell him in words of filial affection and yet 
 with firmness, that he cannot mistake, that you cannot 
 consent to obey him in this. I too, shall write, and even 
 state plainly what I have heard from Italy, and then, 
 this duty done, let us await the event with patience 
 and prayer. My daughter, if it comes to the worst, 
 you have still a refuge in the cloisters of St. Euphemia. 
 1 will guide you thither and then I shall return here. 
 Let your father act as he may, goaded as he is by evil 
 passions, I dare not seek peace and repose elsewhere 
 while a duty remains to be done. That duty is to use, 
 even to the last while one ray of hope one spark of 
 life remains, all my influence, strengthened as J hope 
 through my prayers to Heaven, for your noble parent's 
 return to the path of rectitude, and then, my child, 
 you must return to him. I could not bid you fly from 
 him but to save yourself from sin and shame; but you 
 must not forsake him. Whatever be your desire you 
 must not now take the veil and hide yourself forever 
 in the cloister. You will yet 1 hope jeturn to rejoice
 
 THE ORPHAN'S WRONGS. 271 
 
 the latter days and to soothe the last hours of a repent- 
 ent, a fond and a happy parent. Now go, my child, 
 and write the letter and I will busy myself in the same 
 way. Write earnestly but trustingly, and may Ileavcn 
 prosper our cause." 
 
 Lady Mary quitted the room and retiring to her own 
 apartment, wrote the letter as the priest had desired her, 
 amidst many sobs and tears, and Father Anselrno having 
 also written his, both letters were sent off by the post 
 that evening for London. 
 
 They were received by the earl on the following day, 
 just after he had held a long and strictly confidential 
 interview with Gripes and Cheatem, and at a moment 
 when the pair of scheming scoundrels had raised his 
 hopes of speedy success to the highest pitch. 
 
 His lordship tore open the letters, glanced hastily at 
 their contents, and with a frown that would have sent 
 the blood curdling to the heart of his daughter had 
 she been present, and with an oath expressive of bitter 
 scorn, he threw them into the fire. 
 
 CHAPTER XXIX. 
 
 An unexpected arrival. 
 
 A PACKET from Havre had just arrived at Southamp- 
 ton, and from that packet had landed the party of 
 travellers who we last mentioned as being at Paris. 
 It was not a regular passenger vessel, for very wisely, 
 at the suggestion of Adolphus, Airs. Lyman and her 
 friends consented to make the few hours passage in a 
 small trader that was laden with wine. It was not very 
 agreeable; but they had a presentiment that should their 
 arrival in England be made known to the persons who 
 had so implacably pursued the brother and sister, these 
 persons, who evidently possessed great capabilities of 
 doing evil, and were over-ruled by no scruples of con-
 
 272 THE LAWYER'S STORY; OK, 
 
 science, would still manage to throw obstacles in thcii 
 way. The spies, therefore, who had been engaged bv 
 Cheatem, had been completely thrown off their guard, 
 and our hero and his friends put up for the night at a 
 neat but small unpretending hotel in the town of South- 
 ampton without a suspicion being entertained of their 
 arrival. They were not aware of the necessity that ex- 
 isted of their appearance in England just at this critical 
 juncture or they would of course have made more haste 
 than they had done, and not have spent so many days 
 in the gratification of their curiosity and in visiting 
 places of note in Paris and other parts of France. While, 
 however, they were sitting in their room awaiting sup- 
 per, Adolphus took up a newspaper and to his astonish- 
 ment read that the trial of the suit in which he was so 
 deeply interested was to come off at Huntingdon on the 
 following Thursday. 
 
 Here was news indeed ! and after a brief consultation 
 with his aunt, it was resolved that he should that even- 
 ing write and despatch letters to Mr. Hughes, informing 
 him of his arrival with his sister in England. 
 
 This was done, and then the party made arrangements 
 for proceeding to London on the following morning. 
 
 Mr. Hughes and I had some time before received the 
 letters from Adolphus, announcing his release from the 
 man of war, and also subsequently a letter, which had 
 especially rejoiced the heart of Mrs. Hughes, relating, 
 briefly, the particulars of Georgiana's release from the 
 convent. -None of us knew where to write to them, as 
 they were moving from one spot to another day by da\ , 
 and bitterly we lamented the impossibility of informing 
 them of the absolute necessity of their hastening to Eng- 
 land. Indeed the anxiety produced, by the knowledge 
 of what might be effected were they present at the trial, 
 and what would probably be the result were they not 
 present, was almost unbearable. It seemed as though 
 we had success at our very fingers' ends, yet could not 
 grasp it. 
 
 It was, therefore, with feelings of great gladness that
 
 THE ORPHAN'S WKOXGS. 273 
 
 we received the letters announcing their arrival in. 
 England, and that very evening we met them at the 
 Southampton railroad terminus, in London. 
 
 It is needless to speak of the joyous evening that we. 
 spent together at Mr. Hughes' snug little villa at Clap- 
 ham,- or the delight of Mrs. Hughes on again meeting 
 with Georgiana, for whom she had begun to feel almost 
 a mother's affection. Suffice it to say, that we did spend 
 a right merry evening for the time being, dismissing 
 from our minds all care for the future. 
 
 However, there was a great deal of business to be 
 done, and to be done secretly; for we determined, if 
 possible, to keep our ruthless opponents ignorant of (he 
 arrival of the heirs until they actually appeared before 
 them in court. 
 
 Adolphus, and Mr. Hughes and I, were therefore 
 pretty busy during the following day or two, but by 
 that time we had done everything that lay in our power 
 to put the secret train in proper order. 
 
 It was now Saturday, and the following Thursday was 
 to be the day " the great, the important day, big with 
 the fate of the Fitzherberts." 
 
 On Saturday morning, Mrs. Hughes informed hei 
 husband that, now his duties were for the present termi- 
 nated, she had a request to make on the part of Miss 
 Fitzherbert which was, that he would allow her to 
 carry out the wish of the kind Abbess of St. Euphernia, 
 in visiting her niece Lady Mary secretly, and in company 
 with her brother making herself known to her. The 
 abbess had despatched a letter for Georgiana to Paris, 
 after she had left the convent, enclosing a letter of intro- 
 duction to her niece, and she besought her, as she valued 
 her kindness while in the convent, and as she could as- 
 sist to save her niece from the perils which surrounded 
 her, to present it in person to Lady Mary. I should 
 have mentioned that for a long time Mr. Hughes had 
 been cognizant of the implication of the Earl of Shrop- 
 shire in this infamous business, and he had also managed 
 to discover that Ladv Mary, who was intended to act a 
 
 12*
 
 274 THE LAWYER'S STORY; OK, 
 
 principal character in the impending drama, bad betrayed 
 considerable unwillingness to play ber part. All this 
 however, he bad kept secret from me until a day or two 
 before the arrival of the Fitzherberts in England. He 
 vv>?, therefore, not at all averse to the introduction of his 
 clients to the lady, feeling perfectly secure of her secrecy, 
 in consequence of the request of her aunt to that effect, 
 even if Lady Mary herself should be inclined to betray us. 
 
 It was resolved therefore, it being known that the earl 
 was in London, to proceed to Shrewsbury that very after- 
 noon ; and at four o'clock Adolphus and his sister, and 
 Mrs. Lyman, with Mr. Hughes and myself, were on our 
 way to that place. We had determined to remain in 
 the town until Tuesday, and then to retrace a portion of 
 our way and to put up quietly at Huntingdon, so as to 
 be in readiness for, the events of Thursday. 
 
 We arrived at Shrewsbury on Sunday about noon, 
 and the next morning despatched a letter to Lady Mary, 
 who was at the castle, about six miles distant, enclosing 
 the letter of the abbess. The letter was sent by a private 
 messenger, who brought back an answer to the effect that 
 Lady Mary Alton would be happy to meet Mr. and Miss 
 Fitzherbert and their friends that afternoon, at their ho- 
 tel in Shrewsbury. She would have received them at 
 Alton Castle, with pleasure, but she feared that that 
 would lead to exposure, which her aunt had explicitly 
 desired her to avoid. She added that she would get out 
 of her carriage at the entrance to the town, and desire 
 the coachman to wait her return, and would then walk 
 to the hotel, so as not to be recognized by the towns- 
 folks. 
 
 At the appointed time Lady Mary arrived, and was 
 introduced to the Fitzherberts. We had expected, from 
 what we had heard of Lady Mary's character, to witness 
 a great deal of hauteur mingled even with her conde- 
 scension ; but we were most agreeably surprised to find 
 her unassuming to a remarkable degree. She looked 
 sad and careworn, but she was still exceedingly hand- 
 some. There was evidence of a latent spirit beaming in
 
 THE ORPHAN'S WRONGS. 275 
 
 her eyes at times, which showed that when she chose she 
 could display all the pride and hauteur for which the 
 world had given her credit. Still those same dark 
 piercing eyes were expressive of a depth of feeling that 
 plainly told that Lady Mary Alton was one whom the 
 world of fashion had heartlessly misjudged; and, at least 
 now, no one could look upon her queenly and command- 
 ing form and classic features, not soulless, as the poet has 
 said of such, but beaming with intellect and sentiment, 
 without feeling interested in her no one could witness 
 the pensive melancholy that was engrafted on those fea- 
 tures, without a feeling of sorrow, that one whose nature 
 was evidently so susceptible should have been doomed to 
 suffer the long corroding anxiety, which alone could 
 have so plainly stamped that expression of melancholy 
 on her features. Yet the feeling of almost painful inter- 
 est did not descend to pity. One might have pitied a 
 less queenly being, but as well might one profess pity 
 for a goddess as for the queenly Lady Mary Alton, and 
 Lady Mary would have shunned and scorned those who 
 could have pitied her. 
 
 The meeting between the Fitzherberts and the daugh- 
 ter of the proud earl who was the primary cause of their 
 own and their father's trouble was brief but cordial. 
 Her ladyship started when tirst she saw Adolphus and 
 exclaimed, involuntarily, " Good Heaven, how like poor 
 Herbert." He evidently awakened in her mind somo 
 painful reminiscences, for her hand trembled as she ex- 
 tended it to him, and her cheek alternately paled and 
 flushed as she addressed him. With Georgiana, of 
 course, she was more at ease, and after staying about an. 
 hour she rose to depart. She had already wished us 
 good day, and had reached the door of the apartment, 
 when she turned back and taking the hand of Georgi- 
 ana, she said, her \ oice trembling with emotion : 
 
 " Dear Miss Fitzherbert, believe me, I feel for your 
 past misfortunes, and I wish you well. You may ima- 
 gine that JTAatw been and am interested in your failure 
 on Thursday. You see," she said, smiling archly, " I
 
 276 THE LAWYER'S STOEY; OR, 
 
 know more than you give me credit for ; but far from 
 that, I never have been, never could be, inimical to the 
 happiness of you and your brother. Perhaps some day 
 I may tell you why. And now I shall wish and pray 
 most sincerely for your success ; and be assured what- 
 ever be the result, you will ever have a warm and stead- 
 fast friend in Alary Alton." 
 
 Mr. Hughes conducted her ladyship down stairs, and 
 to the door of the hotel ; and, after some conversation 
 respecting the interview, we again set busily to work in 
 order that nothing that we could conceive would avail 
 us should be wanting to ensure our success on the com- 
 ing Thursday. 
 
 CHAPTER XXX. 
 
 The county court The trial and the verdict set aside The 
 earl's death. 
 
 THERE was, as usual, an imposing array in the town 
 of Huntingdon on the commission day of the autumn 
 assizes of 184 . The high sheriff and county officers 
 
 O J 
 
 went to meet the judge, who had for some days pre- 
 viously been stopping at the seat of Lady Shepherd, as 
 had been already mentioned ; and the cortege having 
 been arranged, they entered the county town, amidst 
 the shrill clang of trumpets and all the accustomed dread 
 
 and imposing paraphernalia of justice. Lord , the 
 
 presiding judge, was, as is the case with most English 
 judges, a man of lofty intellect and of strict unswerving 
 integrity ; but as Dame Harris had already informed her 
 group of auditors at the cottage at Hemingford, he rather 
 inclined to severity, Nevertheless, he was a noble and 
 high-minded man, and one upon whose broad shoulders 
 the ermine rested with becoming dignity. The fifth 
 day of the assizes was the day appointed for the hearing 
 of the case, Fitzherbert vs. Fitzherbert. This delay was
 
 THE ORPHAN'S WRONGS. 277 
 
 very annoying to Mr. Gripes, as he was in momentary 
 fear of the arrival of the true heirs Fitzherbert from the 
 continent, but he had no remedy but patience. As to 
 Mr. Hughes, he kept perfectly quiet, and had succeeded 
 in keeping from the knowledge of his opponents the 
 actual arrival of those they so much dreaded. 
 
 At length the day arrived, and the court-house was 
 thronged to the uttermost. The assize commission is 
 always a period of excitement, but this time it was more 
 than usually so, in consequence of the trial of this case 
 of such unprecedented local interest. 
 
 A dead silence prevailed in court when the judge 
 entered and took his seat upon the bench on the eventful 
 morning. There was no occasion for the Crier to call 
 for order, for every one present held his breath a pin 
 might have been heard to drop in the court. 
 
 Nearly all the influential gentlemen in the country 
 were present, as well as several ladies, who occupied 
 seats in the rear of the bench. 
 
 The customary preliminaries having been gone through, 
 the judge asked Avho appeared for the plaintiffs. 
 
 "Isaak Gripes and Archer Snap, Esquires," was the 
 reply. 
 
 " And for the defendants ?" 
 
 " Hughes H. Hughes and Joseph Green, Esquires." 
 
 In a few minutes the respective counsel having taken 
 their seats, the attorneys, Messrs. Ferrit and Cheatem, 
 being also seated near their counsel, the jury were 
 sworn, and while this operation was going forward, all 
 eyes were directed to a young gentleman and lady who 
 entered the court, and were conducted to a seat by the 
 deputy sheriff. It was soon whispered around that 
 these were the plaintiffs Fitzherbert, and shortly after- 
 wards the Earl of Shropshire entered and took a seat 
 near them, having exchanged salutations, which, to 
 those at a distance appeared to be kind and familiar, but 
 which those near by remarked, were strangely conde- 
 scending, and not unmixed with hauteur, on the part of 
 his lordship.
 
 278 THE LAWYER'S STORY; OR, 
 
 "Is it not strange and extraordinary! the singular 
 resemblance of those young people to Adolphus and 
 Georgiana?" whispered Mr. Hughes aside to me, for I 
 was seated near him. 
 
 "It is, indeed," I replied ; "at this slight distance I 
 could almost believe them to be the genuine, instead of 
 the false, Fitzherberts." As I was speaking, Mr. Gripes 
 arose, and in a low, distinct tone, said : 
 
 " May it please your lordship gentlemen of the jury 
 as I have already stated, I have the honor to appear 
 before you as counsel for the plaintiffs. Independently 
 of the unusual interest which is excited by a trial, the 
 result of which invokes such an immense amount of pro- 
 perty, which I shall have to refer to hereafter ; this is 
 altogether a most singular case; I shall, therefore, as 
 briefly as I can, endeavor to state its nature. 
 
 '"The large estates now under litigation were, anterior 
 to the Reformation, in the possession of the Church ; but 
 in the reign of Queen Elizabeth they were sequestered 
 and held by the Crown. Through some omission in the 
 act of sequestration, which it is not necessary to enter 
 into, they were subsequently submitted to litigation, and 
 during the reign of Charles the First, temporary posses- 
 sion was obtained by their former proprietors, who were 
 again deprived of them during the protectorship of 
 Oliver Cromwell. During this period of civil anarchy 
 and discord, they were sacked and laid waste by the 
 Puritan (soldiers, and on the Restoration, they were 
 chiefly used by Charles the Second as a hunting ground 
 having been covered with copse and low brushwood, 
 which had sprung into growth from the roots of the 
 charred trunks of the trees which had been burnt by 
 the Roundheads. 
 
 "From that period, until the accession of George the 
 First, they were held as Crown property, although little 
 attention was paid to them. They were still a mere 
 wilderness. 
 
 " At this date, however, some new claimant arose in 
 the bishop and clergy of the diocese, who claimed the
 
 THE ORPHAN'S WRONGS. 279 
 
 property as having been transferred to the Protestant 
 See, Avhen the Catholics had been outlawed and exiled. 
 From that time until the close of the reign of George the 
 Second, they were the object of constant and vexatious 
 litigation, and were still allowed to run to waste; but 
 at that date the claims of the Church were declared null, 
 and the property was fully recognized as belonging to 
 the Crown. 
 
 " From this time they were cultivated as farm land, 
 and yielded a large rental, which, with proper attention, 
 however, might have doubled or trebled ; but, strange 
 to say, they never received the attention they merited. 
 When his late Majesty, George the Fourth, had attained 
 his majority he being then Prince of Wales letters 
 patent were obtained by his father, George the Third, 
 by which he was enabled to transfer the property from 
 the Crown to the prince, individually, and the prince, in 
 the multitude of his generosity upon a certain occasion 
 (it is not necessary for me to allude to it further) 
 presented the property, while he (the prince) was still 
 living, to one Herbert Fitzherbert and his heirs, male 
 and female, forever. Herbert Fitzherbert then being an 
 infant (in law) of some six or eight years of age, the 
 Bight Hon. the Earl of Shropshire, was appointed his 
 guardian until he attained his majority. From this 
 period the estates have prospered, and yielded a rental 
 of 15,000 per annum the only drawback being that 
 the landlord did not reside upon the property, and thus 
 it was not rendered even then so productive to the 
 owners, or so beneficial to the country, as it might have 
 been. 
 
 " A short time before he attained his majority, the 
 heir, Herbert Fitzherbert, went to America, and while 
 he was absent, fresh and vexatious claims were made 
 against the property, and it was stated, and in the 
 opinion of the Earl of Shropshire and his legal advisers, 
 correctly, that the title by which his Koyal Highness, 
 George Prince of Wales, held the property, did not allow 
 him to make it over to another party, and that upon his
 
 280 THE LAWYER'S STORY; OR, 
 
 decease, or his ascending the throne of England, the said 
 estates must again revert to the Crown. On the return 
 of Herbert Fitzherbert to England, this was told him by 
 his guardians, and he forthwith declined having any 
 trouble with them, leaving the earl to contest his right 
 should he be called upon to do so, and shortly after this 
 he married, and again sailed with his wife to America. 
 Nothing further was heard of him, and it was supposed 
 he died there. For several years the Earl of Shropshire 
 rested in the belief that the title deeds were invalid, but 
 latterly he discovered that he had all along been under 
 a misapprehension, and that they were as binding as is 
 was possible for them to be. During this long period, 
 including a series of years, the earl, as agent of the 
 doubtful property, in the absence of the rightful owner, 
 had drawn the yearly rentals, and funded them, not 
 knowing whether the money of right belonged to Her- 
 bert Fitzherbert or his heirs, or whether it would not 
 eventually be claimed by the Crown. However, on his 
 lordship discovering his error, he immediately took mea- 
 sures to ascertain whether Herbert Fitzherbert or his 
 heirs were living, and with this object an agent v/as sent 
 to America, who, after much difficulty, succeeded in 
 discovering a son and daughter named Adolphus and 
 Georgiana Fitzherbert, whom he brought over to Eng- 
 land with him, and whom, to the best of my belief, are 
 now, my Lord and Gentlemen of the Jury, seated in this 
 court. (Great sensation ; all eyes directed to the two 
 young people representing themselves to be the rightful 
 iieirs.) The venerable and noble earl, who, I believe, 
 is also present, was now in hopes that his, almost lifelong, 
 difficulties and troubles respecting this property were at 
 an end, and that he should soon have the satisfaction of 
 seeing the heirs of his ward in possession, and of paying 
 over to them the large amount of accumulated property, 
 amounting, with interest, to between 200,00u and 
 300,000. (Great sensation in court; hands thrust iuto 
 pockets, and coppers and keys heard jingling in all d, ruc- 
 tions.) Such, my Lord and Gentlemen of the Jury, was
 
 THE ORPHAN'S WKOXGS. 281 
 
 not to be the case- ; the curse of litigation appears to 
 have lingered on these estates for centuries; indeed, ever 
 since they were confiscated from the Roman Church. 
 Scarcely had the heirs of Herbert Fitzherbert arrived in 
 England, when a rumor spread that some foul work was 
 going forward in America, at the instigation of some 
 pettifogging Yankee lawyer (I bristled up considerably 
 when I heard this, while Mr. Hughes glanced at me and 
 smiled archly), at the instigation of some poor, unscrupu 
 lous, pettifogging Yankee lawyer, I repeat the words, my 
 Lord (and Gripes, who, by some means, had recognized 
 me), and observed my annoyance, looked spitefully to- 
 wards me), who, reading the advertisement in a Phila- 
 delphia newspaper, set his wits to work to see if he could 
 not make a good speculation out of the job, and forth- 
 with he proceeded to hunt up a young couple from 
 the back settlements of the United States, or probably 
 some idle and disreputable characters from Philadelphia 
 or New York, and sought to palrn them off as the real 
 Simon Pures. 
 
 " With this object in view he wrote to a gentleman of 
 eminence in the legal profession in London who now 
 appears as counsel for the defendant and by a little 
 skillful manoeuvering, such as gentlemen of his class are 
 perfectly capable of, actually managed to interest him 
 deeply in the false gause of his proteges. 1 presume, my 
 Lord and Gentlemen of the Jury, that these false claim- 
 ants will this day have the audacity, supported by their 
 smart Sam Slick coadjutor, to present themselves in 
 court as the son and daughter and veritable heirs of 
 Herbert Fitzherbert. It now remains for me, my Lord, 
 to bring forward the incontestible proofs of the identity 
 of my clients, as furnished after much patient and careful 
 investigation, by the indefatigable gentleman who has 
 acted as attorney in this interesting cas*-. 
 
 " I have here, my Lord (exhibiting a parcel of parch- 
 ment documents), copies from the vestry books of Christ 
 Church, Canterbury, of the registration of the birth of 
 Herbert Fitzherbert, on the 4th day of February, 179- ;
 
 282 THE LAWYER'S STORY; OR, 
 
 also of tae marriage of the said Herbert Fitzherbert to 
 Ellen Harcourt, which ceremony was performed and en- 
 registered at the said church in the said city of Canter- 
 bury, on the 6th day of June 18 ; and furthermore, I 
 have here the affidavits of Adolphus and Georgian a 
 Fitzherbert certifying that their father, the said Herbert 
 Fitzherbert, died at Reading, Pennsylvania, United 
 States of America, in November, 1830. These docu- 
 ments, all properly attested, can leave no doubt upon 
 your minds, my Lord and Gentlemen of the Jury, of the 
 personal identity of the young people here present in 
 court ; but, my Lord, our neighbors over the water are 
 proverbial for their keen dealing (casting a bitter glance 
 towards me). The advertisement which I have already 
 alluded to, promised a rich field for harvest ; and although 
 utterly ignorant of the nature of the case beyond what 
 was shadowed forth in the advertisement ; utterly regard- 
 less of truth or consistency, or even of common decency ; 
 impelled only by the keen desire of gain, two persons, 
 real or imaginary, purporting to be brother and sister, 
 and to bear the same names as the rightful heritors of 
 the estate in question, and to be the legitimate children 
 of the same parent are brought forward in the hope the 
 feeble hope that they may be enabled successfully to 
 contest the title, and obtain a position to which, whether 
 they substantially exist, or exist only in the imagination of 
 the contestants, they have not the faintest shadow of 
 right. 
 
 " My Lord and Gentlemen of the Jury, I have empha- 
 sized the words substantially or only in the imagination 
 of the contestants, because I am not in reality aware 
 whether such parties as I speak of really exist, and 1 have 
 my doubts whether the whole claim has not been trumped 
 tin with the object of obtaining money from Lord Alton, 
 in order to purchase silence, under threats of trouble and 
 annoyance. I do not believe, my Lord, that the opposite 
 counsel or attorney can produce their clients before the 
 court, nor say where they can be found. 
 
 " However, strong in the strength of truth, no bribes
 
 THE ORPHAN'S WRONGS. 283 
 
 have been offered the attorney in this case on the part 
 of the Earl of Shropshire, and if this was the eject of the 
 contestants, they have been disappointed. I shall now, 
 my Lord and Gentlemen of the Jury, proceed to read 
 aloud to the court, the documents I have in my posses- 
 sion, and to call in witnesses to testify that they were 
 honestly obtained; also, that subsequently to our obtain- 
 ing possession of them the attorney employed by the 
 real or imaginary contestants did start from London to 
 the city of Canterbury, and did visit the vestry of Christ 
 Church, in the aforesaid city, and there endeavor to ob- 
 tain from the clerk similar copies from the registers, and 
 also sought to get them attested by the said clerk. The 
 copies were of course obtained, but the clerk refused to 
 attest that to the best of his belief the parties set forth 
 by the contestants were the legitimate children of the 
 said Herbert Fitzherbert, and of his wife the said Ellen 
 Harcourt. He having already attested on behalf of the 
 plaintiffs sworn to be such by their attorney." (Mr. 
 Gripes having read the documents copied from the regis- 
 ter at Christ Church, Canterbury, thus continued). 
 
 " My Lord and Gentlemen of the Jury, in the course 
 of a long, and I may say with pride a pretty successful 
 practice as a barrister, I do not know that I can recall to 
 rnind an instance in which a more detestable, a more 
 base attempt at chicanery has been employed. In the 
 iirst place, look at the absurdity of the pretensions of our 
 opponents in bringing forward, or pretending to have it 
 in their power to bring forward, a young man and wo- 
 man, brother and sister, of the same name, and purport- 
 ing to be the same parties, as those we had succeeded in 
 discovering after a vast deal of trouble and anxiety, and 
 at a considerable expense. What was the motive, my 
 lord, of the right honorable earl, who was the guardian 
 of these estates in the absence of his former ward, Herbert 
 Fitzherbert, in seeking to discover whether he or his 
 heirs were living, when once he had satisfied himself 
 that the title to the estate, so long in abeyance, was still 
 good, excepting that it was his desire to get honorably
 
 284 THE LAWYER'S STORY ; OR, 
 
 quit of a most onerous charge, which has cost him years 
 of trouble and anxiety, without affording him the slight- 
 est recompense, except the proud consciousness that he 
 was doing his duty ; for I am prepared to show that every 
 farthing of the rental that, for many long years prior and 
 subsequently to his ward, Herbert Fitzherbert, having 
 attained his majority, his lordship has received, has 
 been carefully invested in behalf of his ward or his heirs, 
 male or female, together with the interest that has accu- 
 mulated during those long and tedious years. My lord, 
 is it not enough to make the very stones in the street 
 blush crimson, when one thinks upon the obloquy sought 
 to be cast upon the head of one of the noblest and most 
 esteemed of P^ngland's peers? It may be pretended by 
 the contestants that the right honorable earl has been 
 deceived by his agents, in the parties whom, with much 
 difficulty, have been hunted up from the obscurity into 
 which they had fallen in the transatlantic States, whither 
 their parents had emigrated; but, my lord, does this ap- 
 pear probable ? will it for one moment bear consideration ? 
 Are not the reasons I have given for this flagrant, shame- 
 ful and most barefaced attempt at imposition, for more 
 plausible far more likely to be correct? I solicit your 
 lordship's consideration of the circumstances ; I ask the 
 consideration of an honest and intelligent jury? My 
 lord, we seek right and justice, and nothing more. Let 
 it be proven that we are wrong; that his lordship; the 
 agents he has employed to discover the heirs; the attor- 
 neys who, with the most patient and praiseworthy dili- 
 gence, have made the most minute investigations have 
 all been deceived, and that those parties whom we truly 
 believe to be the lawfully begotten heirs of Herbert Fitz- 
 herbert, are not so in truth ; let it be shown satisfacto- 
 rily that they are impostors, and his lordship will natu- 
 rally feel rejoiced in resigning his trust into the posses- 
 sion of the veritable heirs ; but we shall want better proof 
 than they, I doubt, are prepared to give ; and your lord- 
 ship has had too much experience on the bench, and the 
 intelligent jury I see before me, have too much good
 
 THE ORPHAN'S WIIONGS. 285 
 
 sense and good feeling to be led away by specious pre- 
 tences. I shall say no more, as I have witnesses present 
 who will swear to the truth of rny statements respecting 
 the copying of these documents, (handing them up to the 
 judge and to the gentlemen of the jury, for their in- 
 spection,) and the gentleman who has the honor to be 
 connected with me in this case, will now call them for- 
 ward." 
 
 Mr. Snap arose and called 
 
 " John Withers." 
 
 The witness stepped forward to the witness-box, and 
 the customary oath was administered : 
 
 u You are the sexton of Christ Church, Canterbury?" 
 
 " Yes, my lord," replied the witness. 
 
 Mr. Snap smiled, and a suppressed titter ran round the 
 court. 
 
 "You must not address me as 'my lord,' my good 
 man." said he. "Just answer plainly ' yes' or 'no' to 
 such questions as may be put to you. I ask you whether 
 you are the sexton of Christ Church, in the city of 
 Canterbury?" 
 
 " Yes, sir." 
 
 " And on the fifth of April last, the gentleman I am 
 now pointing out, Mr. Cheatem, called at the vestry of 
 the church and asked to see the register?" 
 
 "Yt-s, sir." 
 
 Mr. Hughes here interposed, saying 
 
 " My lord, 1 object to these questions. Will your 
 lordship please to direct the witness to state simply what 
 occurred at that date, in Canterbury, between the gentle- 
 man spoken of and himself?" 
 
 " The witness will confine himself simply to a state- 
 ment of what took place on the occasion alluded to," 
 said the judge. 
 
 " I am perfectly willing that such be the case," said 
 Mr. Snap, blandly. " I assure the gentleman opposite 
 there is not the slightest occasion for us to put leading 
 questions to the witnesses in this matter." 
 
 The witness continued
 
 286 THE LAWYER'S STORY; OR, 
 
 On the 5th of April last, the gentleman sitting there 
 (pointing to Mr. Cheatem) called at my house in Dover- 
 street, Canterbury, and requested me to accompany him 
 to the vestry of Christ Church, as he wished to ex 
 amine the register." 
 
 " And you did so?" asked Mr. Snap. 
 
 " 1 did so." 
 
 " Was the gentleman alone ?" 
 
 " No. He was accompanied by a young gentleman 
 and lady." 
 
 " Should you recognise them again were you to see 
 them ?" 
 
 " I think I should. 5 ' 
 
 " But you are not certain ?" exclaimed Mr. Hughes. 
 
 " To the best of my belief, I should be able to recog- 
 nise them." 
 
 Cast your eyes along the bench on which those gentle- 
 men and ladies are seated, and say if they are seated 
 among them," said Mr. Snap. 
 
 The old man carefully wiped the glasses of his spec- 
 tacles, and having occupied some time with fixing 
 them, peered earnestly in the direction pointed out to 
 him. 
 
 "Do you see the gentleman or the lady there?" en- 
 quired Mr. Snap, after waiting for a minute or so. 
 
 " I do, sir ; to the best of my belief they are sitting 
 there," pointing his linger to the spot where the two 
 parties who were personating the Fitzherberts were 
 seated. 
 
 "Da you recollect the names of these persons?" in- 
 terrupted Mr. Hughes. 
 
 " Keally, my lord," interposed Mr. Gripes, " I must 
 say this is altogether out of rule. The counsel has been 
 two or three times interrupted with frivolous questions 
 and objections, which can in no way affect the evidence 
 of the witnesses or prejudice the case in the minds of the 
 jury." 
 
 " It is no matter," said Mr. Snap to his senior, " let 
 the witness reply. I will put the question, if the learned
 
 THE ORPHAN'S WRONGS. 287 
 
 counsel on the opposite side chooses. Do you recollect 
 the names of the parties, Mr. Withers?" 
 
 " I am not good at recollecting names," replied the 
 witness, " but I recollect these because they were out of 
 the common, and because, the surname was that of a 
 gentleman and lady whom I knew well by sight, and 
 who at one time lived near Canterbury. The gentleman 
 and lady were introduced to me as Mr. and Miss Fitz- 
 herbert." 
 
 " What followed ?" said Mr. Snap. 
 
 "The party went into the vestry, and after Mr. 
 Cheatem had searched the register for some time, he 
 left the vestry, and said he should call on the following 
 day with a law clerk, and obtain copies of the registry 
 of a birth and marriage." 
 
 "And did he call?" 
 
 " He did, and obtained fair and accurate copies of 
 the registries." 
 
 " What followed ?" 
 
 " An old lady was sent for by the gentleman, who 
 had been many years before in the service of Captain 
 and Mrs. Fitzherbert, and who had nursed Herbert 
 Fitzherbert, the registry of whose birth was one of 
 the documents copied. She had also been present at 
 his wedding with Miss Harcourt, as was I. The old 
 lad} r was confronted with the young gentleman and 
 lady, and asked if they bore any resemblance to Her- 
 bert Fitzherbert. She at once recognised them, and 
 shed tears of joy, for she had been very fond of the 
 child she had nursed. She was asked if she would 
 swear that, to the best of her belief, they were the chil- 
 dren of Herbert Fitzherbert, and she willingly did so 
 in my presence. I also took oath to the same effect, 
 for I recollect Master Herbert from a boy, and the young 
 gentleman, at least, is uncommonly like him." 
 
 "That will do for the present," said Mr. Snap. 
 " You can stand down, witness. Let Jane Adams be 
 called." 
 
 An old lady, whose age must have been near seventy
 
 288 THE LAWYER'S STORY; OK, 
 
 but whose countenance yet showed great vivacity and 
 intelligence, made her way, with some difficulty to the 
 witness-box. In consideration of her age, she was ac- 
 commodated with a chair. The customary oath having 
 been administered 
 
 "Your name is Jane Adams ?" said Mr. Snap. 
 
 " It is, sir." 
 
 " Will you have the kindness, Jane Adams, to state 
 what occurred to you at Canterbury, when you were 
 lately called upon to witness the fair copy from the re- 
 gister, of the dnte of the birth and the marriage of Her- 
 bert Fitzherbert ?" 
 
 The old dame stated that she had been the nurse of 
 Herbert when he was an infant ; that she had loved him 
 as one of her own children, for she had just lost a child 
 of her own at this time, and that had made her take 
 more kindly to the babe; that on the occasion of his 
 marriage he had called upon her and made her go and 
 witness the ceremony, and had also made her a hand- 
 some present ; that the young gentleman and lady she 
 lately saw at Canterbury were the very image of Her- 
 bert, and that she had sworn that to the best of her 
 belief they were his children. This was the substance 
 of the old lady's testimony, which was mingled with 
 many expressions of fondness for the child she had 
 nursed, and whom she believed to be their parent. 
 
 " Would you wish to ask this witness any ques- 
 tions?" said Mr. Snap, turning to the opposite counsel. 
 
 " No," replied both Mr. Hughes arid Mr. Green, and 
 the witness was told she might withdraw. 
 
 " Call the Right Honorable the Earl of Shropshire," 
 said Mr. Snap. 
 
 His lordship stepped forward from the bench on which 
 he was seated, and took his place in the witness-box, and 
 was duly sworn. 
 
 " Your lordship has heard the statements of the senior 
 counsel respecting your guardianship over the Bramp- 
 ton manor property. I wish to ask" your lordship 
 whether they are substantially correct?"
 
 THE ORPHAN'S WRONGS. 289 
 
 " They are," replied the earl. 
 
 " I do not wish to trouble your lordship further," 
 said Mr. Snap ; and the earl was about to retire, when 
 Mr. Hughes said: 
 
 " I should wish to put one question to his lordship. 
 I would ask if, on his lordship's oath, he believes the 
 young gentleman and lady now in this court, are the 
 real and legitimate offspring of his former ward, 
 Herbert Fitzherbert ?" 
 
 " I do," replied the earl. 
 
 " May I ask on what grounds, my lord ?" 
 
 " I object to that question I" exclaimed Mr. Gripes. 
 
 Some discussion was about to arise relating to the 
 question, which the earl prevented by stating his perfect 
 willingness to reply. 
 
 " I believe them to be so," said he. " In the first place, 
 because on my instituting a search for the heirs of my 
 former ward in America, this young gentleman and lady 
 were discovered with great difficulty by the agent I dis- 
 patched to the United States for that purpose. Secondly, 
 in consequence of their having fully satisfied me by their 
 replies to questions which have been put to them, which 
 questions none but the children of Herbert Fitzherbert 
 could have satisfactorily replied to ; and thirdly, because 
 of the great family resemblance they bear to my former 
 ward, and to his mother, Eleanor Fitzherbert." 
 
 " I am satisfied," said Mr. Hughes, and the earl left 
 the witness-box and returned to his seat on the bench. 
 
 Mr. Gripes rose : 
 
 " I think, my lord," he said, " it is quite unnecessary 
 to question any more witnesses. I have stated the case 
 plainly and fairly. My statements have been corrobo- 
 rated as far as they possibly can be. Of course, in such 
 a peculiar case as this, in which the plaintiffs and ihe de- 
 fendants, if there be any in reality, are entirely ignorant 
 of the nature of the proceedings beyond what they have 
 heard from their counsel, and which rests solely upon 
 the proofs adduced as to the identity of the parties. I 
 
 13
 
 290 THE LAWYER'S STORY; OK, 
 
 shall, therefore, rest the case on the part of the plaintiffs 
 as it now stands." 
 
 The Court took a recess for the purpose of refresh- 
 ment, and on its return, Mr. Hughes rose and opened 
 the case for the defendants : 
 
 " My lord," said he, " I am well aware that the pe- 
 culiar features of the civil action now before the court, 
 permit of great advantages on the part of the plaintiffs. 
 Mere circumstantial evidence can alone be adduced on 
 either side to furnish proof of personal identity, and under 
 such circumstances those who are first in the field must 
 necessarily obtain great vantage ground. The case of 
 the plaintiffs, as it has been laid before the court, rests 
 upon the mere personal resemblance of the parties to 
 their supposed parent ; for as to the copies of the entries 
 in the register at Christ's Church, Canterbury, any 
 stranger could have obtained those copies, and had we 
 been fortunate enough to have been first to seek out 
 these registrations, we might also have obtained the like 
 testimony in behalf of our clients, from the witness 
 whom the counsel for the plaintiffs has brought for- 
 ward " 
 
 " Provided," interrupted Mr. Gripes, " provided your 
 clients had been present and had borne so striking a re- 
 semblance to Herbert Fitzherbert." 
 
 " Exactly so," calmly continued Mr. Hughes. " The 
 jury has therefore to decide simply, whether our clients 
 or the plaintiffs are, according to the testimony, most 
 likely to be the legitimate heirs of the deceased Herbert 
 Fitzherbert. That there is gross deception somewhere 
 is evident, although the principals, on both sides, may 
 be ignorant of any participation in it, and are, therefore, 
 more to be pitied than blamed, /am fully convinced, 
 my Lord and Gentlemen of the Jury, that my clients 
 are the children of Herbert Fitzherbert, and are entitled 
 to the lights and claims now contested and brought 
 before this court for adjudication. Nevertheless, I am 
 not prepared to say that the plaintiffs are aware of 
 the false part ;hey are acting. They m^y be deceived
 
 THE ORPHAN'S WRONGS. 291 
 
 they may be but tools in the hands of subtle 
 workmen, who are using them for their own pur- 
 poses. If, my lord, the counsel for the plaintiffs are so 
 certain, as they assume to be, of the justice of their 
 cause, why was not the case openly and fairly brought 
 into court? Why was it sought to make it a case 
 wherein the Lord Chancellor had control as guar- 
 dian of the heirs Fitzherbert, while the guardian ap- 
 pointed by the donor is still living? It was only 
 through Mr. Ferret, the attorney employed by my 
 clients, having discovered that the Earl of Shropshire 
 was the appointed guardian of the contested property, 
 that the case was referred from the Ecclesiastical to the 
 Civil Courts. Why, my lord, has a system of flagrant 
 persecution been carried on against my clients, from the 
 first moment they were discovered, by mure chance, in 
 New York, until the present time, if the counsel for the 
 plaintiffs considered their case a fair and honest one? 
 I have proof, my lord, that a most iniquitous system " 
 
 " My Lord," interrupted Mr. Gripes, " I must beg your 
 lordship to put a stop to the course of argument adopted 
 by the counsel for the defendants. The court is open, 
 my lord, for the trial of the case Fitzherbert vs. Fitz- 
 herbert, and it has not assembled for the purpose of 
 listening to the details of an imaginary conspiracy, or 
 to hear base insinuations against the character of a 
 nobleman of high rank, and of the strictest honor and 
 integrity." 
 
 " If the counsel for the plaintiffs object to the course 
 pursued by the counsel for the defendants," said the 
 judge, " I shall request him to adhere strictly to the 
 circumstances of the case, as it stands before the court. 
 His language certainly refers to matters foreign and ir- 
 relevant to the question now in coupt, otherwise I should 
 iiave allowed him to proceed." 
 
 " In that case, my lord," said Mr. Hughes, " I at once 
 proceed to call my witnesses." 
 
 I was the first witness called upon, and having taken
 
 292 THE LAWYER'S STORY; OR, 
 
 rny place in the witness box, and had the oath adminis- 
 tered, Mr. Hughes thus addressed me : 
 
 " Your name, sir, is ?" 
 
 I replied in the affirmative. 
 
 " You are a native of the United States of Ame- 
 rica?" 
 
 " I am; and by profession an attorney-at-law." 
 
 " And were acquainted with two parties in that 
 country representing themselves to be Adolphus and 
 Georgiana Fitzherbert, children of Herbert Fitzherbert, 
 of England, who died in the State of Pennsylvania?" 
 
 " I was, and still am." 
 
 " My lord," interrupted Mr. Gripes, " I object to this 
 method of putting leading questions to the witness. In 
 doing this, I do but return the compliment of the coun- 
 sel for the defendants, when the witnesses on behalf of 
 the plaintiffs were called," added he, looking vindic- 
 tively at Mr.. Hughes. 
 
 " I am perfectly willing to put no questions to Mr. 
 
 ," replied Mr. Hughes. u He can relate his own 
 
 story." 
 
 " In which, I presume, he is pretty well posted up," 
 said.Mr. Gripes, sneeringly. 
 
 " My lord," said Mr. Hughes, " I claim the protection 
 of the court ; this is insulting." 
 
 His lordship sternly rebuked Mr. Gripes for his in- 
 sulting language, and I proceeded to relate what I 
 knew regarding the Fitzherberts facts with which the 
 reader is already acquainted. 1 had, however, scarcely 
 commenced, when Mr. Cheatem whispered in the ear of 
 Mr. Gripes, who rose, and in- his turn, said something in 
 a low voice to his senior." 
 
 " Yes," replied Mr. Gripes, aloud, to the observation 
 of his junior counsel, aad then addressing the judge, 
 he said 
 
 " I would wish, rny lord, to put a question to the 
 witness." 
 
 " You can do so, sir," said the judge. 
 
 '' Pray, sir," said Mr. Gripes, addressing me, " where
 
 THE ORPHAN'S WIIOXGS. 293 
 
 are these persons representing themselves to be the 
 heirs of Herbert Fitzherbert, of whom you are telling 
 this very plausible story ? We have produced our clients 
 before the court, and would wish to be satisfied whether 
 \ve are fighting with reality or a mere shadow with 
 poor persecuted shades," added he, smiling triumph- 
 antly at Snap and Cheatem, who appeared to share his 
 humor. N 
 
 *' I must refer you to the counsel for the defendants," 
 said I. 
 
 "Of course," replied he, and again the triumphant 
 smile passed over his visage as he said, with peculiar 
 emphasis : 
 
 " Can the learned counsel produce his clients before 
 the court? I am sure it would be satisfactory to his 
 lordship and to the gentlemen of the jury, as well as 
 to our humble selves, to know that we are fighting real 
 flesh and blood." 
 
 Mr. Hughes bowed, and whispered in the ear of Mr. 
 Green, who rose and slipped out of the Court House. I 
 went on with my testimony, and in a few minutes Mr. 
 Green returned, leading in our clients, the veritable 
 Adolphus and Georgiana Fitzherbert, accompanied by 
 Mrs. Lyman. 
 
 A murmur of astonishment ran throughout the court, 
 amidst which, half stifled exclamations were heard, of 
 
 " Good Heavens ! what a strong resemblance!" 
 
 " It would be hard to tell one from the other if tho 
 whole four stood side by side" and so forth. 
 
 The judge could scarcely control his own astonish- 
 ment, consistently with his dignity, and the various 
 counsel seated around the table, did not attempt to 
 do so. 
 
 Georgiana blushed deeply at finding herself the ob- 
 served of all observers, and Adolphus was visibly 
 discomposed ; while their counterparts on the bench, 
 beside the Earl of Shropshire, were evidently agitated 
 and alarmed. As for the earl himself, he turned pale 
 as death, and after asking an officer of the court for a
 
 29-i THE LAWYER'S STORY; OR, 
 
 glass of water, which ho drank off hastily, he rose and 
 quitted the Court House. Blank astonishment and dis- 
 may was visible in the features of Messrs. Gripes, Snap 
 and Cheatem, the latter of whom appeared to be espe- 
 cially disconcerted. 
 
 " Silence !" at length exclaimed the Crier of the court, 
 for the murmuring whispers made it more resemble a 
 meeting on 'Change than a solemn court, and silence hav- 
 ing been restored, I completed my evidence, and retired 
 from the witness box, taking my seat between Adolphus 
 and Georgiana, both of whom appeared to be struck with 
 the appearance of Cheatem, who kept his face turned from 
 them as much as possible. Mrs. Lyman was called into 
 the witness box by Mr. Hughes, and he directed her to 
 gtate all she knew relating to the identity of his clients. 
 
 The lady mentioned the facts of her having recog- 
 nized the portrait of her sister, in a miniature which. 
 had been worn by Adolphus since his birth, and stated, 
 likewise, that that sister had married Herbert Fitzher- 
 bert, and with him emigrated to the United States ; 
 also, the meeting of the brother and sister in the con- 
 vent of St. Euphemia, and their immediate recognition of 
 each other. She added, that she was as certain in her 
 own mind, as that she herself was living, that the de- 
 fendants in the present case were her nephew and niece, 
 and the children and heirs of Herbert Fitzherbert and 
 her sister Ellen Harcourt. 
 
 The testimony of Mrs. Lyman, following directly upon 
 that given by me, evidently produced considerable effect 
 on the minds of the jury, and Mr. Hughes requested that 
 the sexton of Christ Church and the witness Jane Adams 
 might be recalled. 
 
 While the usher of the court was absent on this duty, 
 Georgiana whispered to me that Mr. Cheatem, whom she 
 pointed out, bore a strong resemblance to the man who 
 had accompanied her to Southampton, and taken her 
 on board the Italian brig; and Adolphus, hearing her 
 remarks, and thus having his own attention directed to 
 Cheatem, said that he had also an indistinct recollection
 
 THE ORPHAN'S WRONGS. 295 
 
 of seeing the same person on the night that he was taken 
 on board the man-of-war. 
 
 " Can you positively assert that he is the man who 
 carried you on board the brig?" said I to Miss Fitzher- 
 bert. 
 
 " I cannot do that," said she, " because that dreadful 
 man's hair was white, and he looked older, but other- 
 wise the resemblance is perfect." 
 
 In the course of a few minutes I had mentioned this 
 to Mr. Hughes, who conversed with me on the subject 
 for some minutes. Meanwhile, the witnesses who* had 
 already appeared on the part of the plaintiffs, re-entered, 
 and were cross-examined by Mr. Green, who, pointing 
 out to them, respectively, both our clients, asked if they 
 could recognize them. 
 
 To the astonishment, I believe, of the whole court, 
 they both promptly replied, they could not ; while a smile 
 of triumph again lit up the somewhat down-fallen visages 
 of Messrs. Gripes, Snap and Cheatem. 
 
 I had noticed Mr. Snap slip out hurriedly when they 
 entered the court, after listening to some whispered re- 
 mark of Mr. Cheatem's, and now I had no doubt in my 
 own mind what had been his object in so doing. 
 
 " Do you mean to, say," continued Mr. Green, " that 
 notwithstanding the extraordinary resemblance between 
 the plaintiffs and the defendants, you could, after the 
 lapse of upwards of twenty years, perceive a strong like- 
 ness to Herbert Fitzherbert in the plaintiffs, and none 
 at all in the defendants?" 
 
 Both witnesses persisted that such was the case. 
 
 " Then all I have to say," interrupted Mr. Hughes, "is 
 that this is another most extraordinary circumstance in 
 this extraordinary case." 
 
 " Have you any more witnesses to examine, sir ?" 
 asked the judge. 
 
 "I have not, my lord," replied Mr. Hughes; "at 
 least, no witnesses that I could bring forward could make 
 the proofs plainer to me, and, in my opinion, to all dis- 
 interested and unprejudiced persons, of the personal
 
 296 THE LAWYER'S STORY; OR, 
 
 identity of my clients and the veritable heirs Fitzherbert ; 
 I would, however, ask your lordship permission to make 
 one observation ?" 
 
 " You can do so, sir," said the judge. 
 
 " What I am about to state is certainly irrelevant to 
 the present case, my lord, yet it goes to confirm the 
 testimony of the witnesses for the defendants as well ns 
 my own cognizance of the existence of a conspiracy to 
 obtain possession of the persons of my clients, with the 
 object of removing them from England, and thus placing 
 every obstacle out of the way of the counsel for the 
 plaintiffs. I am aware that in the present case rny 
 charge will be useless, but it may satisfy your lordship 
 and the gentlemen of the jury, that I have strong grounds 
 for believing that had we, on our side, had the oppor- 
 tunity afford :d us of bringing the plaintiffs and their 
 abettors and counsel to trial on a charge of fraud and 
 conspiracy, they could never have been in a position to 
 hasten on this civil action. I believe,' my lord, that one 
 of the parties in connection with the counsel, can be 
 identified as having been a party in the forcible abduc- 
 tion of one of our clients " 
 
 Mr. Gripes rose, and addressing the judge, said, in a 
 hasty and agitated tone : 
 
 " My lord, this course, on the part of the learned 
 counsel for the defendants, is altogether unwarrant- 
 able. I must beg your lordship to put a stop to it at 
 once." 
 
 ITis lordship replied, addressing Mr. Hughes : 
 
 " Whatever may be my own private opinion regard-** 
 ing this matter, sir, I cannot listen to assertions such as 
 that you have just made. You must be aware that they 
 are entirely out of place and unjustifiable, and cannot 
 in the least affect the verdict in the present case. Had 
 I known the nature of the observations you were about 
 to make, 1 should assuredly have refused your request. 
 I am not 'here now to give an opinion upon the course 
 you still have it in your power to pursue, but that course, 
 you know as well as I do. 1 shall permit of no further
 
 THE ORPHAN'S WRONGS. 297 
 
 irrelevant interruptions of this description. Let the case 
 be proceeded with." 
 
 Mr. Gripes rose and briefly replied to the remarks 
 which had fallen from the counsel for the defendants, 
 lie said that the facts of the case were as simple as they 
 well could be, and all the attempts on the part of the 
 opposite counsel to prejudice the cause of his clients, 
 would, he felt, be disregarded by his lordship in sum- 
 ming up, and by the gentlemen of the jury in consider- 
 ing their verdict. "Why, "said he, "have not these 
 charges been urged before this?" 
 
 "You know that our clients could not be found, and 
 we had not sufficient proof to furnish basis for a criminal 
 action," interrupted Mr. Hughes. 
 
 "I must insist on no farther useless interruption," in- 
 terposed the Judge, and Mr. Hughes sat down and ap- 
 peared to resign himself to the unfortunate position of 
 his clients' case. 
 
 Mr. Gripes proceeded : 
 
 "Why, I repeat, was not all this urged before? It is 
 a very easy matter when an action is going against a 
 party, for the counsel of that party to make false charges, 
 but they seldom have any effect with an intelligent jury, 
 except it be rather to prejudice the cause of those wl-io 
 urge them ; for who can be so blind as not to perceive 
 that they are mere unmeaning assertions, made in des- 
 peration, and I am sorry to add, without regard to hon- 
 esty and truth. The very fact of the personal resemb- 
 lance between the plaintiffs and the defendants only goes 
 to show how cunningly their scheme was laid. I do not 
 blame the learned counsel for the defendants, whose po- 
 sition at the bar, and whose personal character, place 
 him above suspicion ; but I am certainly astonished that 
 one who has deservedly acquired such reputation and 
 distinction in his profession as has my learned brother, 
 should so easily have become the dupe of a scheming 
 (lawyer) as he calls himself, from the United States. The 
 whole affair, my lord and gentlemen, is a transparent 
 humbug, to use an expressive, if not a very elegant term, 
 
 13*
 
 298 THE LAWYER'S STORY; OR, 
 
 and it had its origin in a land famous for such humbugs; 
 but this attempt to palm off a couple of adventurers, 
 picked up at some out of the way place in the United 
 States, as the heirs of the Fitzherbert property, caps the 
 climax of humbugging. It beats the woolly horse, and 
 the mermaid, and the wooden nutmegs of Connecticut, 
 that I have read of, completely hollow, for it has some- 
 thing grand in its aim, and had it succeeded, would have 
 borne away the palm from all the rest. 
 
 " I will merely briefly advert to the testimony of one 
 witness, which appeared for the moment to have some 
 effect upon the rninds of the jury. I allude to the dis- 
 covery of a miniature belonging to a sailor boy. Truly 
 a satisfactory manner of attempting to destroy the pre- 
 sent identity of the heirs of property to such an amount 
 as that which is claimed by my clients, and which is 
 now in the care of their late father's guardian, the Earl of 
 Shropshire ! I have no doubt the lady really believes that 
 she has discovered her lost relatives in the persons of the 
 defendants; but is it a matter of very great surprise 
 where so strong a resemblance exists between four young 
 persons that the mothers of the brother and sister, on 
 both sides, should likewise resemble each other? and 
 while speaking of this family resemblance, and my Lord 
 and Gentlemen of the Jury, you must often have ob- 
 served it in persons who bore not the slightest relation- 
 ship to each other, I must remind you that the instinct 
 of the nurse, even after a long period of years, imme- 
 diately recognized the children of him she had nursed 
 as her own child, while her aged eyes could not see the 
 mere family resemblance so perceptible to all others. This, 
 my lord, is a beautiful trait of the instinct of natural af- 
 fection, to which I beg particularly to call your attention, 
 and also especially recommend it to the consideration of 
 the gentlemen of the jury. I will detain the court no 
 longer. Gentlemen of the jury, you have heard and 
 seen the proofs of identity we bring, you have also heard 
 and seen those brought against us, and I take rny seat in 
 perfect confidence that your good sense and correct
 
 TIIE ORPHAN'S WRONGS. 299 
 
 judgment will lead you to return a verdict in our 
 favor." 
 
 Mr. Gripes resumed his seat and the Judge commenced 
 summing up. His lordship told the jury that they must 
 divest themselves of all prejudice either in favor of one 
 party or the other, and only take into consideration the 
 proofs that had been brought forward of the identity of 
 the parties. They were bound in the first place to con- 
 sider that the ..plaintiffs were the presumptive heirs to 
 the property and estates under the guardianship of the 
 Karl of Shropshire, and were by his lordship, acknow- 
 ledged to be such. Also, that they had replied to ques- 
 tions (as stated by his lordship on oath) which could only 
 have been correctly answered by the children of Herbert 
 Fitzherbert, his ward, and for whose heirs he still held 
 the estate in trust. They must consider that their de- 
 scent in a direct line from Herbert Fitzherbert had been 
 traced as perfectly, as, under the circumstances, it was 
 possible that it could be ; and taking all these facts into 
 consideration, they must judge how comparatively easy 
 it was for a party, having by surreptitious means learnt 
 the nature of the case, to bring forward other and strange 
 parties, for improper purposes, to contest the claims with 
 the legitimate heirs. His lordship further said that with 
 regard to the really astonishing resemblance between the 
 plaintiffs and the defendants, in his opinion, it only went 
 to show that there had been the most gross and out- 
 rageous chicanery and deceit used to supplant^the lawful 
 heirs. He would now dismiss them to consider their 
 verdict, again warning them to efface from their minds 
 all prejudices, and merely to consider the facts as pre- 
 sented to them that day. 
 
 It was now late in the evening, (about eight o'clock,) 
 and both j udge and j ury retired. Great excitement pre- 
 vailed in the town, and the court-house still remained 
 crowded, while the street outside was also thronged with 
 people anxious to hear the verdict. 
 
 Mr. Hughes and his junior counsel, and attorney, with 
 myself were greatly cast down ; for in our opinion there
 
 300 THE LAWYER'S STORY ; OR, 
 
 could scarcely be a doubt in whose favor the verdict 
 would be given ; and although we were confident of the 
 righteousness of our clients' cause, we could not do other- 
 wise than acknowledge that the facts established as proofs 
 of identity favored the fraudulent parties. 
 
 We bitterly lamented that no opportunity had been 
 afforded us of bringing a criminal action against them in 
 advance of the civil action ; but we had not had proof 
 sufficient, therefore it was useless to think of it. 
 
 With trembling anxiety, we awaited the return of the 
 jury into court. 
 
 Nine o'clock ten o'clock struck, and still the jury 
 did not return. The Judge sent in to know if there was 
 any probability of their agreeing upon their verdict, and 
 the messenger returned and said there was not five of 
 the party were obstinate, and there was no sign of their 
 agreeing that night. 
 
 The Judge said the court could wait no longer, and in 
 that case the jury must remain locked up all night. His 
 lordship then adjourned the court until ten o'clock the 
 next morning, and the anxious spectators returned to 
 their homes. 
 
 Just as Mr. Hughes and I were leaving the court- 
 house, a servant in undress livery placed a letter in his 
 hand. He read it by the light of a gas lamp, and im- 
 mediately turned to the man who was waiting for a re- 
 ply, and said : 
 
 " Tell his lordship I will wait upon him immediately." 
 
 The servant hurried away, and Mr. Hughes, saying 
 to me, " The Earl of Shropshire is taken suddenly ill, 
 and desires to see me immediately," shook me hurriedly 
 by the hand, and followed the footman to his lordship's 
 hotel. 
 
 He was shown up-stairs to the bed-chamber of the 
 earl who had been seized with a fit of apoplexy, and 
 after the lapse of some hours he had but just returned to 
 a state of consciousness. He was lying in bed and 
 three or four physicians were in the room in attendance 
 upon him.
 
 THE ORPHAN'S WRONGS. 801 
 
 When Mr. Hughes was announced, his lordship opened 
 his eyes, and beckoned him to the bedside, and whisp- 
 ered in a feeble voice that he wished the physicians and 
 every person in the room but Mr. Hughes himself to 
 withdraw for a few minutes. 
 
 Mr. Hughes mentioned his lordship's request, and was 
 left alone with the prostrate nobleman, who, it was plain 
 to perceive, although he bad temporarily recovered his 
 faculties of mind, was fast failing, and could not long 
 survive. 
 
 Mr. Hughes expressed his regrets to see his lordship in 
 such a sad condition. 
 
 The earl took his hand. 
 
 "It is no time to speak of regret," said he. "I 
 am dying you are the counsel for the defendants in 
 the case now before the Court?" 
 
 " I am, my lord." 
 
 " The case is not yet decided ?" 
 
 " The jury, my lord, are now locked up for the night ; 
 they cannot agree upon the verdict; but I have no 
 doubt the verdict will be returned upon the opening of 
 the Court in the morning." 
 
 " How what is your opinion you know what I 
 would ask ?" said the dying earl. 
 
 " The verdict, my lord, I have no hesitation in saying, 
 will be adverse to rny clients." 
 
 The earl sunk back on his pillow, and closed his eyes. 
 Mr. Hughes thought that the last moment had come, 
 and was upon the point of summoning the physicians, 
 when the earl again revived, ai^l looking at him for a 
 few moments as though he did not recollect him, and 
 was recalling his scattered senses, he said : 
 
 " Ah, yes the verdict it must not be. I cannot 
 die with that guilt on my head send for Father An- 
 selmo and my daughter. Where is Lady Mary ?" 
 
 Mr. Hughes had been told on entering the hotel that 
 messengers had been dispatched to Alton Castle to ac> 
 quaint Lady Mary and the confessor, of the earl's dan> 
 gerous illness ; but there was little hope of their reach-
 
 302 THE LAWYER'S STORY ; OR, 
 
 ing Huntingdon before liis death. He therefore told 
 his lordship that his daughter had been sent for, and 
 Father Anselrno also ; but that if he had anything to 
 say that would affect the case before the Court, now 
 only awaiting the verdict of the jury, he must say it 
 quickly. 
 
 " All," said the earl, " yes, now I recollect. I have 
 wronged deeply, grievously wronged Herbert, and I 
 have sought to wrong his children and my poor child 
 my darling Mary but what? Give me a glass of 
 wine. I feel faint." 
 
 Mr. Hughes did as he requested, and after drinking it, 
 his lordship lay for a few moments quiet, he then again 
 motioned Mr. Hughes to raise him up, and proceeded to 
 state more distinctly what he wished to say, for the wine 
 had greatly revived him. 
 
 I will relate in a few words the substance of his state- 
 ment, as subsequently told me by Mr. Hughes. 
 
 His lordship said that when he saw Adolphus and 
 Georgiana enter the court, he had experienced a sensa- 
 tiou as though the blood had rushed from his heart to 
 his brain. The form of his deceased ward, Herbert, ap- 
 peared to have risen from the tomb to reproach him for 
 his perfidy. It was with difficulty he could so far con- 
 trol his feelings as to enable him to leave the court and 
 return to his hotel. On reaching it, he had retired to 
 his chamber, where he had been seized with a fit of 
 apoplexy, from which he had just revived when he di- 
 rected Mr. Hughes to be sent ibr. 
 
 He related to him briefly, and in disconnected sen- 
 tences, that which the reader already knows, that a con- 
 spiracy had been formed with the aid of his lordship's 
 legal advisers to defraud the legitimate heirs of Herbert 
 Fitzherbert of their rights ; but, now he felt his end was 
 approaching and he could not die with that guilt upon 
 his head. He asked Mr. Hughes what course he could 
 pursue to rescue the victims of his avarice and ambition 
 from the ruin which awaited them. 
 
 Mr. Hughes replied, that, now the trial was over, the
 
 THE ORPHAN'S WRONGS. 303 
 
 only thing remaining was for him to place the guardian 
 ship of the property immediately in the hands of the 
 Lord Chancellor, who, in case of the earl's death before 
 the decision of tfeP trial, would be the legal guardian. 
 The case would be then necessarily thrown into Chan- 
 cery, and could only be decided by that court under 
 whose control it had before been sought to place it ille- 
 gally, as his lordship, the guardian and trustees of the 
 estates, was still living and in the possession of his health 
 and faculties. A deed now drawn out, before the ver- 
 dict was pronounced, to the effect that his lordship's in- 
 firmities no longer allowed him to retain his trust, 
 would, if properly signed and attested, at all events re- 
 deem the estates from the possession of the false claim- 
 ants. To this suggestion his lordship gladly assented, 
 and Mr. Hughes immediately drew out a deed, to which 
 his lordship, with difficulty, affixed his seal and signa- 
 ture for he was fast failing. The deed was attested by 
 the medical gentlemen in attendance, who were called in 
 for that purpose, and by the landlord of the hotel, also 
 by Mr. Hughes himself. 
 
 This having been done, the dying man again mo- 
 tioned Mr. Hughes to come near him, and begged him 
 to promise never to betray the guilty part he (his lord- 
 ship) had acted in this matter. He murmured something 
 that Mr. Hughes could not make out, excepting that he 
 heard the word " daughter" mentioned once or twice, 
 and then there was a rattling in the throat, a few brief 
 struggles, and the proud earl fell back upon his pillow 
 dead. 
 
 Mr Hughes and one of the physicians looked at their 
 watches. It was three o'clock ; and in another hour the 
 faint grey of morning began to steal over the darkness. 
 Mr. Hughes took up the deed and left the hotel ; he was 
 too agitated with the anxieties of the day before, and the 
 impressive and solemn scene of the night, to think of 
 rest, and he strolled into the country until the hour of 
 breakfast. Having partaken of a very slight repast, he 
 hastened to the Court House, which, although the hour
 
 304 THE LAWYER'S STORY; OR, 
 
 for opening the court had not yet arrived, was already 
 thronged with people. 
 
 At length the clang of trumpets announced the ap- 
 proach of the judge, who soon erned and took his 
 seat on the bench. The crier of the court called for 
 silence. 
 
 At this moment I entered the court-room, and seeing 
 Mr. Hughes seated in his place, I sat myself down by his 
 side. We exchanged greetings, and I fancied I saw an 
 expression of subdued triumph, mingled with gravity 
 and anxiety, in his countenance ; but I had not time to 
 ask him anything respecting his interview with the earl, 
 although I had heard a rumor that I did not, however, 
 give credit to, that his lordship had suddenly expired 
 during the night. The judge asked if the jury had con- 
 sidered their verdict. He was informed that they hud, 
 and in a few minutes they entered the jury-box, looking 
 sadly tired and half asleep. 
 
 Having answered to their names : " Gentlemen of 
 the jury," inquired the judge, "are you agreed upon 
 your verdict ? Do you find verdict for the plaintiffs or 
 defendants ?" 
 
 " For the plaintiffs, my lord," replied the foreman. 
 
 A smile of 'triumph lit up the features of Messrs. 
 Gripes, Snap and Cheatem, who looked arou-nd at the 
 bench beside the judge, as if expecting to see the earl 
 seated there, ready to share in the triumph, and express 
 his thanks for their arduous services in having brought 
 it about. 
 
 The clerk of the court was proceeding with the neces- 
 sary duties, when, to my astonishment, and equally to 
 the astonishment of all in court, Mr. Hughes rose up, and 
 taking a roll of papers from his pocket, said: 
 
 " My lord, I hold here a deed, properly signed arid 
 attested, which must necessarily set aside the verdict 
 of the jury, and throw the settlement of this case into 
 Chancery. The Earl of Shropshire, who was the 
 gaardian and trustee of the estates in litigation, is dead, 
 a/id dying before the verdict of the jury was rendered,
 
 THE ORPHAN'S WRONGS. 305 
 
 the guardianship falls to the Lord Chancellor. It rests 
 with the Court of Chancery now to decide to whom the 
 estate belongs." 
 
 A dead sUence prevailed in court for some moments. 
 The judge and the members of the bar, and spectators, 
 instinctively turned their eyes to the bench where they 
 had seen his lordship seated in health, not twenty-four 
 hours before. 
 
 At this moment a messenger was sent to Mr. Gripes, 
 reporting the death of the earl. He turned pale, and 
 appeared to find a difficulty in breathing ; but at length 
 he asked to see the deed Air. Hughes held. 
 
 " I will pass it to his lordship," said he, pointedly, at 
 the same time handing it to the judge. His lordship 
 read it attentively, and returned it, giving his opinion 
 of its perfect legality. 
 
 "Curse the jury," growled the discomfited Gripes; 
 " why did they not deliver their verdict last night ?" 
 
 " Do you think there is any mischief in the wind ?" 
 asked Cheatem. 
 
 "I can't say ; but a pretty affair we've made of it." 
 
 The trio rose from their seats and left the court, and 
 the other business on hand was proceeded with. 
 
 In the course of the day Lady Mary Alton and Father 
 Anselmo arrived, the former to find her father and the 
 latter his patron dead ; but I will for the present draw 
 a veil over the grief of Lady Mary and the sorrowful 
 regrets of the good Father Anselmo. I shall have to 
 speak of them yet again. 
 
 Mr. Hughes, the Fitzherberts, Mrs. Lyman, and I, re- 
 turned to London on the following day. We were 
 pretty well satisfied now that s'ome day the case would 
 be decided in favor of the rightful heirs but when? 
 that was another question. Mr. Hughes determined to 
 use every effort to forward the day of its decision, while, 
 in the meantime, Adolphus expressed an earnest desire 
 to do something that would enable him to support him- 
 self and his sister ; for years might elapse before any 
 further action was taken respecting the Brampton estates
 
 306 * THE LAWYER'S STORY; OR, 
 
 Mr. Hughes approved of his wish, and promised to see 
 what he could do to assist him, and I, having, as I con- 
 ceived, done all that duty required of me in this case, 
 determined to make a short tour on the continent, and 
 then to return to the United States, visiting London on 
 my way home, to see how, by that time, my protegees 
 were getting on. 
 
 CHAPTEE XXXI. 
 
 The return home Preparations for travel A serious dis- 
 cussion Cheatem preaches morality A man of the 
 world again in difficulty Matrimony the last resource. 
 
 OUR party returned to London, rather crest fallen, it 
 must be acknowledged, although after all, we had great 
 reason to congratulate ourselves ; for, to tell the truth, 
 Mr. Hughes had confessed to me thai so narrow was the 
 foundation on which he had built his hopes of success, 
 that he had all along had a foreboding that the trial 
 would go dead against us, and now, as matters had most 
 unexpectedly turned out, he was perfectly satisfied that 
 the decision in the Court of Chancery would be in favor 
 of our clients. But when ? Ah ! that was a question 
 difficult to answer. Probably he, myself, our youthful 
 friends, aye, even their children might be mouldering'm 
 the grave before that "decision was given, according to 
 the disgraceful method of conducting suits in the Court 
 of Chancery. Still the right and title of our young 
 friends was not filched from them irrevocably lost as 
 it would have been, but for the singular and totally un- 
 expected train of circumstances which had led to the 
 nullity of the verdict rendered by the jury. 
 
 We arrived in London, and proceeded immediately 
 to Clapham, where Mrs. Hughes was anxiously and 
 tremblingly awaiting the news. Good, kind-hearted, 
 but timid woman ! She had not dared to look at the
 
 THE ORPHAN'S WRONGS. 307 
 
 newspaper, or she would have seen how matters stood in 
 the very edition of the London Times which was lying 
 folded, and still damp, on the parlor table. If they had 
 been her own children who were concerned in this case, 
 phe could not have been more anxious ; but she and Mr. 
 Hughes were childless. They had had two children, a 
 boy and a girl, both of whom had died while infants, and 
 with all a woman's yearning for some one to love who 
 would look to her for advice and support who would 
 cling to lier as she clung to the husband whom she 
 looked to for protection and for support in the hour of 
 trial, she had, as I have already observed, began to re- 
 gard Georgiana almost in the light of a darling child. 
 She trembled like an aspen leaf as we entered the house, 
 and for some moments, could not summon courage, so 
 great was her agitation, to welcome us home, though, 
 indeed, a welcome was apparent in every expression of 
 her benevolent countenance. 
 
 Mr. Hughes noticed her agitation, as we none of us 
 could help doing, and after he had bestowed upon her 
 the usual conjugal kiss of affection (while poor Geor- 
 giana had thrown herself into her arms sobbing like a 
 child, for, poor girl ! Mrs. Hughes was the only woman 
 she had met with in the course of her brief, but chec- 
 quered life, who had acted towards her like a mother,) 
 he said 
 
 . " So we have returned at last Jane, dear, much the 
 same as we left" 
 
 " Then the suit has been decided against you," inter- 
 rupted she ; " I dreaded as much ; yet how anxiously I 
 hoped and prayed it might be otherwise. There now," 
 she added, suddenly brightening up, and a kind smile 
 beaming on her countenance, " now I can listen to all 
 the bad news you may have to tell me. It was only the 
 suspense which overpowered me. So my pet Georgiana 
 is not to be the fine lady I anticipated she was to be. 
 Well, never rnind. She can be just as happy ; perhaps 
 fur happier in a humbler station. I suppose had things 
 turned the other way she would have been too proud to
 
 308 THE LAWYER'S STORY; OR, 
 
 have remained the pleasant companion she has been 
 to me." 
 
 " Never," replied Georgiana. " I never could have 
 forgotten your kindness, nor that of my other friends," 
 looking with swimming eyes at me, Mr. Hughes and 
 Mrs. Lyman, " had I become mistress of the wealth of 
 the Indies. How could you imagine such a thing?" 
 she asked, looking appealingly at the kind old lady. 
 
 " I never did imagine any such thing," replied Mrs. 
 Hughes, " I only said it in joke, dear ; I did not mean 
 to annoy you. I am a foolish old woman to have teazed 
 you," she added, seeing Georginna ready to give way to 
 a fresh flood of tears. 
 
 Mr. Hughes, seeing that things were tending to a 
 "scene," as it is called a sort of thing to which he had 
 a most decided objection, and which, to tell the truth, is 
 a very absurd affair to the lookers on thought it was 
 time to interfere ; so he said to his wife, in a cheerful 
 tone of voice 
 
 "You are going too fast, my good little wife. If you 
 had only looked at the newspaper which I see on the 
 table there, you would have learnt that the ftffair, upon 
 the success of which we had so set our hearts, has not 
 turned out so badly as you seem to imagine. Nay, all 
 circumstances considered, I don't know but we are better 
 off than ever we were. At all events, if we have not 
 gained the good we were seeking, we have not only dis- 
 tanced our competitors, but thrust them out of the 
 field altogether. It is now merely a matter of patience 
 and" 
 
 " Then you have succeeded, and have just been tell- 
 ing me fibs to annoy me," interrupted she, gayly. " Is 
 it not so ?" 
 
 "Not exactly, my love ; but I will tell you how mat 
 ters stand, although, as I have said, had you looked 
 at the paper, you would, ere this, have seen for your- 
 self." 
 
 Mr. Hughes then briefly explained to his wife the 
 particulars of the civil action, and the technicalities of
 
 THE ORPHAN'S WRONGS. 309 
 
 the law, which, although they had delayed indefinitely 
 the settlement of the suit, had still rendered the ultimate 
 success of his clients certain, and these explanations 
 being over, we entered the breakfast-room for it was 
 early morning (we had travelled on the railroad all 
 night), amply prepared, notwithstanding the anxieties 
 of the past few days, to do justice to the tempting viands 
 the cold ham, hot beefsteaks and cutlets the fresh 
 eggs and steaming, fragrant coffee, which had been pre- 
 pared in anticipation of our arrival. 
 
 The day was spent in the usual listless manner in 
 which days are spent on the return home from a tedious, 
 wearisome, and anxious journey. We retired for a short 
 time to our bed-rooms, to recruit our strength by a few 
 hours' sleep, and by the usual dinner hour, five o'clock, 
 we were as fresh as ever. The evening passed away 
 cheerfully; for notwithstanding our adventures were 
 naturally uppermost in our thoughts, and Adolphus, 
 with characteristic impulse, was anxious at once to fix 
 on some plan for the future, Mr. Hughes would listen 
 to nothing of the sort that evening; and after a tune or 
 two had been played on the piano by Mrs. Hughes, who 
 played well, and as she still had a pleasing voice, diver- 
 sified the entertainment now and then with some pretty 
 Scotch or English ballad, we forgot our cares, and even 
 became almost uproarious in our mirth Mr. Hughes 
 declaring that he was so happy to get home again, and 
 really so glad that things had turned out so well, that he 
 must insist upon dancing a minuet with Mrs. Lyman. 
 " It was a good old dance," he said, " that was quite the 
 mode in his youthful days, but which had been banished 
 by modern innovation, to make room for fantastic capers 
 and insane ridiculous figures." He insisted that his wife 
 should favor me with her hand in going through the 
 same old, courtly dance, and when we old folks were 
 tired out, we sat down and watched Adolphus and Geor- 
 giana waltzing. It was actually near midnight when we 
 got to bed, and that night we slept soundly. 
 
 On the morrow I took my departure for Dover, hav-
 
 810 THE LAWYER'S STORY; OK, 
 
 ing made up my mind to commence my journeying or 
 the continent by visiting Paris a city 1 had for many 
 years had a desire to see ; and Mrs. Lyman accompanied 
 me, with Georgiana and Adolphus, whom she wished 
 should pay a short visit to Canterbury, where her rela- 
 tives, and, as she believed, some of their own also, resided, 
 and where Juliette and Robert had preceded her. They 
 were only to remain away three weeks, and then were 
 to return to Mr. Hughes. And, to tell the truth, I 
 don't think Adolphus was at all sorry to have an oppor 
 tunity of seeing his cousin again, and perhaps if all the 
 truth were told, there was a young gentleman at Canter- 
 bury whom Georgiana was not altogether annoyed at 
 the idea of meeting again, although the sly puss didn't 
 say so nevertheless, I saw it in her face. 
 
 I left them at Dover to pursue the remainder of their 
 journey alone, they having only a few miles to travel ; 
 and the next day, having gratified my curiosity by a 
 peep at Dover Castle, and at the celebrated cannon, 
 known as " Queen Anne's pocket pistol," which, as the 
 old adage says : 
 
 If you sponge it well and keep it clean, 
 Will carry a ball to Calais Green." 
 
 And having walked on as far as Shakspeare's Cliff, and 
 looked down from its dizzy height, where erstwhile 
 "hung those who gathered samphire, dreadful trade," 
 and having wondered how a man of Shakspeare's vera- 
 city could tell the world, in his immortal verse, that yon 
 tall anchoring barks in the channel beneath were " di- 
 minished to their cocks their cocks to buoys," and hav- 
 ing held various conversations with several of the coast- 
 guard and fishermen, and wondered at the Martello 
 towers, and had a peep at the coast of France, in the 
 distance, barely visible with the naked eye, through 
 the spy-glass of a sturdy man of-war's man, who was 
 watching the manoeuvres of a little vessel off the coast, 
 which had the appearance of a fishing craft, but which 
 he inclined to think had some smuggling transaction 
 on hand, I returned to the hotel at Dover, partook
 
 THE ORPHAN'S WRONGS. 811 
 
 of a hearty supper, and the next morning sailed in the 
 packet for Boulogne sur mer, and having landed at that 
 semi-English city, I thence commenced my continental 
 tour. 
 
 In the meantime, let us see what other parties with 
 whom the reader of this story has become acquainted 
 with are doing. 
 
 Lady Mary Alton and Father Ansel mo, as I have 
 already mentioned, had arrived in Huntingdon ; and 
 sincere and heartfelt were the lamentations of the for- 
 mer over the dead body of her father all the more 
 painful because the sorrow was too deep and earnest to 
 allow of any wild, outward manifestation of grief. It 
 was as much as the good Father Anselmo could do to 
 afford comfort to the bereaved lady ; but earnestly and 
 conscientiously he sat himself to the task, and at length 
 had the satisfaction of seeing her become more composed ; 
 and, in a day or two, the inhabitants of the little town 
 were witnesses of a funeral pageant surpassing anything 
 that had ever been seen in it before. The hearse, with 
 its four jet black horses ; the coffin with its velvet pall, 
 relieved by golden ornaments and plates indicating the 
 rank, and telling of the virtues of the deceased ; the 
 black, heavy waving plumes ; the trains of carriages be- 
 longing to the neighboring nobility and gentry ; the 
 solemn mutes and outriders ; all the imposing parapher- 
 nalia of woe which follows the high and mighty to the 
 tomb where, even as the poorest and meanest, they 
 must become food for the worms, which make no dis- 
 tinction in favor of the lofty and honored of the earth 
 when once they are consigned to their final resting-place, 
 until the grave shall give up their dead all this was, 
 in truth, a sight worth gazing upon, not only on ac- 
 count of its solemn grandeur, but because of the moral 
 that it told of the mutability of all things earthly, and 
 the vanity of human greatness. The remains of the earl 
 were borne to the family vault at Alton Castle, and in a 
 few weeks more a monument was erected in a conspicu- 
 ous part of the park, on which was engraved a fulsome
 
 312 THE LAWYER'S STORY; OR, 
 
 epitaph, telling the passer by, as he stopped to gaze 
 upon it, of the talents, and virtues, and integrity of the 
 deceased statesman, and of the good deeds he had done 
 in the course of his long life ; but there was not one 
 word mentioned of his misdeeds and why should there 
 have been? Is not the world uncharitable enough 
 while men are living, to afford to bury all uncharitable- 
 ness in the grave with the perishing body ! The mercy 
 of Heaven has been promised even at the eleventh hour 
 to the repentant what is man that he should deal forth 
 judgment on his fellow man, when the best among man- 
 kind have justly so much to dread from the justice of 
 the Creator, were they not told that that justice should 
 be tempered with mercy. 
 
 The greatest of England's poets the immortal bard 
 of Avon has said : 
 
 " The evil that men do lives after them ; 
 The good is oft interred with the bones." 
 
 And such is the case. Evil is less evanescent in its na- 
 ture than good, in this world. Every evil deed com- 
 mitted is the cause of further evil over which the original 
 perpetrator has no control ; but his direlections from the 
 path of virtue leave an impress on the earth which tempts 
 others to follow in his footsteps, and thus the commission 
 of every sin leads to its tenfold repetition. Then, when 
 Nature proclaims unsparingly the evil deeds of man to 
 future generations as a warning of the danger of the first 
 false step, let weak man mourn and lament, but forbear 
 to judge, for after death cometh his own judgment that 
 judgment which he who hath gone before him hath al- 
 ready met. Let him turn and gaze with awe and rever- 
 ence on the marble tablet and monumental stone which 
 marks the resting-place of the perishing body beneath 
 and as he reads to the end, let him not criticise, but" 
 rather think that some day, and perhaps ere long, he will 
 occupy the like small spot of earth, although now per- 
 haps he thinks the world not wide enough to satisfy his 
 ambitious aspirations ; and when that day conies, he 
 would wish, although then it will be of little consequence
 
 THE- ORPHAN'S WKONGS. 313 
 
 to the poor crumbling dust, that the charity of the living 
 may be extended to him ; for no man would wish his 
 memory to live only to be reviled by those he has left 
 behind on earth. Let him pass on with reverence, and 
 repeat with earnestness and sincerity, the last line of the 
 epitaph " Ifequiescat in Pace." 
 
 The funeral pomp and display is over; the banner flies 
 from the summit of the towers of Alton Castle, but it is 
 shrouded in crape ; never more shall that proud banner 
 flaunting in the breeze, proclaim to the passers by, and 
 to the residents of the neighborhood, that the proud 
 Lord of Alton is at home, at his ancestral castle. A 
 fragile female the last of the long and distinguished 
 line now wears the honors that have been gained in 
 the senate and on the battle field during the course of 
 centuries, and in a few years more she will pass away 
 from the world. The escutcheon of the noble house, with 
 its numerous quarterings, will no more test the quaint 
 skill of Heraldry to emblazon yet another crest within 
 its crowded shield. The hatchment, covered with tho 
 insignia of woe, rests above the battlements of the frown- 
 ing castle front, and tells the solemn tale of the death of 
 the last male representative of a noble house ; and Lady 
 Mary is now Countess of Shropshire and Lady of Alton. 
 
 Father Anselrno and Lady Mary are busy, day after 
 day, reading and signing papers ; there is mystery stir- 
 ring in the castle, and the servants and dependants, clad 
 in funeral weeds, as they step to and fro, as though fear- 
 ing to awaken the spirit of the dead from its long, last 
 sleep, whisper strange stories to each other ; but all are 
 at fault; they may surmise, but they do not know in re- 
 ality what all this mystery on the part of the reverend 
 father and the lady of the castle tends to, but time will 
 psclose it and that briefly. 
 
 Messrs. Gripes and Cheatem, and their coadjutor, Snap, 
 hurried away to London as soon as they found that the. 
 overthrow of the verdict was likely to subvert all the 
 effects of their villany, if it did not eventually lead them 
 into serious difficulty. The death of the earl, however, 
 
 14
 
 814 THE LAWYER'S STORY; OR, 
 
 though it had upset their project just on the point of its 
 consummation, was, they conceived, rather favorable to 
 them, in one sense, as it was certainly preferable to 
 having had the suit decided unfavorably from any other 
 cause. His lordship no doubt would have been but lit- 
 tle inclined to come down handsomely if the pet scheme 
 of his life had failed; "but now," thought they, "we 
 can make out our bill of costs at what rate we please, 
 and the Countess of Shropshire will only be too glad to 
 settle her father's accounts if we send in at once. A few 
 threats of exposure will prevent any disputes, provided 
 her ladyship's steward should be inclined to scrutinize 
 the charge too closely, and thus we must manage to 
 make the best out of a bad affair." 
 
 The bill was accordingly sent to the countess, who had 
 expressly ordered that all accounts relating to the affairs 
 of the late earl should be presented to her in the first 
 instance, and then it was referred to the steward for set- 
 tlement, by the advice of Father Anselmo, who was, how- 
 ever, aware* that it was extortionate, as was the lady her- 
 self, but she knew the character of the base wretches she 
 had to deal with, and in respect to the memory of her 
 father, whose character they would not for a moment have 
 hesitated to villify, had their scandalous charges been re- 
 fused, she, with Father Anselmo, thought it advisable to 
 get quit of the harpies at any cost, as soon as possible. 
 These gentlemen received the money, Gripes of course 
 taking the lion's share of the spoils, and the only thing 
 that troubled them was, that since they had been paid so 
 promptly, they had not made the overcharge even double 
 what it was. 
 
 The two young persons who had personified the Fitz- 
 herberts, also returned to London with the late earl's 
 legal advisers. 
 
 They had for some months, indeed since they had been 
 introduced to Gripes and Cheatem by Mr. Harley, the 
 earl's agent in the United States, been depending for 
 support upon a liberal weekly stipend from Lord Alton, 
 which had been paid by Gripes ; this now failed them,
 
 THE ORPHAN'S WRONGS. 315 
 
 and the young man made application to the lawyer for 
 assistance and advice as regarded the future action of 
 himself and his sister. Gripes refused to see him for 
 some time, but at length the young man sent him a 
 brief epistle, in which he said that he was aware that he 
 and his sister had been made use of merely as tools in 
 the hands of designing knaves, and that he had nothing to 
 lose, but everything to gain by making a public exposure 
 of the whole transaction ; this it was his intention to 
 do, unless it were made worth his while to hold his 
 tongue, and he concluded by informing the lawyer that 
 he gave him only until the following day to decide. 
 
 Upon the receipt of this letter, Gripes immediately 
 sent for Cheatem, and a consultation was held between 
 them as to the best method of quieting the refractory 
 youth. 
 
 " You perceive, Cheatem," said Gripes, afier having 
 read the note to him, "you perceive we shall be com- 
 pelled to do something for the infernal scoundrel, for ho 
 has it in his power to do us great injury. Suppose, now, 
 you take him into your office to assist W ilk ins, and 
 give him a guinea a week for the present. I will be at 
 half the expense, and then you can manage to involve 
 him in some way so as to get him under your thumb. 
 In that case you know you can at once discard him, or 
 perhaps it would be as well to get him into some scrape 
 which will render him eligible for a free passage to the 
 penal colonies. It's the only way 1 can think of at pre- 
 sent to keep the fellow quiet." 
 
 "And what's to become of the girl?" asked Cheatern, 
 who, by no means, relished the idea of paying a guinea 
 a week out of his own pocket, for he had little faith in 
 the promises of Gripes to be at half the expense, but who 
 still perceived the necessity of doing something to keep 
 the youth in good temper just then, while the trial of 
 the civil action at the Huntingdon assizes was still fresh 
 in the minds of newspaper readers. 
 
 '' Ah, the girl ! yes," replied Gripes, " it's a confound 
 ed nuisance, and one that we must seize the first oppor
 
 316 THE LAWYER'S STORY; OR, 
 
 tunity of getting quit of; but at present there is no re- 
 medy. Suppose, Cheatem, you take the girl in as a 
 kind of governess and companion to Miss Cheatem, until 
 we can think of something better. Of course you will 
 have to pay her a small salary, but then you will have 
 the benefit of ber services in the family." 
 
 " What !" exclaimed Cheatem, irritated beyond en- 
 durance at the cool impudence of Gripes. " Mr. Gripes, 
 if you and and I are scoundrels, it is no reason why I 
 should train my daughter to evil. No, sir ; the girl 
 who could bear a part in the game of deceit we have 
 lately been playing, is no eligible companion for my 
 daughter." 
 
 " Ha, ha !" laughed Gripes " Cheatem preaching 
 family morality ! Well, well, this is too amusing. 
 However," he continued, remembering that it would not 
 do to affront his coadjutor just then, " I was only joking, 
 Cheatem only joking, upon my honor. We must take 
 cheap lodgings ibr the precious pair, I suppose, and then 
 put our wits to work, so that they may not trouble us 
 longer than is absolutely necessary." 
 
 This was decided upon, and for the present time that 
 fresh difficulty was got rid of. 
 
 Lord Henry Fitzherbert was placed in rather an awk- 
 ward position by the death of the Earl of Shropshire and 
 the overthrow of the verdict of the jury in the late civil 
 action at law. He was, as I have already informed the 
 reader, deeply, irrecoverably involved in debt, and it 
 was not long before the unlucky reverse of his expecta- 
 tions carne to the ears of old Jacob, the Jew money- 
 lender, and the very next day his lordship received a 
 note, very politely worded, enclosing a list of the obli- 
 gations he owed to the usurer, (amounting to several 
 thousands of pounds,) pressing, though in the most civil 
 even polite manner for immediate payment. Of 
 course this was utterly out of the question, and Lord 
 Henry wrote a hurried reply, stating his inability to 
 meet the demands immediately, but promising to make 
 arrangements to settle up as soon as possible. The next
 
 THE ORPHAN'S WRONGS. 317 
 
 morning, just after he had breakfasted, and was list- 
 lessly lounging on the sofa in his sitting room, ponder- 
 ing on the best method of raising a supply of funds to 
 meet the more immediate demands upon him, Anderson, 
 his lordship's valet, entered the room and told his mas- 
 ter that there was an ill- looking, shabbily dressed man, 
 with a hooked nose, and a long beard, below, who in- 
 sist^d upon seeing him immediately. 
 
 " Jt is that infernal scoundrel Jacob," said his lord- 
 ship. " Why the d 1, sirrah, did you not say I was 
 not at home gone in the country gone to Paris 
 anywhere or any place that came into your head, so as 
 to get the fellow out of the way ?" 
 
 "I did say that you were not at home, may it please 
 you, my lord," replied Anderson, " but the man said he 
 would walk up stairs and wait till you came home. I 
 said it would be quite uncertain when you would return, 
 and that no one could be admitted into your lordship's 
 apartments during your absence; to which he replied, 
 my lord, suiting the action to the word, that he would 
 sit down on the steps and wait your lordship's arrival, 
 if you did not corne till night. I let him sit down 
 for some time, but his strange appearance attracted the 
 attention of every gentleman who passed by him, as he 
 asked them if they had s'een Lord Fitzherbert, or if 
 they knew where he was to be found, and he became 
 quite annoying. At length, my lord, he turned to me, 
 and with a cunning leer, asked if I had not better go 
 up stairs and see whether your lordship had not corne 
 down the chimney while he had been waiting " 
 
 "You scoundrel," exclaimed Lord Henry, "what do 
 you mean by repeating such impertinence to me. Be 
 off, sir, and " 
 
 What his lordship was about to add was cut short 
 by the appearance of Jacob at the door of the apartment, 
 and pushing by the valet, who endeavored to stop him 
 from entering, he said : 
 
 " Veil, now, I thought his lordship vash at home all 
 de while. I see it vash a small trifle of a mistake you
 
 318 THE LAWYER'S STORY; OR, 
 
 vash make. I am glad to shee your lordship ; I have 
 called about de leetle monish your lordship ish owe 
 
 " Leave the room, Anderson," said Lord Fitzherbert. 
 " Take a seat, Jacob. Did you get my note yesterday?" 
 
 "Yesh," replied the moneylender; " I got denote, 
 my lord ; but it ish de bank notes I vantsh ; de ad- 
 vanshed monish. Does your lordship understand ?" 
 
 " I believe I mentioned in the note, Jacob, that I 
 should, as soon as possible, take measures to satisfy your 
 demands ; at present it is not exactly convenient, but 
 you may rely upon having your money." 
 
 '' Yesh, my lord ; ven your lordship marries the 
 Countess of Shropshire, and succeeds to the joint estates 
 of Alton and Brampton Manor ; but ash dat happy clay 
 is likely to be postponed until de day of judgment, ven 
 dere will be a final reckoning, I should like to have my 
 little account shettled first. So, my lord, pleashto name 
 de day ven I shall have my monish." 
 
 " 1 have told you," said his lordship, somewhat fiercely, 
 " that at present I have no means of immediate payment, 
 but I pledge my honor you shall be paid to the utter- 
 most farthing. Is not that sufficient ?" 
 
 "Excuse me, my lord," said the money-lender; "but 
 I should hope, in such a case, your lordship's honor 
 would be more wort dan de securitish your lordship 
 gave me; if not, it is \\ort but little." 
 
 "Do you dare insult a gentleman in his own apart- 
 ments, sir ?" exclaimed Lord Henry. 
 
 " I vant my monish, and my monish I must have," 
 replied the Jew. 
 
 " And at present, I again say, I cannot find it conve- 
 nient to pay you," returned his lordship. 
 
 "Then, my lord," said Jacob, rising from his seat 
 and advancing a step or two ; " then, your lordship ish 
 a sheat a villanous sheat, and I shall take my re- 
 venge I shall arrest your lordship for my monish, my 
 goot monish you have sheat me of. Your lordship's 
 honor 1 Bah ! a Christian's lion-! " I spit upon it,"
 
 THE ORPHAN'S WRONGS. 319 
 
 he added, spitting upon the floor, and stamping his 
 foot ; " I spit and stamp upon it. You have sheat me 
 have rob me, and, by the God of my fathers, I will have 
 my revenge !" 
 
 He was about to leave the room, when Lord Fitzher- 
 bert called him back. 
 
 " I have been too much excited, Jacob," lie said, en- 
 deavoring to assume an appearance of composure. 
 Let us talk together ; it is not my intention to deceive 
 you." 
 
 " You have desheaved me all along," replied Jacob. 
 " De securitish I advanshed you de monish upon, vash 
 no securitish at all. You have robbed me and I will 
 have my revenge." 
 
 "But you are aware that your claims are usurious in 
 their nature, and would not be legally acknowledged," 
 replied Lord Fitzherbert. 
 
 " Ah !" exclaimed the Jew ; " so dat ish your lord- 
 ship's honor your lordship is very honest and honor- 
 able, here ish another proof; but will your lordship be 
 able to bear de exposure I shall make ; de contempt of 
 de vorld of de Christian as well as de Jew ? or are 
 you so worthless as to care not even for that disgrace ? 
 But, suppose, my lord my goot, honorable lord sup- 
 pose I charge only de monish I have advanshed, which 
 I have your written receipt for, with what your lordship 
 calls de legal interest. Ish your honorable lordship ready 
 to pay that to the poor Jew rather than go to jail eh, 
 my lord ?" 
 
 Lord Henry was completely at the money-lender's 
 mercy, and he knew it well. His only hope of safety 
 lay in staving off, for the future, the evils that beset him, 
 and he felt that to anger the Jew would only be to has- 
 ten the day of his ruin and exposure to the world. A 
 lucky thought seized him. 
 
 "Jacob," he said, "listen. I tell you honestly, I have 
 no immediate means of paying you the money I owe 
 you, and were you to fulfil your threats of arrest, of 
 what avail would it be to you ? You would obtain re-
 
 320 THE LAWYER'S STORY ; OR, 
 
 venge, but you would lose your money for ever. With 
 respect to the securities you so strenuously harp upon, 
 I was deceived as well as you. The wealth I hoped to 
 gain from the Brampton Manor estates is lost to me ; 
 but it is by no mean;; certain that equal good fortune 
 does not await me. Lady Mary Alton, who is all but 
 my affianced wife, is the possessor of the Alton Castlo 
 property, which is fully equal to that of Brampton 
 Manor ; that may in a short time be mine. When Lady 
 Mary is my wife, I will pay my debts to the uttermost 
 farthing." 
 
 " Are you going to marry Lady Mary ?" enquired 
 the Jew. " Is this true or are you seeking tosheat me 
 again, my lord ?" 
 
 " The death of the earl may have retarded the mar- 
 ringe, but it is by no means necessary that that unfortu- 
 nate event should break off the engagement," was the 
 calm reply. 
 
 " Well, then," said the Jew, " I will wait yet a little 
 while longer for my monish ; but when your lordship 
 ish married, I shall demand every farthing, interesht and 
 all ; and if your lordship does not marry Lady Mary, and 
 does not pay me my monish before this day six months 
 then, my lord, the Jew will have his revenge. My 
 lord, I wish you good day!" and the money-lender hav- 
 ing uttered these words, left the room. 
 
 Lord Fitzherbert sat for some moments on the sofa, 
 absorbed in thought. 
 
 "Egad!" he said at length, "the idea is a good one; 
 why not marry the Countess of Shropshire? I am a 
 good looking fellow enough (stroking his moustache 
 and viewing himself in the mirror opposite to him), 
 why should she refuse me? It is true 1 have never 
 shown myself a very ardent suitor ; but it is never too 
 late to begin. ' Faint heart never won fair lady.' Egad ! 
 Jew, you put a lucky idea into my head, and I will 
 follow it up. I will start for Shrewsbury to morrow, 
 and call at Alton Castle to congratulate Lady Mary. 
 Pooh! That's not the word. What is it? Ah! to
 
 THE ORPHAN'S WRONGS. 321 
 
 express my sympathy for the loss the heiress has sus- 
 tained. Capital idea ! It will seem so feeling and affec- 
 tionate. By-the-bye, Stultz must furnish me with a full 
 suit of mourning for the interesting occasion. Of 
 course, I have gone into mourning in respect to the 
 memory of the late lamented earl ; my best and dearest 
 friend, &c., &c. ; ahem ! That'll be the thing, decidedly ; 
 and then, if she won't marry me, after all why, I must 
 come down upon her feelings ; borrow some money of 
 her, and get quit of this millstone of debt about my 
 neck. I will call Anderson, and make the necessary 
 
 E reparations for starting at the earliest moment," and 
 is lordship summoned his valet, and in a few moments 
 was engaged with him in an interesting and animated 
 conversation. Poor Lord Henry ! there are many in the 
 world as vain, as void of honor, and as mean and con- 
 temptible as-you; but surely your education, your rank 
 and position in society, should have taught you that the 
 honor you so often talk of, means something more than 
 mere empty words. 
 
 Georgiana and Adolphus Fitzherbert remained three 
 weeks at Canterbury, and at the expiration of that time 
 came back to Clapham, accompanied by their cousin Ro- 
 bert, who was going to read law at the rooms of an 
 eminent barrister, with _the object of eventually being 
 called to the bar himself. The gentleman under whom 
 he was about to study, was a personal and particular 
 friend of Mr. Hughes,' and thus the young people were 
 likely to be often in each other's society.
 
 822 THE LAWYER'S STORY; OR, 
 
 CHAPTER XXXII. 
 
 1'rivate conversation between a brother and sister on matters 
 of an interesting and delicate nature. 
 
 A FEW days after their return from Canterbury, Adol- 
 phus, as he rose from the breakfast-table, whispered his 
 sister to follow him into a private apartment, as he 
 wished to speak with her alone. She did so, and he 
 then told her that he wished to ask her advice as to his 
 choice of some professional occupation, which should 
 enable him to support her and himself, and eventually to 
 repay the kindness of his friends. The brother and sis- 
 ter had been for some time engaged in conversation re- 
 garding their more immediate prospects. Georgiana 
 seated by the fire-place in the dining-room and Adolphus 
 standing opposite to her, his elbow resting on the man- 
 tel-piece. He had thus stood for some minutes absorbed 
 in thought. At length he again spoke to his sister who 
 was anxiously gazing at him. 
 
 " Then I shall make up my mind at once, Georgiana, 
 and accept Mr. Hughes' kind offer. He only thus adds 
 one more to the many obligations I have received from 
 him, and if I live to repay one, why I must repay them 
 altogether; yet the law is not a study I should choose, 
 nor the legal profession the one I should really prefer." 
 
 " Then why study it, dear Adolphus, if as you say, 
 Mr. Hughes has so kindly offered you your choice of 
 others more agreeable to you?" 
 
 " Because, in making those offers, Georgiana, he has 
 also given me such advice as he conceives I require ; 
 and 1 consider that his experience renders his advice 
 valuable. He is confident that we shall eventually come
 
 THE ORPHAN'S WRONGS. 323 
 
 into the property that should rightfully have been in- 
 herited by our father, and therefore bid me choose with- 
 out regard to the expenses which would attend my first 
 outset in any profession. I have thought of them all. 
 I am too old to enter the navy now, though I fancy that 
 I should like the excitement that attends a sailor's life ; 
 and then again, even were I not too old, promotion in 
 the service is so proverbially slow, unless the aspirant 
 possesses Admiralty interest, that I should never, I fear, 
 be in a position to support myself and you as I should 
 wish to do, and to repay the many kindnesses of my 
 friends, supposing that long years, perhaps a life-time 
 were to elapse before the suit is decided in Chancery. 
 The army is liable to similar objections ; besides, I don't 
 much fancy a military life; and then with regard to 
 both these professions, I cannot forget though my pa- 
 rents were English, that I am an American by birth, 
 and though I trust the two countries, England and 
 America, will never again meet, except it be in friendly 
 rivalry, I could not fancy entering into a foreign ser- 
 vice and subjecting myself to the necessity, in case of 
 war, of drawing my sword against my own countrymen. 
 Mr. Hughes suggested the Church : but for that sacred 
 profession, I feel that I am wholly unfitted, and I consider 
 it wrong, decidedly wrong, for any one to enter it without 
 he feels a positive predilection for its' holy duties. ' Phy- 
 sic,' suggested Mr. Hughes. "Well, the medical profes- 
 sion is a very respectable one, but somehow or other, I 
 have a natural repugnance to doctor's drugs, and a hor- 
 ror of the idea of walking the hospitals, and submitting 
 myself to the more disgusting duties of an aspirant for 
 medical honors, so I take Shakspeare's advice and ' throw 
 physic to the dogs I'll none of it.' " 
 
 'It appears to me, Adolphus," said Georgiana, 
 laughingly, "that you are very particular in your choice. 
 You say the law is not the profession you would choose 
 of your own free will, and yet you reject ^all the 
 others." 
 
 ''Nay, not so fast, my dear sister," returned Adol
 
 324 THE LAWYER'S STORY ; OR, 
 
 phus ; " you know I always had a fancy for drawing 
 ever since I was old enough to scratch a slate with a 
 pencil, and also that I have had an idea that I am pos- 
 sessed of the peculiar talent which would enable me 
 eventually to excel in literature. 'I therefore in the first 
 place told Mr. Hughes, I should like to enter upon such 
 a course of study as would fit me for the artistic profes- 
 sion ; and, secondly, that I should like to devote myself 
 to literature. He threw cold water on both these aspira- 
 tions. He said it was pleasant to gather the flowers ; but, 
 as in plucking the rose, few can avoid the thorns that 
 lie hidden beneath. As an artist, he said mediocrity was 
 unendurable. It might be easily reached ; but it re- 
 flected no honor and no profit upon its possessor. It 
 placed him in an equivocal position in society ; in his 
 own opinion, exalted above the common herd yet, in. 
 the opinion of the upper classes, and even of the recog- 
 nized professions, placing him far below themselves 
 and little above even those whom the artist looked down 
 upon. By a successful artist, he said, wealth and honor, 
 and fame, all that man can hope for, may be obtained ; 
 but they must be the result of years of apparently unre- 
 quited toil. Then, as regards the profession of litera- 
 ture ; he painted it in still more gloomy colors. To the 
 successful, it certainly, said he, offers honor and emolu- 
 ment as great, and promise of future fame greater, than 
 is offered by any other profession ; but, how few are the 
 successful how hard the struggle, even to the most 
 gifted, to reach the goal of their ambition : how many 
 fancy themselves possessed of the requisite talent, who 
 utterly fail: how many really possessed of it, are crushed 
 by the severe mental toil that must be the portion even 
 of the highest order of genius, if it would secure success. 
 The profession is filled, he continued, with idlers who 
 fancy they possess talent, and imagine the life of a li- 
 terary man to be one of ease and comparative indolence; 
 these are invariably disappointed, and they sink into the 
 degradations of vice and intemperance, and bring dis- 
 grace upon the profession upon which, in reality, they
 
 THE ORPHAN'S WKONGS. 325 
 
 have no claim ; but are only empty pretenders, to that 
 of which they are as ignorant of, as is the poorest laborer, 
 for they are often men who are without even common 
 education. I do not deny that among men of letters, 
 there is many an one who is an ornament to society 
 who is sought for and flattered by the highest whose 
 position might well create a feeling of ambition in the 
 breast of the aspirant to literary honors ; but these men 
 have worked hard to reach the eminence on which they 
 stand they have distanced their competitors, some of 
 whom were, perhaps, equally gifted, mentally, as them- 
 selves, but of feebler physical frame, and consequently 
 less capable of physical as well as mental endurance. 
 It is a pleasing occupation, I will allow, to those whose 
 tastes are adapted to it and who practice it for amuse- 
 ment as well as profit. As Sir Walter Scott has hap- 
 pily observed, ' Literature is a good staff, but a sorry 
 crutch.' Be careful then, Adolphus," continued Mr. 
 Hughes to me, " how you give up your mind to the 
 illusions of a literary or artistic career, unless you feel 
 that secret impulse within you, even now, after all that 
 I have said, which whispers success, and promises to 
 buoy you up under every difficulty; and recollect, 
 too, that of all persons in the world, men of these 
 professions, who really are what they profess to be, 
 are more keenly alive to neglect and contumely than 
 most other men, and yet, from the very nature of their 
 profession, perhaps, more than any others, liable to be 
 subjected to both. I have expressed my opinions freely, 
 because I sincerely wish you well. Think well of what 
 I have said." " Well," continued Adolphus, " I thanked 
 my kind friend and mentor, and did think, all things con- 
 sidered, I had better embrace his offer to fit me for his 
 own profession ; and therefore Georgy, to-morrow morn- 
 ing will witness my commencement of the study of 
 4 Coke upon Littleton,' and ' Blackstone's Commentaries/ 
 and I don't know how many more works of a similar de- 
 lightfully refreshing description. Enough of this, however
 
 326 THE LAWYER'S STORY; OR, 
 
 now sister, mine, I have something else to say to you 
 You received a letter from town this morning ?" 
 
 "I did," replied Georgiana. 
 
 " Good. It was from Robert Stanton ?" 
 
 "It was," said Georgiana hesitatingly, and blushing 
 just the least thing in the world. 
 
 " Will you allow me to read it ?" 
 
 " Well, to be sure !" exclaimed Georgiana, half mock- 
 ingly, half petulantly, " what will you ask me next. 
 Shall I show you the reply I intend to make, my most 
 modest brother ?" 
 
 " I wish you would, Georgiana. To tell you the truth, 
 considering me your only guardian, Robert Stanton held 
 some conversation with me a few evenings since, of which 
 you, dear Georgy, were the interesting subject. I partially 
 guess what the letter is about ; but seriously, I should 
 like to know what your reply will be." 
 
 " Of that you must for the present remain ignorant 
 then," replied Georgiana. 
 
 "Georgiana." said her brother, " there should be no 
 secrets between us, especially in our present circum- 
 stances. I do not ask you to let me see your reply 
 against your will ; but I acknowledge freely I wish at 
 least to know its purport. Not to deceive you Georgi- 
 ana, Robert, I am well aware, has been smitten with 
 your charms, ever since the day you emerged, like a 
 second Heloise, from your cell in the Convent of St. Eu- 
 phemia. ' / frutti prohibiti, i pia dolci' as our cicerone 
 used to say in Italy, and almost in the light of ' I frutti 
 prohibiti, 1 has Robert considered you, coining fresh into 
 the world from that saintly yet drear abode. He told 
 me that he intended to make you an offer of his hand, 
 and asked my influence as regarded your favoring his 
 suit. I told him I thought that at present it was inad- 
 visable, for he was dependent upon his own exertions, 
 aided by the kind assistance of a distant relative, for the 
 means of attaining a position in which he could support 
 a wife in comfort. I had no personal objection to him, 
 I said, and I spoke truly, for I esteem Robert greatly,
 
 THE ORPHAN'S WRONGS. 327 
 
 and I esteemed him the more when he said he had re 
 frained from telling his tale of love hitherto lest it 
 might be thought it was the heiress Fitzherbert he was 
 seeking to win, ' and not m}^ pretty sister Georgiana for 
 her own modest worth,' " added Adolphus, fondly pat- 
 ting his sister's shoulder. " I advised him, therefore, to 
 wait for a year or two at least, until he saw into his 
 future prospects more clearly, before he made any* formal 
 declaration ; but he was not to be convinced he said he 
 should act in this matter as he thought fit, and should 
 abide by your reply. I told him that in this mattei, I 
 should certainly advise but not attempt to coerce my 
 sister's affections, and I should caution you not to pledge 
 yourself to a sacred and irrevocable vow too hastily. 
 However, I added, that your will, in this regard, shall be 
 my law, and so far as I was concerned, I would, however 
 reluctantly, give my consent. Now, Georgiana, I have 
 told you the reasons of my apparently imprudent request." 
 
 For a few moments Georgiana sat silent, and then 
 rising from her seat and kissing her brother, she said : 
 
 " Yes, Adolphus, you are the only natural guardian and 
 protector I have ever known, and 1 feel it would be wrong 
 to take any important step without your knowledge and 
 acquiescence. However, in this respect you have only 
 anticipated my answer, for I have written in reply to 
 Robert's somewhat sudden and unexpected offer of his 
 hand and heart, (as she spoke she blushed deeply,) and 
 have made use of the very language you have uttered. 
 You can read both letters if you will, Adolphus, (put- 
 ting them into his hand.) I will confess I am partial to 
 Robert ; but, I think, under our present circumstances, 
 we are both young and ought both to wait. And now" 
 she archly continued, " my dear brother Adolphus, since 
 I have satisfied you, and have come fully up to your 
 ideas of propriety on this important subject, do you 
 know that 1 too think there ought to be no secrets be- 
 tween brother and sister, situated as we are, alone, and 
 all in all to each other in the world. You have acted 
 father confessor to me t<5 your heart's content now, sir,
 
 828 THE LAWYER'S STORY; OB, 
 
 please to be equally truthful as I have been, and say how 
 stands your heart affected towards a certain young lady, 
 named Juliet Hawthorne. I hope there is no offer 01 
 premature marriage on the part of the young lady, which 
 my most conscientious and calculating brother has con- 
 sidered it proper for the present to decline. Let me see 
 yes, this is leap-year, and the offer on the part of the 
 young lady would be quite correct. I wait your reply, 
 sir." 
 
 " Well," said Adolphus, smiling at the clever manner 
 in which his sister had managed to turn the tables upon 
 him, " I will confess honestly, and so act according to my 
 teaching. Miss Juliet Hawthorne is a very lovely and 
 a very amiable girl, and her gentleness and sprightliness 
 and beauty have made considerable havoc with the heart 
 of your brother Adolphus. Had the verdict in the late 
 suit given to us our father's inheritance, I should ere this 
 have made an offer of my hand to the fair Juliet. She 
 has wealth in America, if not so great as that which 
 would have been, and perhaps some day will yet be 
 mine, at least sufficient for all the wants and comforts, 
 even the luxuries of life, and I could not then have been 
 considered as a fortune hunter ; but now I will not marry 
 until I have achieved at least a fair prospect of eventual 
 success in my profession, or unless some happy turn in 
 Fortune's scale should decide the balance in my favor 
 sooner than I expect ; for I will not listen to the roman- 
 tic generosity of Juliet in asserting that the estate in 
 Virginia belongs of right to me, because it was confiscated 
 from my father. It was subsequently purchased by her 
 father, and it is rightfully and legally her own. Never- 
 theless, I have pledged my faith to Juliet, and vowed 
 not to wed another, but have left her free to the dictates 
 of her future fancy. Is not that generosity, my fair 
 sister?" 
 
 "Perfectly romantic, I declare," replied Georgiana; 
 "but I presume," she continued, "you feel pretty sure 
 of the constancy of the lady, when you thus leave her 
 free as air to love as she lists. *Recollect, Adolphus ! re-
 
 THE ORPHAN'S WRONGS. 32$ 
 
 collect! there is a beau in Virginia that you have heard 
 Juliet and Mrs. Lyman speak of. Beware of him, not- 
 withstanding that Juliet laughs at him when her aunt's 
 back is turned. Love is a capricious God, brother of 
 inine, and the tide of affection may set against you." 
 
 " You are judging of woman's faith through your own 
 intuitive knowledge of the fickleness of the sex, I pre- 
 sume," said Adolphus, smilingly. " Well, I will tell you 
 the truth ; I think Juliet is an exception, and am wil- 
 ling to trust to her words, without binding her by pro- 
 mises she may wish to break. So, you see, I have not 
 made so great a sacrifice to magnanimity of soul after all, 
 at least according to my own belief! but then, men are 
 so confiding and women so deceiving." 
 
 " Reverse that sentiment and it will be a true one," 
 said Georgiana. 
 
 " No, I shall adhere to it, if only for the sake of its 
 being an original one," replied Adolphus, "and now, 
 Georgy we have been so long closeted together that 
 Mrs. Hughes will wonder what has become of us. I 
 wonder she has not broken in upon our tete a tele ere 
 this. I promised to accompany her in a drive to Rich- 
 mond to day, and of course you go with us. This you 
 know is to be my last idle day, for I don't know how 
 long; so come along, Georgy," and the brother and sister 
 left the room together. 
 
 I have particularly introduced Juliet to the reader 
 already, but the pedigree of Robert Stanton is unknown 
 to him, although he is not altogether a new acquaintance. 
 I have called him a cousin of Georgiana's but he can 
 scarcely be considered as such as the relationship only 
 exists through marriage. His mother was the cousin of 
 Mrs. Lyman's sister, but she had never seen Robert until 
 her return to England from the United States, when he 
 had just finished his education and returned to Canter- 
 bury from Oxford College, at which place he had been 
 studying for two years, after having left Westminster 
 School, and he had seized the opportunity of her re- 
 quiring an escort, to accompany her and Juliet in their
 
 330 THE LAWYER'S STORY; OR, 
 
 tour on the continent, where I tirst introduced him to the 
 reader. For the rest he was a lively, talented young 
 man, passably good-looking, and full of fun and good 
 humor ; in fact, rather a dangerous preux chevalier to ac- 
 company a young lady on a tour of pleasure, and it is pos- 
 sible, had not Georgiana fallen into the water at Malta, 
 and been rescued by a hero, who turned out so charm- 
 ingly and romantically to be a long lost cousin, matters 
 might have taken a different turn as regards the affec- 
 tions of her heart ; and had not Robert found a second 
 charmer after being thus unceremoniously shut out from 
 the place he was beginning to occupy in her heart, there 
 might have been a case of blighted affection, and I don't 
 know what besides; but then the lady of the Convent 
 of St. Euphemia came happily to the rescue, just in time 
 to save Robert from despair, and thus all parties were 
 happily suited, " Vhomrne propose" says the French pro- 
 verb, mais Dieu dispose" and sometimes not altogether 
 favorably to man's desires, but in this case the current 
 of true love appeared to run smooth, and so here, for 
 the present, I shall leave the young folks, and return to 
 the fortunes of others of the dramatis personce of my nar- 
 rative. 
 
 CHAPTER XXIII. 
 
 A. lady's soliloquy An unexpected rencontre, and an equally 
 unexpected offer and refusal. 
 
 I INTRODUCE the reader again to Alton Castle. In 
 the same favorite apartment in which I first introduced 
 Lady Mary Alton to the reader, she is now seated, 
 busily engaged in examining various papers, and writing 
 letters. She is attired in deep mourning, and her face 
 is pale, and a melancholy earnest expression rests upon 
 her features ; yet Lady Mary Alton, in the gayest hours 
 of her girlhood, ere time had begun to cast his shadow 
 upon her youth, never looked more beautiful ; for even
 
 THE ORPHAN'S WRONGS.' 831 
 
 now, although she was no longer young nay, had 
 passed the early stage of middle life time, as 1 have 
 already observed, had dealt gently with her. The jetty 
 glo.-'s of her raven hair was not marred by one silvery 
 thread. Her large, dark grey eyes, shaded by long 
 silky eyelashes and finely penciled black eyebrows, 
 sparkled brightly as ever, and beamed with deeper feel- 
 ing when, half shaded by her drooping eyelids, she gave 
 way to the pensive melancholy which had long been 
 stealing over her mind, and had now become part of 
 her being. Her fair, broad brow was without a wrinkle ; 
 only slight, very slight lines of care and anxiety traced 
 from the corners of her mouth could possibly have indi- 
 cated to any but a most acute observer that she had 
 numbered upwards of forty years. 
 
 She has risen from her seat and touched the bell. 
 Annette, her ladyship's own waiting-maid, replies to 
 the summons, and the lady places in her hand the last 
 letter she has written. 
 
 " Thomas has not yet left the castle with the letters 
 for the Shrewsbury post-office, Annette ?" inquires Lady 
 Mary. 
 
 "No, my lady." 
 
 " Then hasten to him with this letter it must go by 
 the London mail to-night ; it is for Miss Fitzherbert, 
 who is residing at Clapham, and I wish her to receive 
 it by the early town delivery, to-morrow morning. The 
 other letters let me see, you can take this, and this 
 no, never mind ; I shall perhaps require to add some- 
 thing to them yet. Go to Thomas with the letter 1 have 
 given you, Annette." 
 
 The lady's maid left the room, and Lady Mary walked 
 to the window and gazed long and pensively across the 
 park and gardens of the castle. 
 
 "I have determined how to act," she soliloquized, 
 after having stood silent and absorbed in thought for 
 some minutes; "and when those letters are despatched 
 my determination will be irrevocable; and yet it will 
 grieve me deeply grieve me, to bid an eternal farewell
 
 332 THE LAWYER'S STORY; OR, 
 
 to the home of nry ancestors. How beautiful is the 
 scenery from these windows, every portion of the land- 
 scape hallowed by some fond recollection, yet, alas ! 
 every recollection tinged with the sadness of my lonely, 
 weary heart ; but for one false step in early youth ; but 
 for the foolish gratification of the pride and coquetry 
 that marked my girlhood, how different might have 
 been my fate with what different feelings might I have 
 been, at this moment, gazing from these windows. I 
 might not have been alone in the world. I might have 
 had children grown up and around me ready to be the 
 stay and comfort of the old age which, ere many more 
 summers and winters have passed, must creep upon me. 
 I might have had a husband whom I could love and re- 
 spect, to support me amid all the trials of life which 
 befal the wealthy and high-born, as well as the lowly 
 and poor. I might have had around me those who 
 loved me those upon whom I could have lavished the 
 current of affection which has been bound up within 
 me without being able to find a healthy vent, until my 
 heart has been wrung and well-nigh broken. Oh, what 
 is the worth of wealth, honor, title, all that the world 
 calls greatness, if the affections are stifled and dried up 
 in the bosorn. I would exchange rny countess' aye, a 
 duchess' coronet, this very hour, to enjoy the domestic 
 happiness I witnessed to-day in the abode of one of my 
 poorest tenants ; but it is useless to think of such matters 
 now. I have suffered the punishment due to pride and 
 vanity sometimes I fancy I have been made to suffer 
 too severely ; but, no to say this were blasphemy ; does 
 not the good Father Ansel mo bid me take heart from 
 these mental sufferings I am compelled to endure during 
 this my weary, lonely, pilgrimage on earth, in the hope 
 that they may be accepted as an atonement in Heaven. 
 Still the human heart is weak, and before I bid forever 
 farewell to the pomp and vanity and heartlessness of 
 the world, I would fain disburthen to one of my own 
 sex, one who can sympathize with me and feel for me, 
 and to whom my fate may be a warning, the feelings
 
 THE ORPHAN'S WRONGS. 833 
 
 which have for years been secreted within my breast, 
 unknown and undreamed of by any save Father Ansel- 
 mo, and, good old man as he is, he cannot sympathize 
 with me as my heart yearns for sympathy. Georgiana 
 will receive my letter, I hope, to-morrow, and if, as I 
 trust she will do, she immediately leaves London for 
 Shrewsbury, she will arrive at the castle on the after- 
 noon of the following day. That will be Thursday ; I 
 am glad I did not send these other letters off to-day ; I 
 would be undisturbed by business during the remainder 
 of this week. A few days devoted to the natural sym- 
 pathies of my sex 1 a few days spent in the society of 
 the child of Herbert, and then then the veil and the 
 cloister ; thenceforward, the proud heiress the wealthy 
 titled proprietress of Alton will, I hope and trust, forget 
 her worldly honors and her worldly sorrows, in the 
 du.ies pertaining to a religious life." As she ceased 
 her soliloquy, Lady Mary's handkerchief slipped from 
 her hand, and as she turned and stooped to pick it up 
 from the floor, she was startled by hearing a step on the 
 gravel walk which led to the glass door that opened on 
 the lawn. In another moment the door was thrown 
 open, and Lord Henry Fitzherbert, in travelling attire, 
 stood before the astonished lady. 
 
 To tell the truth, Lord Henry was little less surprised 
 than Lady Mary, at this unexpected and rather an- 
 noying contre temps on his p;irt. lie had met the 
 castle-warden after alighting from the carriage, which 
 had conveyed him from Shrewsbury to the castle ; and 
 this man, who knew his lordship well, had 'informed 
 him that his lady had gone out in the carriage to 
 make a morning call upon a family residing in the 
 vicinity of the castle, which, in fact, was the truth. 
 Lady Mary had gone out for that purpose some hours 
 before, and had returned unknown to the warden who 
 had been occupied on some business which led him to a 
 .distant part of the extensive park and his lordship not 
 wishing to enter the castle until the lady was at home, 
 had wandered over the grounds and among the preserves
 
 834 THE LAWYER'S STORY; OR, 
 
 and plantations for an hour or two, in hopes to catch 
 sight of the carriage on its return to the castle, upon 
 the road which passed over an eminence half a mile dis- 
 tant from the carriage entrance to the park until feel- 
 ing wearied with waiting, he had approached the ca.stle 
 by a back part of the grounds, to make further enquiries 
 from the servants. It had not occurred to him that 
 Lady Mary was not in mourning, or, rather, he had 
 forgotten it for, Lord Henry Fitzherbert was not 
 gifted with the faculty of retaining many ideas in his 
 rnind at once, and catching a glimpse of a female form 
 in a dark dress, he had taken her for Annette, the 
 lady's maid, and had hastened towards the apartment, 
 pushed open the glass door, and entered the room, 
 before he was aware of his unlucky error ; for to come 
 thus upon Lady Mary, at this particular moment, when 
 he had a special object in visiting her, dusty and travel- 
 stained, was the last thing his lordship would have 
 desired. 
 
 Lady Mary was both startled and alarmed ; and, for 
 once in his life, the fine gentleman of fashion and the 
 roue, was thrown off the equipoise of conventional good 
 breeding. His lordship stuttered and stammered, but 
 could give utterance to no connected sentence. He had 
 studied a fine speech for the occasion, which he had in- 
 tended to have rehearsed in his dressing-room before 
 being ushered into the presence of the lady of the castle ; 
 but now he was completely at fault even could he have 
 thought of one single word of what he had intended to 
 have said, it would not have been exactly comne il faut 
 to have commenced a love declaration in such an abrupt 
 manner as this. It would have been too much like a 
 puerile imitation of the way such things were effected in 
 old. feudal times, when gallant knights stormed the 
 castles in which resided their ladye loves, and having 
 knocked the fair damsel's father and brothers on the 
 head, and hanged the seneschals and serving men, 
 locked the doors, and poured their vows of love inter 
 the trembling and despairing lady's ear. The lady, as
 
 THE ORPHAN'S WRONGS. 
 
 is usually the case under similar circumstances, was the 
 first to assume an appearance of composure, and politely, 
 but coldly, addressed his lordship. She asked to what 
 she was indebted for so sudden and unexpected a visit 
 from Lord Henry Fitzherbert. The only reply that 
 Lord Henry could give, was that he had come down to 
 the castle from London to pay a visit of condolence on 
 account of the sudden and lamented death of the late 
 earl, her ladyship's father ; and then he stated, as well 
 as he could, the causes which led to his abrupt and un- 
 expected appearance before her, and begged her permis- 
 sion to retire to a dressing-room and render himself 
 presentable. This request, of course, was immediately 
 granted; and a servant having been summoned, his 
 lordship bowed, and left the apartment. 
 
 When he had gone, Lady Mary set herself to work 
 to. consider what could be the real cause of this visit 
 from Lord Henry ; for she was well aware that his 
 avowed reason was a mere subterfuge. Nor was her 
 woman's tact long in coming to a right conclusion ; for 
 she smiL.-d half contemptuously, half compassionately, as 
 she said aloud : 
 
 " Poor simpleton ! Does he think I cannot see through 
 the disguise he attempts to throw around his motives 1 
 My husband, under no circumstances at no period of 
 my life, could Henry Fitzherbert have been, and most 
 assuredly he can never become so now. Money is the 
 only object that ever could or ever will tempt Henry 
 to marry, and it is my money, not my hand, he now 
 seeks in reality. Poor fellow 1" she continued ; and yet 
 there was as much of scorn and contempt as of pity in 
 her tone; " he has been a vain, frivolous, childish spend- 
 thrift all his days the unrecognized child of royalty, 
 and yet born in wedlock. In a false position of life, ho 
 has been trained by circumstances, to play a degraded 
 part in life's drama more than noble by birth, yet as a 
 noble, scarcely acknowledged with the right according 
 to the laws of God, to claim the privileges of his birth- 
 right by the law of man he has been set aside and dis-
 
 336 THE LAWYER'S STOHY; OR, 
 
 honored without a mother's or a father's care to guide 
 his mind aright in the days of his youth, he has been 
 nursed, and trained up, and educated by base syco 
 phants and flatterers. Can it be expected that he should 
 have turned out other than he has done ? Poor fellow ! 
 necessitated to maintain the appearance of a man of 
 rank and fashion, he has, throughout his life, now past 
 its meridian, been the victim of comparative penury ; 
 he is to be pitied rather than blamed. What is money 
 to me now 'I I have more at my disposal than I well 
 know what to do with. My poor father taught him' to 
 expect my hand, or rather my fortune, and it is but just 
 that led into expenses, as he may have been, in conse- 
 quence of that expectation I should repair, as far as I 
 am able, the mischief my poor father has done. He shall 
 have money, as delicately tendered as possible, though, as 
 for that," and she smiled faintly as she spoke, " as for 
 that, I doubt whether there is any fear of hurting his 
 feelings, yet I would not insult him. I would not like 
 to hear of any mishap befalling him, through faults 
 for which my father was to blame, as much as he is ; in 
 fact, for which I am to blame for failing in the moral 
 courage, which should have taught me at once, in dis- 
 covering the plot that was going on, to put a stop to 
 it, so far, at least, as I was concerned in it and then, 
 is he not the half brother of poor Herbert ! He whom 
 1 loved in youth, and whom I spurned while still lov- 
 ing him he whom I thought 1 had steeled my heart 
 to hate, but whose image I could not efface from my 
 mind, and whose memory I have now allowed myself 
 to revere and love as the only solace left to me on 
 earth. Yes, yes, Henry wants money, and money he 
 shall have; would that all wants were as easily satis- 
 fied." 
 
 An hour elapsed, and Lord Henry Fitzherbert made 
 his re-appearance attired in the very extremity of the 
 fashion, according to Stultz's last pattern, for the cos- 
 tume to be worn in a maison de deuil. A black dress 
 coat, ditto waistcoat and trowsers, with scarcely any or-
 
 THE ORPHAN'S WRONGS. 337 
 
 nament upon his person, except a diamond ring upon the 
 third finger of his right hand, a black silk necktie, and a 
 broad band of crape around a new hat of Christy's ex- 
 quisite make, patent leather shoes, and black silk stock- 
 ings, completed his attire ; and although his lordship 
 was now verging towards his fiftieth year, his features 
 and figure were still handsome, and his deportment per- 
 fectly unexceptionable. 
 
 Not a word was said respecting the late blunder, for 
 his lordship thought that to attempt any further apology 
 was uncalled for, and still it was with something of an 
 embarrassed air that the schooled gentleman of fashion 
 sought to open upon the subject which had brought him 
 from London. He might, perhaps, have even left with- 
 out having attempted to accomplish his purpose, had not 
 Anderson, who had accompanied his master, informed 
 him before he left Shrewsbury that morning, that Jacob, 
 the money-lender, had followed them to the county town, 
 having, by some means, learnt that a visit to the castle 
 was contemplated by his lordship, and being determined 
 to judge for himself as to the probability of his being 
 paid within the specified time, his demand of 25,000. 
 
 At length his lordship, after all, somewhat blunder- 
 ingly adverted to the object of his visit : 
 
 " I am sorry, Lady Mary," he began, " that the stu- 
 pidity of the counsel and attorneys employed by your 
 late lamented father, should have lost the suit to gain 
 which was the main object of the late earl's ambition. 
 Your father, madam, held many conversations with me 
 on that interesting subject, and it is my firm belief that 
 the venerable nobleman would sooner have gained 
 that suit than have changed his earl's to a marquis's or 
 even a ducal coronet. I need not remind your ladyship 
 that the earl, your father, was equally desirous that a 
 union should take place between ourselves. I should 
 not have adverted to this, so soon after the earl's decease, 
 and while you, his nearest relative, and I, perhaps 
 his most esteemed friend, were still suffering the first 
 pangs of grief, had not rumor already gone abroad, so
 
 338 THE LAWYER'S STORY; OR, 
 
 heartless in the world of fashionable life in which we 
 move, that in consequence of the loss of this suit the 
 anticipated union of Lady Mary Alton and Lord Henry 
 Fitzherbert had been broken off. I wish, madam, to 
 convince the heartless, hypocritical butterflies of fashion 
 that all even of their own class are not tinctured with 
 their ingratitude .and heartlessness. A large addition of 
 fortune is in all probability lost to the Alton estates ; 
 but I regard not that; Lady Mary Alton is the same in 
 my eyes with or without the estates the loss of which, 
 in all probability, caused the attack which resulted in 
 her father's death. Lady Mary, I have not been an ar- 
 dent suitor for your hand and heart, because heretofore 
 I felt that in pressing my suit I should have laid myself 
 open to a suspicion of fortune hunting ; now that suspi- 
 cion can no longer exist, at least to the same extent, I 
 have sought this interview with your ladyship, to pledge, 
 I should say, to reiterate, my vows of unalterable love, 
 and to solicit the honor of your hand at as early a day 
 as possible, consistent with the decorum which nature 
 and custom have alike established as necessary on such 
 a mournful occasion as that we have both been so sud 
 denly called upon to deplore." 
 
 This exemplary offer of his hand and heart had cost 
 Lord Henry the greater part of a night's rest to compose, 
 and had involved besides the loss of upwards of a quire 
 of post-paper before any thing like what his lordship 
 had considered a satisfactory result had been arrived at. 
 When it was completed, Anderson had been called in to 
 give his opinion upon it, for the valet was in all his 
 lordship's secrets, and he had decided that it was a per- 
 fect gem in its way, and could not fail from the generosity 
 and disinterestedness it implied, to enlist the sympathies 
 of her ladyship. It had been conned over and over in 
 the post-chaise during the progress of the journey from 
 London to Shrewsbury, for short as it was, his lordship, 
 who was not blessed with a very retentive memory, and 
 had found considerable difficulty in getting it by heart, 
 and it had been rehearsed in his lordship's dressing-room
 
 THE ORPHAN'S WRONGS. 839 
 
 at Alton Castle not half an hour before, Anderson sit- 
 ting in a languishing and interesting attitude on a sofa, 
 with a sheet wrapped about him and a night-cap on hia 
 head to represent the lady, and his lordship, sinking 
 upon one knee as he came to the sentence, " I have 
 sought this interview to pledge, I should say, to reiter- 
 ate rny vows, and to solicit the honor of your hand," (as 
 he in fact did when he rehearsed it again in the drawing- 
 room in the presence of the lady,) and Anderson again 
 for the twentieth time assuring his master that it was a 
 perfect piece of composition, so generous and feeling- 
 like, that he felt confident no lady could stand up against 
 it, " especially," continued Anderson, " when your lord- 
 ship goes to take her hand and raise it to your lips, as 
 you did mine just now. It'll go direct through to her 
 heart, my lord, that kiss," added Anderson, " or else 
 I'm no judge of women." 
 
 Lady Alary had been prepared, as I have already 
 shown, for some such declaration as this on the part of 
 Lord Henry ; but knowing his weakness and vanity, as 
 she did, she certainly was not prepared for such a piece 
 of rhodomontade as she had just unwillingly and impa- 
 tiently listened to, and when his lordship seized her 
 hand, According to copy, and was proceeding to carry it 
 to his lips, she rather angrily withdrew it. Her lirst 
 feelings were those of irritation at his presumption, but 
 she felt he was too contemptible justly to excite her 
 anger, and scorn and contempt for the pitiable wretch 
 ensued, mingled with a feeling of almost irresistible 
 mirth at the absurdity of the whole affair. AVhen his 
 lordship had concluded, and had risen from his abject 
 position and again seated himself, as though awaiting 
 her reply, she could not refrain from saying, while an 
 arch smile played upon her lips 
 
 I fear your lordship is laboring under some mistake, 
 and that your offer is not so disinterested as you deem 
 it. You will, no doubt, sir, be extremely sorry when I 
 recall to your recollection that which your late speech 
 inclines me to believe you have forgotten, to wit : that I
 
 340 THE LAWYER'S STORY; OR, 
 
 am not left altogether a portionless orphan of forty-five, 
 dependent an the generous nature of a wooer of at least 
 the same age. It will be a sad blow to your generous 
 sentimentality, my lord, but I must remind you that I 
 am the Lady of Alton, with broad lands, and a revenue 
 of 16.000 per annum, at my own disposal." 
 
 " That, madam," replied his lordship, " I have not 
 that is to say I did not that is, I should have men- 
 tioned " 
 
 " That it was in the last despairing hope," interrupted 
 her ladyship, " that your lordship might acquire the con- 
 trol of at least a portion of this property, that I am 
 honored by this flattering proposal from your lordship. 
 My lord, 1 tell you plainly and honestly, 1 never loved, 
 never even esteemed you ; but, sir, I did hope that one 
 in your position would have possessed more manliness 
 of character than to attempt to impose upon any one 
 by such a palpable subterfuge such a mean equivoque 
 as tbis. My lord, I have long been aware of the nature 
 of the suit which I rejoice to say, bitter, as in one re- 
 spect, have been the consequences of its rejection to me, 
 has been taken out of the hands of the base men who 
 urged my poor father to prosecute a scheme so unwor- 
 thy of him. I know full well, my lord, that provided 
 this suit had been gained by the puppets put up to re- 
 present the rightful heirs, my father, on obtaining pos- 
 session, would have sacrificed his daughter's happiness 
 by bestowing her upon one whom she despised aye, 
 rny lord, I say despised in order to show to the world 
 an apparent generosity in giving up the benefit of the 
 estate, after his death, to a relative of the rightful heir, 
 it having been the intention of the parties implicated 
 in the disgraceful plot to have entered another false 
 claim, which was to end in the resignation of the pro- 
 perty by the poor tools by whose aid it was sought to 
 be won. Thus, my lord I grieve to say it, but you 
 have forced me to express myself in strong terms my 
 poor father, by avarice and ambition misled, would 
 have nearly doubled his wealth, and, consequently, his
 
 THE ORPHAN'S WRONGS. 841 
 
 influence, and, as he hoped, have obtained a marquis- 
 ate, perhaps even a dukedom, and dying, would have 
 recompensed his daughter, who was to bear the burden 
 of all this complicated guilt, by leaving her a coronet 
 interwoven with the strawberry leaves pertaining to 
 ducal rank, to wear upon her aching brow. Thank 
 God ! that even at the dread cost of my father's life, 
 this guilt has been averted. My poor father, I believe, 
 died penitent. ^ I trust and believe that he has met 
 with pardon, and that his soul has fled where ambition 
 and avarice shall warp his nobler sympathies no more. 
 You see that I know more than you would have given 
 me credit ior, my lord ; nay, do not interrupt me," she 
 continued, waving her hand for silence, as Lord Henry 
 appeared about to speak. ' I know your object, my 
 lord. It has been, at any risk, to obtain money. I 
 know that your means have been hardly sufficient for 
 your necessary expenditure, even had you exercised 
 economy. I know, also, that building upon hopes 
 which, believe me, sir, nevVr, under any circumstances, 
 ^voldd have been realized, you have been tempted, in order 
 to gratify a love for display, to borrow sums of money 
 which you have no means of paying. I consider my 
 father, and perhaps myself, indirectly, in a great mea- 
 sure, to blame for this, and it was my intention on quitting 
 England, and I am about to leave it forever, to have be- 
 queathed to you, in such a manner as would have allowed 
 you to use it immediately, such a sum of money as would 
 have paid your debts, arid enabled you to face the world 
 like an honest man. Your conduct to-day has proved to 
 mi 1 , my lord, that you have no delicate feelings that 1 can 
 offend. Still, it is not my intention to change my mind 
 further than in this much, I shall present your lordship, 
 in the name of rny late father, in consideration of the 
 false hopes he contributed to raise, with 30,000, on 
 condition that you herewith sign a paper, pledging me 
 your word and honor that henceforward we are strangers 
 to each other in word and deed, and that you will never 
 publicly mention my name. I had intended to pursue a
 
 342 THE LAWYER'S STORY; OR, 
 
 different plan; but enough of this. "Will your lordship 
 do as I require you ?" 
 
 Lord Henry, who had began to fear that all his hopes 
 and anticipations had miscarried, and who beheld him- 
 self, in fancy, already immured within the stone walls 
 of a prison, disgraced and dishonored forever, was glad, 
 mean-souled wretch that he was, to jump at the offer, 
 and, with many thanks and promises of reformation, 
 which Lady Mary almost sickened to listen to, he 
 signed the paper, and after receiving a check on her 
 ladyship's banker for the amount, departed for London, 
 closely followed by Jacob, who the next day received 
 his 25,000 of loaned money at forty per cent, interest, 
 and his lordship, for once in his life, found himself out 
 of debt, and the possessor of 5000. 
 
 CHAPTEE XXXIV. 
 
 Confidential disclosures. 
 
 LADY MARY ALTON, on her father's decease, had suc- 
 ceeded to the honors and titles of the family ; the estates 
 having been entailed on male or female heirs, and the 
 patent of nobilit}' some years before, when the earl had 
 just begun to despair of leaving heirs male having, 
 through his influence with the sovereign, been rendered 
 hereditary in the male or female line alike. I remarked 
 in the foregoing chapter, that Lady Mary Alton, (I 
 should say the Countess of Shropshire ; but, ysLady Mary 
 I first knew her, and introduced her to the reader and 
 as Lady Mary, 1 still choose to recollect her,) had dis- 
 patched a letter to Miss Fitzherbert, inviting her to visit 
 Alton Castle, and informing her that her ladyship was 
 about quitting England forever; therefore, she begged 
 that Miss Fitzherbert would make no unnecessary de- 
 lay. Georgiana duly received the letter, and having 
 shown it to her brother for he was included in the in-
 
 THE ORPHAN'S WRONGS. 843 
 
 vitation it was settled that she should immediately 
 start for Alton Castle, and that Adolphus should accom- 
 pany her and remain for the day; and then return to 
 London, in order to arrange the preliminaries relative 
 to his intended law studies; also that he should return 
 to Alton again at the period fixed for the termination 
 of his sister's visit, in order to escort her back to Lon- 
 don again. 
 
 On the day that Lady Mary had expected them, they 
 arrived at the castle, and were received as old friends 
 or, rather, as junior relatives, whom her ladyship had 
 known and loved from their childhood, upwards. To 
 both, Lady Mary was affectionately kind ; although, of 
 course, she was less restrained with Georgian a. Lady 
 Mary was not, certainly, a young woman; still she was 
 sufficiently youthful in her appearance, and sufficiently 
 prepossessing in feature, to render it necessary in order 
 to avoid scandal, to refrain from the strong expressions 
 of regard which she would willingly have bestowed upon 
 the son of Herbert Fitzherbert. As had been arranged, 
 Adolphus left Alton Castle for Shrewsbury, in the even- 
 ing so as to be ready for the departure of the early 
 train for London, on the following morning; and the 
 next day, Lady Mary and Miss Fitzherbert spent in each 
 other's society, the former informing the latter lady of 
 the reasons which had led her so anxiously to desire to 
 see her before she, Lady Mary, left England. 
 
 " You will recollect, dear Miss Fitzherbert," she said, 
 " that at the close of our last and only former interview, 
 I told you that I was deeply interested in your success 
 with regard to the late suit, although circumstances 
 would have led you to imagine the contrary to be the 
 case. 1 am now about to leave England forever. 
 Whither I am going, is as yet known only to Father 
 Anselmo, my poor lather's chaplain, and one who was 
 iny instructor in childhood, and has been my guide and 
 adviser, my only confidant during the latter period of 
 my life; for even my dear aunt, the Countess de Tivoli, 
 abbess of the Convent of St. Euphemia, has not yet been
 
 344 THE LAWYER'S STORY; OR, 
 
 fully advised of my determination. I thought I had 
 been possessed of sufficient stoicism lo have left all be 
 hind me without a sigh of regret, and to have buried 
 forever in my own bosom, and in time to have forgotten 
 in the prosecution of my new duties, the weaknesses 
 and troubles of my worldly life ; but as the hour of rny 
 departure from the home of my ancestors draws near, I 
 find that it is harder than I thought to sever the ties that 
 bind frail humanity to the vanities and follies of the 
 world. Georgiana, to Father Anselrno, in the secrets of 
 the confessional, have I alone as yet disclosed the de- 
 voted love which I once had for your father." 
 
 Georgiana started with surprise. 
 
 Lady Mary smiled, and gently laying her hand on the 
 young girl's arm, she continued : 
 
 "I had thought to have hidden the story of this un- 
 happy love forever from the knowledge of others ; but 
 when I saw you and your brother at the inn in Shrews- 
 bury ; where I started with surprise on seeing before me 
 the very image of Herbert in his youthful days ; when I 
 traced in your features, as you stood anxiously and pain- 
 fully, as it appeared, listening to some words that Mr. 
 Hughes was saying relative to the coming trial, an ex- 
 pression so strongly resembling that of your father's face 
 when I last saw him, as he stood listening almost incre- 
 dulously, to some vain and cruel words I had let fall, on 
 purpose to annoy him and prove the influence I had over 
 him an influence, alas ! exerted once too often for my 
 happiness I determined then to ease my overburdened 
 feelings by making you one of my own sex one who 
 could sympathize with me you the daughter of my 
 poor lost Herbert the confidant of the hopeless and 
 weary sorrow of my blighted life." 
 
 The unhappy lady then related to Georgiana the his- 
 tory of her first love for Herbert Fitzherbert, and how it 
 was broken off, the " love turned to hatred" which en- 
 sued, and the subsequent return of tender recollections, 
 which the reader will recollect Lady Mary dwelt upon 
 in her soliloquy when I first introduced her in her sitting
 
 THE ORPHAN'S WRONGS. 345 
 
 room at Alton Castle. " And now," she added, "I am 
 about to bid farewell forever to all worldly thoughts, re- 
 collections and ambitions a few weeks more, Miss Fitz- 
 herbert, will witness me a resident I hope a contented 
 and a happy one in the Convent of St. Euphemia in 
 Italy, at which peaceful and in my mind, happy abode, 
 the days of my early childhood were spent, for there I 
 experienced happiness and content that have been since 
 unknown to me." 
 
 " But my lady," exclaimed Georgiana who had the 
 day before felt rather bashful in Lady Mary's company ; 
 but who had by this time been completely won over by 
 her gentle manners and by her evident admiration of her 
 father and fond recollections of his memory, evinced by 
 her disinterested kindness to his children; "but, my 
 lady, you, with everything around you to make you 
 happy ; in the possession of wealth which will enable 
 you to do so much good in this world, and of a rank in 
 life which will ensure you influence in the propagation 
 of any good work ; with numerous tenants looking up 
 to you for advice and protection ; for that your tenants 
 love you I have had ample proof from the conversations 
 I heard last night when I accompanied my brother to 
 Shrewsbury in the carriage ; Adolphus got into conver- 
 sation with the coachman, and at my brother's sugges- 
 tion, he took up two aged villagers who were going to 
 the county town on some simple business of their own ; 
 oh, Lady Mary, had you only heard how kindly how 
 affectionately they spoke of the lady at the castle how 
 they regretted the death of the earl, who had always 
 been a kind master and an indulgent landlord, although 
 they said he had been too deeply engaged in Parliament 
 matters to look so closely after the affairs at Alton as hi.s 
 tenants could have wished ; and how, now that he was 
 no more, they seemed to take it for granted that the 
 good, kind-hearted Lady Mary, his daughter, would re- 
 side more among those who loved, and respected her as 
 they did if you had heard all this as I did, Lady Mary,
 
 846 THE LAWYER'S STORY; OR, 
 
 I am sure you never would think of quitting them and 
 Alton Castle forever." 
 
 "Dear Miss Fitzherbert," replied Lady Mar j, " I have 
 for some years past cherished a desire to retire from the 
 busy, frivolous world and to spend the remainder of my 
 life in the peaceful seclusion of the convent; I thought a 
 few months, aye, a few weeks ago, it would be easier 
 than it really is to turn my back upon all worldly things ; 
 nevertheless, although the struggle is severe, my mind 
 is no less determined. The tenants of Alton will find 
 another landlord, one who will be to them all and more 
 than was the Earl of Shropshire, or than Mary Alton 
 can be." 
 
 " Who then takes possession of this beautiful castle 
 and this noble estate?" inquired Georgiana, in astonish- 
 ment. 
 
 "The Church," replied Lady Mary; "that is to say, 
 the late earl's confessor, Father Anselmo, who is well 
 acquainted with the wants and necessities of the ten- 
 antry, who has been much among them and studied 
 well their character and the best methods of exercising a 
 beneficial influence over them, will reside at the castle 
 and superintend the management of the estates, which 
 will be, in a few weeks more, in the possession of the 
 Convent of St. Euphemia." 
 
 " And all this enormous property goes to the church 
 then ?" said Georgiana, abstractedly. 
 
 " Rather," replied Lady Mary, " it goes to the services 
 of religion. Could it be used for a better purpose ? Yet 
 not all ; I have reserved a considerable portion for secu- 
 lar purposes for the purposes of private friendship and 
 private duties. Annette and all my servants, as well as 
 those of the late earl indeed all the servants of the 
 castle are remembered, and when I have left they will 
 find themselves in the possession of annuities which will 
 render them comfortable for the remainder of their days. 
 Then money has been freely expended in other ways that 
 I need not mention. And, now, Miss Fitzherbert, I have 
 yet one thing more to say ; you and your brother have
 
 THE ORPHAN'S WKOXGS. 347 
 
 indirectedly suffered through my father's injustice, for 
 had he not been tempted from the path of duty by ava- 
 rice and ambition your father would have been the lord 
 of broad lands, little less in value than those of Alton. 
 My poor father died repentant, and, had he lived, would 
 have sought to make reparation. This, at least,.! please 
 myself in believing. It remains, therefore, for me, his 
 daughter, with the respect due to my father's memory, 
 to complete that which, in consequence of his hasty sum- 
 mons into the mysteries of eternity, has been left undone. 
 There is a small estate belonging to the Alton property, 
 called Rosehill. It is but a little farm, laid out for the 
 greater part of it in pleasure grounds, and comprises only 
 a few acres of land, in the centre of which is a beautiful 
 little cottage, built after the Tuscan style. It was a fa- 
 vorite residence of my father's in his younger days, when 
 he went on a sporting excursion for a few days, with a 
 party of friends : before many years, I feel confident that 
 your brother Adolphus will come into possession of the 
 late-contested property. If he is like Herbert was at his 
 age as like him in disposition as he is in person he 
 would refuse any offer, however just it might be, on my 
 part, if it involved what the most fastidious sense of 
 honor could construe into an obligation ; he has talents 
 which, in a few years, will render liim independent by 
 his own exertions, even if the chancery decision be de- 
 layed. I would not subject myself to the pain of a re- 
 fusal by offering him assistance, for I feel his proud spirit 
 would not accept it in the sense in which it would be of- 
 fered. To you, then, Georgiana, I give this little farm 
 of Rosehill, as a memento of Mary Alton when she has 
 become forever secluded from the world, and may it long 
 remain yours, when Mary Alton has been removed from 
 all the world's perils and temptations. Nay," she con- 
 tinued, noticing that Georgiana was about to speak \ 
 "Nay, I will take no denial in this. It is no favor; it 
 is but a small token of respect from me to yourself- mind, 
 to yourself. So must your brother be led to consider it ; 
 and recollect that, if you do not receive it, it will only
 
 tS48 THE LAWYER'S STORY; OR, 
 
 go with the rest of the property into the possession of 
 the convent. You will, then, oblige me in this one of 
 my last requests Miss Fitzherbert ?" 
 
 Georgiana knew not what to say she knew not how 
 her brother would consider it ; but Lady Mary was so 
 very earnest, that at length, with many thanks, she ac- 
 cepted the gift. 
 
 " This settled, let us take a stroll around the gardens 
 contiguous to the castle," said Lady Mary. " I shall not 
 wander among their paths many times more ; come 
 let us walk." 
 
 The two ladies stepped out by the glass door into the 
 lawn, and having reached the terrace, descended a flight 
 of stone steps which led them to the entrance of the 
 garden. It had been a rabbit warren, and comprised an 
 area of several acres of uneven surface here rising into 
 an eminence, there forming a miniature valley, and in 
 various places artificial ponds had been made, having 
 the appearance of mimic lakes. The father of the late 
 earl, and the grandfather of lady Mary, had pos.se.ssed a 
 great love for horticulture and for landscape gardening, 
 and he had converted what once had been almost a desert 
 wilderness, into the most romantic garden ground in the 
 world. Owing to the peculiarities of the ground, it \vns 
 full of abrupt turns, and consequently, except from an 
 eminence, but a small portion of the garden could be 
 seen at once, and each separate plot had been cultivated 
 in a different style, here resembling a Swiss farm, with 
 its romantic looking cottage arid outhouses ; there a flat 
 spot was laid out as a Chinese garden ; and further on, a 
 more rugged and abrupt turn disclosed some miniature 
 mountain scenery, resembling that of Wales. On an 
 eminence, and embowered in trees, stood a small cottage, 
 inhabited by a real Welsh harper, who was blind, and 
 who had been domiciled here, a pensioner of Alton, for 
 life. The peculiar characteristics of the soil in half the 
 countries of Europe and Asia were imitated in different 
 portions of this garden, and quaint Chinese temples in 
 their appropriate position^ and Venetian gondolas on the
 
 THE ORPHAN'S WRONGS. 849 
 
 mimic Italian lakes, and other tiny structures emblemati- 
 cal of the country that was intended to be represented, 
 were scattered throughout the grounds. Georgiana was 
 highly delighted. She had witnessed nothing of the 
 kind before, and to her it appeared as though she had 
 suddenly been transported to fairy land. 
 
 " The more I see of this lovely place the greater is my 
 astonishment that your ladyship can have arrived at the 
 determination to quit it forever, and immure yourself 
 for life within the limits of St. Euphemia," she said. " I 
 have been in that convent, and though the lady abbess 
 is kind, pardon me for saying BO Lady Mary, it has little 
 attraction in my eyes ; nor do I believe that the happi- 
 ness sought for in vain without, is always found within 
 the walls of a convent." 
 
 Lady Mary smiled sadly. 
 
 " Few people view the same object in the same light," 
 she rejoined, " the mental vision adds to the beauty or 
 distorts the symmetry of the optical view. You and I, 
 my dear Miss Fitzherbert, necessarily picture to our 
 minds, as well as we see with our eyes, the seclusion of 
 the cloister from a different point of view. I stand in 
 the gloomy shade, and have wandered long in search of 
 rest, and to me the convent offers the repose I seek. 
 You are in the sunshine of life your journey is yet 
 before you to you the convent appears dark and 
 gloomy. You pant for liberty for freedom which 
 years will teach you exist only as a chimera of the 
 brain. All mankind are slaves, the wealthy and titled 
 to the tyrannical heartlessness of conventional customs, 
 which they dare not break through ; the poor to the 
 tyrant poverty, which crushes out from them all the 
 aspirations of humanity, and, in the course of time, 
 degrades God's image below the level of the brute 
 ereation. I hope it may never be the case ; yet I fear, 
 before many years, you will not think so highly of the 
 pleasures of the world as you seem to think now. But 
 what a misanthrope am I become," she added, smiling 
 mournfully ; " heed me not, Georgiana; I sincerely hope
 
 350 THE LAWYER'S STORY ; OR, 
 
 you will always be happy, and that you may take warn 
 ing from me, and avoid the shoal on which my happi- 
 ness was wrecked." 
 
 For some minutes the two ladies walked on in silence : 
 at length, Georgiana spoke. 
 
 " I should wish to ask your ladyship one question," 
 she said, " and yet I am fearful it would offend you ; you 
 would think me too curious." 
 
 " By no means I shall not be offended at anything 
 you can say ; neither shall I think you too inquisitive. 
 What would you ask me?" 
 
 "Simply, whether the Father Anselmo, the priest of 
 whom I have heard you speak, has advised your lady- 
 ship to this course ?" 
 
 Lady Mary smiled : 
 
 " Has your mind so soon been prejudiced against the 
 holy faith in which I and my ancestors, for centuries 
 back, have been reared, and to which we have remained 
 steadfast, despite of threats and persecutions." 
 
 Georgiana blushed deeply, and Lady Mary, noticing 
 her emotion, continued : 
 
 " No, dear Miss Fitzherbert, the world will ill- 
 naturedly say that I have been tempted, ensnared into 
 this renouncement of my birth-right and fortune, it will 
 be cited as another instance of the greed of the Catholic 
 Church and the influence of priestcraft. So far, how- 
 ever, from having advised me, Father Anselmo has ever 
 gently dissuaded me from following my inclinations as 
 regards this determination. Nor does any one but your- 
 self and he yet know that rnj' mind has become thus 
 resolved." 
 
 '' If you would then only alter your intentions, how 
 glad I should be, and how glad Adolphus would be to 
 aid in banishing from your mind the distressing recol- 
 lections you have told me of. How glad I should be to 
 think I had been the humble instrument of retaining 
 you among your tenants, who seem so much attached 
 to you." 
 
 " Ah ! you little temptress," replied Lady Mary, " you
 
 THE ORPHAN'S WRONGS. 351 
 
 come in a fair guise, and perhaps had matters not pro 
 ceeded so far ; had I known you before my mind was 
 fully made up, I might but what am I talking of? 
 This disinclination to follow the path of duty that con- 
 science has pointed out, is growing upon me. How dif- 
 ferent are the anticipations of pain or pleasure in the 
 performance of one's duty, from the reality ; but here we 
 are again at the terrace steps. Let us go into the 
 castle. Ah ! who can that be ? Visitors ! I did not 
 expect any," suddenly exclaimed Lady Mary, as, gain- 
 ing the terrace, two travelling carriages, with footmen 
 in a foreign livery, were seen 'waiting at the grand en- 
 trance of the castle. 
 
 The visitors, who ever they were,' had, it seemed, just 
 alighted from the vehicles, and entered the castle, and 
 Lady Mary, followed by Georgiana, hastened to reach 
 a private pathway, by which she could reach the castle 
 unseen, in order that she might learn from the domes- 
 tics who it was who had thus unceremoniously intruded 
 upon her privacy. 
 
 CHAPTER XXXV. 
 
 The arrival of a stranger alters the aspect of affairs / 
 return from my tour, and spend an evening with my 
 friends. 
 
 THE strangers alluded to in the last chapter, proved 
 to be an Italian gentleman of military appearance, and 
 Father Anselmo, who had been engaged at the late 
 earl's mansion in Grosvenor-square, London, in settling 
 his late patron's affairs, and who had been unexpectedly 
 hurried back to Alton Castle, in consequence of the 
 arrival in London from Italy, of the Count de Bellona 
 (the strange gentleman alluded to), who was a distant 
 relative of the Tivoli family, and who had come to Eng- 
 land on a tour of pleasure. He had immediately called
 
 352 THE LAWYER'S STORY; on, 
 
 at the earl's mansion, not having heard of his lord- 
 ship's decease, and being the bearer of the unplea- 
 sant intelligence of the severe illness of the abbess of the 
 convent of the Euphemia, who had been struck with 
 paralysis; and although the symptoms of her disease 
 were no longer dangerous, the nature of it was such as 
 to incapacitate her for the onerous position she held in 
 the convent. She had, consequently, resigned in favor 
 of sister Margeretta, her late deputy. The count was a 
 fine looking man, slightly past the meridian of life ; but 
 with a heart as fresh and youthful as it had been thirty 
 years before, when he had first donned the uniform of 
 an officer of the Pontifical Guards, in which regiment he 
 was now a colonel. His hair was thickly strewn with 
 grey, but his whiskers, and the heavy moustache that he 
 wore, in virtue of his military rank f were black as jet, 
 and the sallow complexion, too common among most of 
 his countrymen afrer the first flush of youth is passed 
 away, was relieved by a healthy tinge of red, created by 
 the action of the weather and the sun ; for the count, iu 
 the interval of his military duties, had been a great 
 traveller. He possessed a fine military bearing, and was 
 tall and robust, without the slightest approach to corpu- 
 lency. In fact, to use a somewhat stereotyped phrase, 
 he was the perfect beau ideal of a gallant soldier and an 
 accomplished gentleman. He had, when a child, been 
 the playmate and companion of Lady Mary, whenever 
 she obtained permission from her aunt to visit the city 
 of Turin, and at one time it had been a cherished fancy 
 of the old earl's, that some day or other the marriage of 
 the young count and his daughter might cement the 
 union that already existed by marriage between the 
 families of Alton and Bellona. 
 
 The young count had entertained a boyish affection 
 for the youthful heiress of Alton, and it was with a 
 sorrowful heart that at the age of sixteen, he bade her 
 farewell on receiving the honor of a commission in the 
 papal guards. The bustle of the camp and the new scenes 
 to which he was introduced, had well nigh obliterated
 
 THE ORPHAN'S WRONGS. 353 
 
 all remembrance of his childhood's playmate, and ten 
 years afterwards he married a young .Roman lady of 
 good family and considerable fortune, with whom he 
 lived five years in a state of as perfect connubial felicity 
 as man can well enjoy. In the meantime, she had borne 
 him two children, both of whom had, however, died in 
 infancy, and shortly after the death of her youngest, the 
 lady herself, who had always had a tendency to pul- 
 monary disease, died of a rapid decline. Since then the 
 count had lived a widower, for a long period almost in- 
 consolable for the loss of the wife" and children he had 
 so tenderly loved. It was subsequently to the death of 
 his wife that he had indulged his inclination to travel, 
 and time at length brought the solace that it usually 
 brings to the afflicted. For some years past, he had 
 been enabled to think of the loved ones he had lost, 
 with a gentle melanchoty, but without the pangs that 
 every reqpllection of them had formerly called forth, and 
 now he was delighted with the idea of again seeing the 
 once loved companion of his youth. The recollections 
 of his childhood carne with renewed force into his 
 rnind as he landed on her native soil ; and who shall 
 say what other strange fancies flitted across the ima- 
 gination of the gallant colonel, for he had heard in 
 Italy that Lady Mary was still unmarried, and know- 
 ing little of her history for the last thirty years of her 
 life, he had the vanity to entertain the idea that she had 
 remained un wedded, owing to her love for him. It was 
 with feelings of deep regret that he heard of the sudden 
 death of her father, and he had urged the old priest to 
 hasten with him in his own travelling carriage, imme- 
 diately to the castle, in order that he might tender his 
 condolence to the lady. 
 
 Lady Mary received her old playmate with surprise, 
 but with a smile of pleasure, and for a moment the pleas- 
 ing recollection of their youthful endearments passed 
 across her mind, for before she had met with Herbert on 
 her return from Italy to England, she had, in her girlish
 
 354: (THE LAWYER'S STORY; OR, 
 
 fancy, sometimes thought how she should like Ludovico 
 for a husband. 
 
 She was, however shocked to hear of the illness of her 
 aunt, and determined instantly to visit her; therefore for 
 the present, all further investigations into the condition 
 of the late earl's affairs was left to Father Anselmo, arid 
 Lady Mary prepared at once to visit Italy, accepting the 
 Count de Bellona as her escort and protector during the 
 journey. By the time the preparations for travel were 
 complete, Adolphus returned to Alton Castle for his 
 sister, and bidding the young people for the present an 
 affectionate farewell, Lady Mary and the Count de Bel- 
 lona started on the following morning for the continent 
 Adolphus and Georgiana returning to London on the 
 
 same day. 
 
 ******** 
 
 Two years passed away, pleasantly enough on my 
 part; for I spent that period traveling over the greater 
 portion of Europe not confining my tour to the custo- 
 mary, well-trodden route of fashionable tourists; but, 
 after visiting France, Italy and Spain, I directed my 
 steps northward, and passing through Germany and 
 Prussia. I sailed up the Baltic and the Gulf of Finland, 
 to Cronstadt, visited St. Petersburg!! the city that 
 owes its existence to the genius and sagacity of Peter 
 the Great, that half savage, yet most wonderful genius 
 and having indulged myself with a lengthened investi- 
 gation into the domestic and social habits of the Rus- 
 sians a nation whose interior economy is but little 
 known, and little heeded by the generality of travelers, 
 although all the more interesting in consequence of its 
 comparative novelty I crossed the Gulf of Bothnia and 
 visited the Swedish capital, Stockholm, and thence pro- 
 ceeded northward to the North Cape, for the purpose of 
 witnessing the glorious sight of the sun at midnight. 
 Thence, I returned through mountainous and barren 
 Norway, stopping for weeks at the principal towns, and 
 enjoying greatly the primitive manners of the honest, 
 hardy, hospitable and unsophisticated Norwegians. This
 
 THE ORPHAN'S WRONGS. 355 
 
 tour occupied me a considerable time ; and it was ex- 
 actly two years from the day I had bid farewell to 
 Adolphus and Georgiana, at the hotel at Dover, that I 
 stepped from the pier of Christiansand, in Norway, on 
 board the vessel which was to convey me to England, 
 on my return to the United States. On reaching Hull, 
 the port in England to which the vessel was bound, I 
 made the best of my way to London, and immediately 
 called on Mr. Hughes, at Clapham Common. I had seen 
 so many strange sights since I left England, two years 
 before, that it actually surprised me to find everything 
 standing seemingly just as I had left it. As I walked 
 up the gravel walk which led to the house, I struck my 
 foot against the watering-pot r which was standing near a 
 bed of hyacinths, and 1 recollected that the very day 
 before I left Clapham, I had been amusing myself with 
 watering that very bed of flowers, and had sat down the 
 watering-pot in that place. I turned my head and saw 
 the old gardener hoeing up some weeds, as I had last seen 
 him engaged, and I could almost have sworn he wore 
 the same garden dress he now had on. Everything 
 seemed the same as when I had last seen it ; the flower- 
 beds, the little rustic garden chairs scattered hither and 
 thither even to the old cat who was sunning herself on 
 the piazza, and who came towards me, purring and rub- 
 bing herself against my leg, as was her wont that I felt 
 quite bewildered and rubbed my hands across my eyes 
 and forehead, to satisfy myself that I was awake, or 
 rather that I had not just awakened from a dream of 
 travel in distant lands. When I rung at the door bell 
 and was admitted by the servant the same old servant 
 who curtsied to me as unconcernedly, apparently, as 
 though 1 had just returned from a visit to town or from 
 a short walk, and who led tbe way to the parlor door, 
 
 opening it and announcing Mr. , my mind was 
 
 scarcely more relieved of the strange feeling that comes 
 over one after returning from an exciting voyage or 
 course of travel ; and finding everything we left behind 
 unchanged, for, in the parlor were seated Air. and Mrs.
 
 356 THE LAWYER'S STORY; OR, 
 
 Hughes, and Mr. and Miss Fitzherbert, (it was past five 
 o'clock on a summer evening, and Mr. Hughes and 
 Adolphus had returned from town,) awaiting the an- 
 nouncement that dinner was ready, and I almost fancied 
 that they had really expected me, as had been my wontf 
 to form one of the family circle, sans ceremonie, whenever 
 rny inclination led me to pay them a visit. 
 
 The outburst of surprise, joy and welcome, with which, 
 they received me, however, restored my half wandering 
 senses, and the first congratulations on my safe return 
 over, I was so overwhelmed with questions that I could 
 not answer all at once and therefore could not answer at 
 all, that it was quite a relief when dinner Avas announced, 
 although I had dined on quitting the cars, before starting 
 for Clapham. 
 
 Dinner over, we returned to the parlor, and spent of 
 course a very pleasant evening; I, relating the history 
 of my travels, and they, telling me all that had occurred 
 during my absence that was likely to be interesting 
 to me. 
 
 I found Georgiana and Adolphus but little altered, 
 although the former had I thought acquired a roundness 
 of outline which considerably enhanced her attractions, 
 and the whiskers of the latter had evidently been culti- 
 vated with care, and overspresd a considerable portion 
 of his cheeks, imparting a more manly expression to his 
 countenance. As to the old couple, they appeared just 
 as I had left them not the slightest alteration was per- 
 ceptible. 
 
 In the course of the conversation I learned that " to 
 make conviction stronger," Mrs. Lyman and her rela- 
 tives had hunted up various documentary proofs of the 
 validity of the claims of Adolphus and Georgiana, and 
 that Mr. Hughes had taken care that they should be 
 transmitted to the proper quarter. But the suit was still 
 in chancery, and as yet no idea could be formed of the 
 period when it would be decided. 
 
 Adolphus had made considerable progress in his law 
 studies, and as soon as the necessary term of probation
 
 THE ORPHAN'S WRONGS. 357 
 
 had expired he was to be called to the bar, whether or 
 not he and his sister had entered into possession of their 
 father's property, as both he and Mr. Hughes thought, 
 advisedly, that it would be perhaps an advantage, and 
 at all events no detriment, for him to belong to an hon- 
 orable and lucrative profession, even though he were not 
 called upon to practise it for a livelihood. 
 
 Georgiana had improved herself greatly, through the 
 kind consideration of Mr. Hughes, by studying various 
 accomplishments, and such more material branches of 
 education as she, of course, had not previously had an 
 Opportunity of acquiring, but which would be necessary 
 to her in the position she would in all probability be 
 culled upon at some future period to occupy. 
 
 The little farm of Kosehill, which the reader will re- 
 collect Lady Mary had delicately forced upon the Fitz- 
 herberts, although Adolphus had long stood out against 
 receiving it, yielded them an income of 200 per annum 
 a sum quite sufficient for their maintenance, and which 
 relieved them from the disagreeable feeling of being in- 
 debted to the generosity of Mr. Hughes for their present 
 support, although that worth}' gentleman persisted in 
 saying that it would be no obligation as far as they 
 were concerned it would rather be conferring an obli- 
 gation on him, were they to permit him to allow them 
 a certain annual sum for the present, for, as he said 
 in a jocular manner, and yet half seriously, "I shall 
 expect payment with interest by-and-bye, when you 
 two young people come into possession of your rights, 
 and also to have the direction of all matters connected 
 with the property which require the services of a lawyer, 
 so you see Tarn not altogether so unselfish as you pre- 
 tend to think me." * * * * * 
 
 The conversation by and bye took another turn : 
 
 "And how is poor Lady Mary?'' I enquired. "I 
 heard a rumor shortly after I left England that she had 
 determined upon retiring to the convent of St. Euphemia 
 and spending the remainder of her days in the austere 
 seclusion of a religious life. Poor lady! She appeared
 
 358 THE LAWYER'S STORY; OR, 
 
 to be very unhappy. She was so unfortunate, as I 
 have heard, to meet with a blight in her early affec- 
 tions, and in consequence led a life of great mental 
 anxiety. Still I think she should not have allowed her 
 feelings to gain such mastery over her. She was weak 
 to give way to the private sorrow in which 1 have heard 
 she indulged, even when she was supposed by most of 
 her associates to be the reigning belle of fashionable life. 
 It is a pity to think of the fine estate of Alton being 
 given up to swell the revenues of a foreign convent, as, 
 when I was in Rome, I was informed was to be the case. 
 Poor lady ! I suppose she has long 'ere this renounced 
 all earthly ties and affections." 
 
 A quiet smile pervaded the countenances of the little 
 party, as Mr. Hughes replied : 
 
 u She has rather formed fresh ties and encouraged 
 the growth of fresh affections, like a wise woman, as 
 she turned out to be at last, after all her strange no- 
 tions. Lady Mary Alton, my dear sir, is now Countess 
 de Bellona, having married about twelve months ago 
 the count of that name and title, with whom she i.s 
 now living contentedly and happily in Tuscany. He 
 escorted her ladyship to Italy when she went to see 
 her aunt, who was suddenly struck with paralysis, shortly 
 after you left England. Report says he was a boy-lover 
 of hers, the date of the childish romaunt being antece- 
 dent to that of her ladyship's girlish, arid I must ac- 
 knowledge too, pretty constant affection for Herbert 
 Fitzherbert the father of our young friends here. She 
 and the count went to Italy, leaving the venerable old 
 priest, Father Anselmo, whom you will recollect, to ar- 
 range all that was necessary preparatory to delivering 
 the estates of Alton over to the Church or rather to the 
 Convent: but lo, and behold! when Father Ansel rno 
 had just got everything settled, he received a letter from 
 her ladyship, desiring him to let things proceed as usual 
 for the present, and to reside himself at the castle until 
 he heard further from her. So matters rested for up- 
 wards of nine months, when one day I saw in the columns
 
 THE ORPHAN'S WRONGS. 859 
 
 of the Morning Post, among the " fashionable intelligence," 
 a notice of the arrival at the King's Arms Hotel, Folke- 
 stone, of the Countess of Shropshire and the Count de 
 Bellona, from Turin, via France. You may imagine I 
 was somewhat astonished, but I laid the paper aside, and 
 should perhaps have hardly thought of the circumstance 
 again, in the multiplicity of my business matters, had I 
 not, about a fortnight afterwards, received a note from the 
 countess, requesting to see me at Morley's Hotel on busi- 
 ness of importance. Of course I was punctual in attend- 
 ance I always am punctual in business matters and I 
 was closeted with her ladyship for a considerable time. 
 She looked actually younger than ever, and you know 
 when I first saw her she was not really young, though she 
 looked so, and was in much more cheerful spirits than I 
 had ever expected to see her. And what do you think 
 was the business on which I was wanted ? Nothing less 
 than to arrange certain matters respecting some fiefs on 
 the Alton Castle estates prior to her ladyship's marriage. 
 She was very friendly, very chatty, and quite confiden- 
 tial. She told me that she had given up all idea of en- 
 tering a convent since the death of her aunt, which had 
 occurred shortly after her arrival at Turin ; that she had 
 consulted with the good, venerable Father Anselmo re- 
 specting the change in her situation, and he had, strange 
 to say, (at least so it appeared to me,) encouraged her to 
 follow the new bent of her inclinations. In fact, her 
 ladyship blushed and simpered a little, and then told me 
 she was engaged to be married to the Count de Bellona, 
 and she concluded by asking me my opinion upon the 
 matter, and whether I thought she was doing wrong or 
 violating the constancy of her affection to the memory of 
 her deceased boy-lover, Herbert. I told her ladyship 
 plainly, that I thought she was about to act like a sensi- 
 ble woman, and that I considered she had brooded quite 
 long enough over the memory of one who had for years 
 been in the grave, and whose love when living had been 
 given to another. About three months after this con- 
 versation, no little excitement was occasioned among the
 
 360 THE LAWYER'S STORY; OR, 
 
 London fashionables, by the appearance, in the columns 
 of the Morning Post that staid and venerable record of 
 fashionable occurrences headed 
 
 MARRIAGE ix HIGH LIFE AT PARIS. We learn from 
 Galignani's Messenger, that a marriage took place at 
 Paris, on Monday, the 10th inst., which will create some 
 stir a^d no little astonishment in fashionable circles, not 
 only in England, but throughout the Continent. On the 
 day above mentioned was married at VEglise de V As- 
 sumption, by the Archbishop of Paris, Mary, Countess 
 of Shropshire, daughter and heiress of the late Earl of 
 Shropshire, to Ludovico, Count de Bellona, and Colonel 
 of the Papal Guards ; both the fair bride and the happy 
 bridegroom are in the wane of life, although both are 
 still in the possession of perfect health, and the bride 
 especially, still has the appearance of a young and 
 beautiful woman. The noble and gallant count has been 
 distinguished in his military career, and is a remarkably 
 handsome man. He is said to possess large estates in 
 Tuscany." 
 
 Then followed a description of the dress worn by the 
 bride on the interesting occasion, and a great deal of 
 stuff which I don't recollect ; indeed, I don't know that 
 the paragraph ran exactly as I have worded it, but it 
 was something to the same purpose, and it ended by 
 saying that the happy pair had left Paris for Florence 
 immediately after the nuptial knot .was tied. 
 
 " And has the countess completely forgotten Alton 
 Castle?" I asked. 
 
 "Oh, no," replied Mr. Hughes, "she was there with 
 her husband about three months since, and Georgiami 
 was down at the castle on a visit." 
 
 " Well, there are singular romances in real life," was 
 my rejoinder. 
 
 " Strange, indeed," replied Mr. Hughes. " I believe 
 it is their intention," he added, " to reside a portion of 
 the year in Tuscany and a portion in England."
 
 THE ORPHAN'S WRONGS. 361 
 
 " And what is Lord Fitzherbert doing?'' 1 asked. 
 
 "Lounging about town, as usual. Dozing away his 
 leisure hours at his rooms in the Albany, and appearing 
 upon parade with his regiment when he is obliged to do 
 so. Over head and ears in debt, and still fancying him- 
 self a young man and an Adonis, although he must be 
 close bordering on fifty years of age." 
 
 ' And our worthy opponents, Messrs. Gripes and 
 Cheatem, what has become of them ?" 
 
 " Gripes is still living in London, and practising his 
 profession. I learnt enough, after you were gone 
 abroad, to have sent him and his scoundrelly coadjutor 
 to a penal settlement for life, but rny promi.se to the 
 earl on his death-bed, and a fear of hurting the feelings 
 of p')or Lady Mary, who \vas really innocent of any 
 participation in their schemes, and truly noble in her 
 conduct, kept me from taking any action in the matter, 
 the more especially as I was sure they could not have it 
 in their power to inflict further injury on my clients 
 here. As to Cheatem, I suppose Gripes got frightened 
 at the idea of allowing him to remain in England after 
 what had occurred ; and he knew quite enough of 
 Cheatem, and had him quite enough in his power to 
 compel him to quit the country when he pleased ; 'so 
 he procured him some inferior government situation in 
 Australia, and there he is now the scoundrel, lie ought 
 to be there, it is true; but it should be in chains, as a 
 convict, instead of holding an official position, however 
 humble." 
 
 " And those shadows of our young friends here, the 
 soi disant Fitzherberts, where are they ? Singular resem- 
 blance! was it not?" 
 
 " Yes ; but I have been told there was some reason 
 for it. They are said to be the illegitimate children of 
 Lord Henry Fitzherbert, and their mother is reported 
 to have been a strolling player. It is said that Lord 
 Henry bore a strong resemblance to his half-brother, 
 Herbert, when he was a young man. So you see they 
 were, after all, really entitled to the name of Fitzher-
 
 862 THE LAWYER'S STORY ; OR, 
 
 bert, at least in a certain sense. The young man became 
 so importunate that he alarmed Gripes, who at length 
 furnished him with funds, and sent him to the United 
 States, compelling him to sign a paper, resigning forever 
 the name of Fitzherbert on the part of himself and his 
 sister, and disclaiming any knowledge of the transaction 
 in which they bore so prominent a part. Poor things ! 
 they Avere not so much to blame, after all ; and I hear 
 they are doing well in America." 
 
 In such conversation as this, the evening passed 
 rapidly away, and, having remained a few days with my 
 friends, 1 bid them farewell, and left London for Liver- 
 pool, whence I took passage to New York, and arrived 
 there in safety some three weeks afterwards. What 
 further relates to the young people in whom I took so 
 great an interest, I learnt from themselves and Mr. 
 Hughes by letter ; and I arn happy to say that in the 
 following and concluding chapter of my narrative, the 
 reader who has followed me through the story will 
 learn that eventually the young people succeeded to 
 the property that should have been inherited by their 
 father. 
 
 CHAPTER XXXVI. 
 
 Conclusion. 
 
 As I intimated in the foregoing chapter, I heard very 
 often from my English friends, who, among them, kept 
 me thoroughly posted up in all that was going forward 
 within the limits of their little circle. 
 
 In due time, Adolphus completed his term of legal 
 stud)', and was called to the bar. This occurred about 
 three years after I returned from England, and through 
 the iulluence of Mr. Hughes with Mr. Ferrit, and other 
 eminent solicitors, he soon got out of the category of 
 "briefless barristers," and obtained a respectable and 
 amply remunerative, if not a very lucrative practice. 

 
 THE ORPHAN'S WRONGS. 363 
 
 His letters to me were earnest in expressions of grati- 
 tude for my kindness and for the interest I had taken in 
 himself and his sister when they were friendless and 
 unknown in the United States, but he seldom alluded 
 to the case in Chancery, and when he did so, he seemed 
 to view the prospect of eventually obtaining possession 
 of the estates, much in the light of a lottery. If he 
 gained the prize, so much the better ; if not, he trusted 
 that by his own talents and exertions he would, in course 
 of time, work his own way to eminence and wealth. I 
 heard from Mr. Hughes that he studied intensely, and 
 that there was certainly every rational prospect to be- 
 lieve that in due season he would reap the reward of his 
 unwearied and indefatigable application; but Mr. Hughes 
 also told me that, although he rarely mentioned the sub- 
 ject to Adolphus or his sister, he felt confident that the 
 time was drawing near when the decision of the Court 
 of Chancery would be given in their favor. He (Mr. 
 Hughes) was most earnest and unfaltering in his en- 
 deavors in their behalf, so much so, that the Masters 
 in Chancery were growing wearied with his incessant 
 applications to them, and for the sake of peace and 
 quietness, every officer of that quiet-loving, indolent 
 court would be most happy to get quit of the suit as 
 soon as possible. 
 
 In my letters to Adolphus, I frequently made jocular 
 allusions regarding his approaching marriage with his 
 cousin Juliet, but he generally replied, that he must 
 secure the means of independence before he thought of 
 marriaga 
 
 Kobert Stanton, who had commenced his study of the 
 law at the same time with Adolphus, was also called to 
 the bar very shortly after young Fitzherbert donned the 
 wig and gown, and having a good connection, he like- 
 wise was, in a very short time, doing well. Mr. Hughes 
 wrote me, in one of his letters, that Kobert had made 
 400 in the first year of his practice, and as his prospects 
 were still more flattering ibr the ensuing year, he had 
 urged upon Georgiana the fulfillment of her promise,
 
 364 THE LAWYER'S STORY; OR, 
 
 that with her brother's consent, as soon as Robert was 
 well started on the road to fame and fortune, she would 
 give him her hand her heart had long been given 
 and become the partner of his joys and sorrows through- 
 out life. No objection could be made by Adolphus, 
 and shortly afterwards Robert Stanton and Georgiana 
 were married. In writing me the particulars of the 
 marriage of Georgiana, Mr. Hughes spoke of the matri- 
 monial prospects of Adolphus. He and his cousin 
 Juliet were formally engaged, but the period at which 
 their union was to be solemnized had not been fixed. 
 Had it not been that Juliet was the possessor of an in- 
 dependent fortune, Mr. Hughes said he believed that 
 Adolphus would have urged his cousin to name the 
 happy daj* as soon as, after having entered upon the 
 practice of his profession, he saw a prospect of gaining 
 a respectable livelihood from it; but the high-toned 
 pride of Adolphus was so strong a trait in his character, 
 that he could not endure the idea of marrying a wife who 
 was the possessor of an independent fortune, while he 
 was dependent for his own livelihood upon the exercise 
 of his industry and talents, and this feeling was increased 
 rather than diminished, in consequence of the continued 
 assertions of Juliet, that she should always consider 
 that she only held the estates she possessed in Virginia 
 in trust, and that she considered he was the rightful 
 heir. The lovers always had a pretty little quarrel 
 whenever they discussed this subject, which, however, 
 was usually made up the same evening, before they 
 parted from each other. ^ 
 
 About eighteen months after Adolphus had com- 
 menced his career as a barrister, Juliet returned to 
 the United States with her aunt, and she had not reached 
 her Virginia home more than a week before her cousin 
 George made her a formal offer of marriage, but she 
 politely refused his suit, greatly to his astonishment, as 
 well as that of his father, for the old gentleman had 
 considered the ultimate union of his son and his ward 
 as a matter of certainty. They were both a little chag-
 
 TITE ORPHAN'S WRONGS. 365 
 
 rined at first, and George talked of going to sea in a 
 whaler, and getting drowned, or swallowed by a whale, 
 or else of joining some desperate expedition against the 
 Indians in Texas, in which he was sure to get scalped; 
 but, in the course of a few weeks, he recovered his com- 
 posure, and six months afterwards married a young 
 lady from New England, who had gone on a visit to 
 the South, and he is now a very contented and happy 
 husband, and the father of a fine little fellow of two 
 years old, whom his mother declares to be the very 
 image of his father, and so George appears to think 
 himself, for he always introduces his visitors to his hope- 
 ful heir, with the remark that he can himself see the 
 strong resemblance between his own hazel eyes and his 
 son's blue ones ; and he has no doubt, in time, that the 
 little nez retrousse will get a bridge upon it as aquiline in 
 form as his own decidedly Ho man nose; and as to his 
 boy's hair, which is of a light flaxen color, he says that 
 his mother has a lock of his own hair, which was clip- 
 ped off when he was about his son's age, which is as 
 yellow as gold, although now his hair is nearly black. 
 
 Four years more passed away without anything 
 having occurred, during that long period to look for- 
 ward to, but short period of retrospect, excepting 
 that during those years Georgiana had presented her 
 liusband with a son and a daughter; and Adolphus, 
 who was extremely fond of his little nephew and niece, 
 and was never weary of fondling and romping with them 
 during his leisure hours, at length began to think that 
 it would be still more agreeable if he had a little house- 
 hold pet or two of his own to toss and tumble about, 
 and to pull his hair, and. smear his clothes with bread 
 and butter and candy, lie began to find his bachelor 
 apartments extremely lonesome, for, of course, on com- 
 mencing business, he had taken a bachelor's establish- 
 ment of his own. He thought a wife would make and 
 pour out the tea a good deal nicer than a cross old 
 housekeeper, and that the solitary chamber where he sat 
 of an evening would be much more cheerful if the spark-
 
 866 THE LAWYER'S STORY; OR, 
 
 ling black eyes of his cousin Juliet were gazing upon 
 liirn, instead of the upturned green ones of the old gray 
 cat, which lay purring at his feet; and that the music 
 of her voice, and of her clear, ringing, silvery laugh, 
 would be far more agreeable than the incessant tick, 
 tick, of the French clock on the mantel-piece, varied 
 only by the shrill tone of the hammer as it struck the 
 hour. 
 
 He began to consider whether, after all, he was not a 
 great fool to stand on such a ridiculous punctilio in a 
 matter which affected his life's happiness, as the ques- 
 tion of a few pounds more or less per annum, and al- 
 most wondered at the constancy of his fair cousin in re- 
 maining so true and unwavering in her attachment. He 
 mentally cast up the probable amount of his professional 
 income that year, and found that it was likely to be full 
 800, add to this the hundred pounds he received as his 
 share of the Rosehill rents, and there was a clear 900, 
 and then he came to the conclusion at once to write to 
 his cousin to confess that he had been a proud, con- 
 ceited, stupid fellow, for delaying his happiness so long, 
 and to beg her as soon as possible to put an end to his 
 Robinson Crusoe sort of existence, by becoming a share- 
 holder with him in the sovereignty " of all he surveyed," 
 for he believed it would be more exciting and pleasur- 
 able if there was some one near him occasionally "his 
 right to dispute." So he set to work the very evening 
 he had formed this determination, and wrote and dis- 
 patched his letter, only making one promise in his own 
 mind as a salvo to his wounded conscience, viz. : that 
 every penny of the rental of the Virginia estates'should 
 be settled on his cousin when she became his wife. By 
 the mail which brought the letter to Miss Hawthorne, 
 there arrived one from Adolphusto me, informing me of 
 the desperate resolution at which he had arrived at last, 
 and begging me to meet his aunt and cousin at New 
 York, (for he had asked his aunt to accompany Juliet 
 to England on the interesting occasion,) and to render 
 them any aid that might he necessary, such as engaging
 
 THE ORPHAN'S WRONGS. 367 
 
 their passage in the steamer, seeingthem safely on board, 
 and so forth. A postscript informed that, the writer was 
 somewhat doubtful whether he had managed matters pro- 
 perly, and whether his cousin and aunt would accept the 
 invitation. "Indeed," he added, " he was not sure that 
 it was quite correct, after so long a courtship, to ask his 
 cousin to come to England for the purpose of being mar- 
 ried, and he had a strong suspicion that it would have 
 been more advisable, if he could have visited the United 
 States on the auspicious occasion, and there got the in- 
 dissoluble knot properly fastened ; considering his posi- 
 tion, however, as a young barrister who had still to 
 make his way in the world, this was impossible, as it 
 would in fact be suicidal to his future professional 
 prospects. This he had explained to his aunt and cousin, 
 and he hoped that when they came to take matters into 
 consideration, they would see at once, and acknowledge 
 the policy of his conclusions." 
 
 By the following mail, however, a batch of letters ar- 
 rived from Mr. Hughes, Adolphus, Greorgiana and her 
 husband, which put altogether another complexion on 
 the prospects of Adolphus. The long vexed chancery 
 suit had at length been suddenly, and as is usual in such 
 cases, quite at an unexpected moment, decided in favor 
 of the Fitzherberts, and Adolphus and his sister were in 
 possession of the wealth and estates which were their 
 birthright. 
 
 The letter from Adolphus was written in rather an 
 excited tone. It appeared that after he had set his mind 
 upon at once putting a termination to his protracted 
 courtship, by running his neck into the noose of matri- 
 mony, the usual doubts and fears common upon such 
 occasions, which had never troubled his mind before, 
 had seized upon his imagination. The more he had re- 
 flected upon it, the more fearful he had become of offend- 
 ing his cousin by asking her to visit England for the pur- 
 pose of being married, and he got into quite a fever of 
 anxiety regarding it. 
 
 However, a few days after he had sent his letter, he
 
 368 THE LAWYER'S STORY ; OR, 
 
 heard the good news of the decision of the chancery case, 
 and he had immediately written me a sensible letter, beg- 
 ging me to see his cousin, and if any demur should aii-e 
 about the propriety of her obeying his wishes, to tell her 
 that in the course of another month ; as soon as ever, in 
 the present position of his affairs, he could po?sibh' leave 
 England, he would come to the United States in [jrpr<a 
 persona, and marry her, and take her back t > England as 
 his wife. 
 
 Mrs. Lyman and Juliet were in New- York when I re- 
 ceived the last batch of letters, for they had immediately 
 left their residence in Virginia on receipt of Adolphus' 
 first letter. Mrs. Lyrnan was glad enough of another op- 
 portunity of again visiting her native land; and Juliet 
 I won't say whether she was glad or not although I 
 have my own ideas regarding that matter; but although 
 she professed to be a little offended at the dilatoriness of 
 her lover, and put on a few maidenly airs, on being re- 
 quested in this sultanlike manner ta come and throw 
 herself at the feet of her lord and master, as soon as ho 
 thought proper to call upon her to do so, she was a girl 
 of sterling good sense as well as of high spirit, and she 
 secretly acknowledged that he ought not to quit his 
 practice, and therefore as he could not come to America 
 to rnarry her, she determined to fulfil his desires and go 
 to England to marry him. Besides, she loved him very 
 much, and true love is willing to make all manner of 
 excuses in favor of the object of its affections. 
 
 The ladies, therefore, as I have said, being in Xew 
 York at the moment, and only waiting the sailing of the 
 English steamer, I showed them the letter written bv 
 Adolphus. Of course they were very glad to hear of his 
 good fortune, although I don't think it made a bit of dif- 
 ference in the feelings of Juliet. If anything, I think she 
 would rather they had been married before this last 
 stroke of good fortune had arrived. In fact, at first, on 
 perusing Adolphus' letter, I fancied that Miss Hawthorne 
 seemed half inclined to mount the same stilts that had 
 so long deferred the marriage on the part of Adolphus,
 
 THE OIIP II AX'S. WRONGS. 369 
 
 and in her turn to put obstacles in the way, now that he 
 was placed in so superior a position to herself with regard 
 to worldly wealth ; but women are always more seiif-iole 
 than men in these mutters, -and therefore she soon 
 smiled at her own absurdity, and the two ladies having 
 laughed together over the perturbation of the writer's 
 mind, evident in the tone and wording of the letter, 
 determined not to alter their arrangements, but to pro- 
 ceed at once to England, and set the hoping, doubting, 
 fearing lover's heart at rest. 
 
 A day or two after the receipt of these letters, they 
 sailed, and after the usual passage, arrived in England, 
 and met Adolphus at Liverpool, anxiously awaiting die 
 arrival of the steamer, for half hoping still, amidst his 
 doubts and fears that his cousin and aunt would be on 
 board, he had torn himself away from the multiplicity 
 of business matters relative to the estates which had de- 
 volved upon him, telling Mr. Hughes that he must posi- 
 tively take the management of everything into his own 
 hands, at least until he had seen or heard from his 
 cousin. 
 
 Of course the meeting at Liverpool was a very pleasing 
 and joyous one- on all hands, and the happy party hur- 
 ried up to London, where, a fortnight after, Adolphus 
 and Juliet were married at Saint Pancras church. 
 
 But little more remains to be told. Shortly after the 
 marriage of Adolphus, he and his sister, with Mr. 
 Hughes, visited the property together, leaving Juliet 
 under the care of Mr. Stan ton, in order to make such ar- 
 rangements for the future as were necessary and ad- 
 visable ; it was decided to erect a handsome manor house 
 upon the most eligible site ou the estates, Adolphus 
 having determined to make Huntingdonshire his coun- 
 try residence, and indeed his chief place of abode. It 
 was the first time that the brother and sister had seen 
 the estates; for while they were not sure that they would 
 ever legally belong to them, they had thought it advi- 
 sable not to build up hopes that might never be realized 
 by viewing and coveting the possession of the property.
 
 870 THE LAWYER'S STORY; OR, 
 
 It was on the occasion of this visit that they were first 
 introduced to the reader in the preface to this narrative, 
 although the reporters, as is too often the case with the 
 gentlemen of the press when anxious to make the most 
 of an item, made two or three grave errors ; for instance, 
 when Adolphus and his sister visited Hemingford, they 
 were not visiting in the character of "new contestants," 
 but as the owners of the property, and as to their having 
 "taken their departure very mysteriously," the mystery 
 existed only in the lively imagination of the reporter. 
 And as the most beautiful portion of the estates, and the 
 ground most adapted for the site of the proposed mansion 
 house, was in the vicinity of the village of Hemingford 
 Abbotts, their visit was made the occasion of great re- 
 joicing on the part of the simple and honest villagers ; 
 the church bells were rung merrily, and bonfires were 
 lighted in the village, and when the party arrived, they 
 found a large number of the village lads and lasses ar- 
 rayed in their holiday clothing, accompanied by a great 
 many of the village elders, marshalled in the road, who 
 greeted them with repeated cheers and huzzas, and while 
 the young folks scattered flowers and green branches 
 before the carriage, the elders pressed forward in the 
 hope of getting a smile or a nod, or word of kind ac- 
 knowledgment from the new squire and his sister. I 
 need not say that they succeeded. Adolphus and his 
 sister were only too happy to thank the kindhearted vil- 
 lagers for this spontaneous and genial welcome, and they 
 secretly determined that they, on their part, would do all 
 in their power to render them happy, and to improve 
 their condition. I don't know how many benevolent 
 projects were talked of that evening after they had re- 
 turned to the hotel in Huntingdon. Adolphus was to 
 obtain the services of a first-rate model farmer from Scot- 
 land, in order to afford his tenants every means of im- 
 proving the land by the practice of the' most scientific 
 and productive methods of farming; and schools, for 
 both adults and children, were to be establised imme- 
 diately under the especial superintendence of Georgiaua ;
 
 THE ORPHAN'S WRONGS. 371 
 
 and I don't know what was to be done besides ; while 
 good Mr. Hughes entered heartily into all their projects. 
 At all event?, if the place had heretofore, in consequence 
 of the heterogeneous method of its cultivation, borne 
 more the aspect of a wilderness than that of a rich range 
 of farms in a highly fertile county, they determined that 
 henceforward 
 
 " The wilderness should be made to smile." 
 
 There was the usual assemblage of village gos- 
 sippers in Dame Harris's cottage at Hemingford, that 
 evening, and loud were the praises of a new squire and 
 lady. 
 
 " They be the true gentlevoalks, at last, I reckon," 
 said a sturdy villager. " What say'st thou, Dame Har- 
 ris?" 
 
 " Eh, lad !" replied she who had been addressed, " I 
 know'd that as soon as I clapped eyes upon 'ern. There 
 warn't no stuck up airs about them, like in yon other 
 voalks, as was down here ayant, o' years gone by. 
 Didst see how kind t' lady smiled and nodded her head 
 to t' old voalks when they pressed up to t' carriage to 
 wish 'em joy and welcome? and they do say as how 
 they be a-going to build a foine house and live down 
 here, i' these pairts. I'm roight glad that my old eyes 
 has seen 'em ; for I be a getting old now, and that be 
 the truth." 
 
 Such conversation as this was going on in the village ; 
 while in the hotel in the town, those whose praises the 
 villagers were singing were, on their part, already study- 
 ing what they could do to benefit the tenantry among 
 whom they chiefly intended to reside, in future. It was 
 a foreshadowing of mutual good feeling on the part of 
 landlord and tenant, and of a mutual consideration of 
 each other's interests, which, if it were more universal, 
 would forever do away with all we hear of bitter feel- 
 ing between the wealthier and the poorer classes. The 
 world can never be equalized ; such an idea is contrary 
 to every law of nature, animate or inanimate contrary
 
 372 THE LAWYER'S STORY; OR, 
 
 to the will of Heaven, hereafter ; for there all are nor, 
 and will not be equal. " In my father's house are wa///// 
 mansions, I go to prepare a place for you," said our 
 Saviour when on earth ; thereby intimating that the 
 place prepared for each would be suited to their con- 
 dition there. Equality, therefore, cannot be essential to, 
 but rather detrimental to happiness, for all will be happy 
 in Heaven, although some will enjoy the higher favor 
 of a place at God's right hand. 
 
 How monotonous would be the events of this earth! 
 to what a condition of inanity should we speedily be 
 reduced, were everything in nature equalized ? every 
 spur to industry, every incentive to achieve honorable 
 distinction, would speedily become dormant; but, tho- 
 rough equality cannot be the wealthy and the poor 
 should each study the interests of the other, yet there 
 should be no impassable social barrier all should ac- 
 knowledge their mutual dependence, and then, were this 
 the case, mankind would cease to lament the unequal 
 distribution of this world's goods. 
 
 Mr. Fitzherbert and Mrs. Stanton returned to London 
 with Mr. Hughes in the course of a few days, having 
 previously arranged that the contemplated improve- 
 ments of the property should immediately go into ope- 
 ration, and there I shall leave them, wishing them, 
 henceforward, all the happiness and prosperity they 
 deserve. 
 
 A clause in the deed of gift provided that each and 
 all of the children of Herbert Fitzherbert should share 
 in the property to an equal degree, after his decease, 
 and it was on account of this clause that it was necessary 
 that Adolphus and his sister should jointly sue for the 
 possession. 
 
 Thus, Mrs. Stanton and Mr. Fitzherbert found them- 
 selves the possessors of ample fortunes, that of Adol- 
 phus being still further increased by the American, 
 property, which had been the inheritance of Juliet. 
 Of course they both gave up the practice of the law,
 
 THE ORPHAN'S WRONGS. 873 
 
 although neither regretted having studied the profes- 
 sion. 
 
 Mr. Hughes was formally installed as the law agent 
 of both gentlemen, and the post, as he had formerly 
 jocularly asserted, was a very lucrative one, and added 
 considerably to his already ample and honorably earned 
 income. 
 
 I have only, in concluding my narrative, to add a few 
 words relative to one or two other individuals who have 
 figured in it, and my task is ended. 
 
 Sister Maria, who had acted so generously to Geor- 
 giana, was sadly persecuted on account of the part she 
 had played in effecting her escape, which, somehow or 
 other, became known to her superiors, and at length, 
 on hearing of the good fortune of the brother and sister, 
 she fled to England. She had some time before abjured 
 the Catholic faith, and was immediately installed as 
 housekeeper in Mr. Stanton's family. 
 
 The Countess of Tivoli late Abbess of St. Euphemia, 
 as I have heretofore stated died shortly after the para- 
 lytic seizure I have spoken of. Her last moments were- 
 soothed by her beloved niece, Lady Mary, now Countess 
 of l>ellona. Lady Mary still passes a great deal of her time 
 in England, and her friendship for Georgians continues 
 unabated. 
 
 Jacob, I believe, still continues to lend money to 
 Christians in distress, but is more than ever careful of 
 the " sccuritish." As to old Mordecai, he died in his 
 office, seated in the very spot where he has more than 
 <>iie<; been introduced to the reader. He had become 
 fairly worn out with old age ; driveling in second child- 
 hood, and lending money on security, in imagination, to 
 the very last hour of his long spun out and sordid life. 
 
 Father Anselmo is now very aged and infirm, but the 
 good old man still remains at Alton Castle, strict in the 
 performance of his religious duties, and he is loved and 
 respected by everybody in the neighborhood. Mr. 
 Hurley, the agent who acted for Gripes and Cheatem in 
 Philadelphia, as recorded at the commencement of this
 
 374 THE LAWYER'S STORY. 
 
 narrative, was recently convicted of forgery and trans- 
 ported for life. Poor Wilkins, the man of all work for 
 the rascal Cheatem, was taken in hand by Mr. Hughes, 
 after Cheatem had left England, he studied for an attor- 
 ney, and succeeded to all Cheatem's honest legal practice, 
 and a good deal more besides, while he refused to hold 
 any further communication with Gripes. He is doing 
 well, and only laments, poor fellow ! that his wife is 
 not living to share in his prosperity as she did in his 
 adversity. Gripes died of apoplexy about two years 
 ago. He had accumulated a large fortune, and despite 
 his evil life, the tombstone erected over his remains 
 tells the passer by of the many virtues of him whose 
 bones lie mouldering beneath. Perhaps it is all the 
 worse for him that his evil deeds were not visited with 
 just punishment in this life; but as I have said, we should 
 not judge our fellow man after death, and I will, there- 
 fore, forbear to do so. 
 
 And now, my readers, you who have followed me 
 patiently through from the commencement of my nar- 
 rative, to the end, I bid you, one and all, farewell, trust- 
 ing that you will look with a lenient eye upon the many 
 blemishes and demerits of my tale, and still hoping 
 that you have received as much pleasure in reading as 
 I have in inditing THE LAWYER'S STORY. 
 
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