'
'And what became of the money?' I asked, whereupon once more this
genial nobleman laughed. 'That is exactly what I came up in the lift
to learn if Monsieur Valmont could discover.'
'My lord, you interest me,' I said, quite truly, with an uneasy
apprehension that I should take up his case after all, for I liked the
young man already. His lack of pretence appealed to me, and that
sympathy which is so universal among my countrymen enveloped him, as I
may say, quite independent of my own will.
'My uncle,' went on Lord Chizelrigg, 'was somewhat of an anomaly in
our family. He must have been a reversal to a very, very ancient type;
a type of which we have no record. He was as miserly as his
forefathers were prodigal. When he came into the title and estate some
twenty years ago, he dismissed the whole retinue of servants, and,
indeed, was defendant in several cases at law where retainers of our
family brought suit against him for wrongful dismissal, or dismissal
without a penny compensation in lieu of notice. I am pleased to say he
lost all his cases, and when he pleaded poverty, got permission to
sell a certain number of heirlooms, enabling him to make compensation,
and giving him something on which to live.
Pages:
141
142
143
144
145
146
147
148
149
150
151
152
153
154
155
156
157
158
159
160
161
162
163
164
165