"No, not I, and don't fancy doing so either, yet I own that a fortune would be a strong temptation. But, I say, lad, if it's a great chance, why do you hand it over to me? Why not try for it yourself? It's not your sister, surely?"
"No, indeed; you're not precisely the sort of brother-in-law I should choose," returned the boy, with a bitter, mocking laugh. "But stay, don't be insulted"--for his companion had drawn himself up with an air of offended pride--"the lady in question is but a step farther from me; she is my brother's daughter."
"Eh! you don't say? A mere child, then, I presume."
"Eighteen, handsome as a picture, as the saying is, and only too sweet-tempered for my taste."
"And rich you say? that is her father's wealthy, eh?"
"Yes, he's one of the richest men in our county, but she has a fortune in her own right, over a million at the very lowest computation."
"It's true, true as preaching. You wonder that I should be so willing to help you to get her. Well, I owe her a grudge, I see no other way to get out of your clutches, and I shall put you in the way of making her acquaintance only on condition that if you succeed we share the spoils."
"Agreed. Now for the modus operandi. You tell me her whereabouts and provide me with a letter of introduction, eh?"
"No; on the contrary, you are carefully to conceal the fact that you have the slightest knowledge of me. The introduction must come from quite another quarter. Listen, and I'll communicate the facts and unfold my plan. It has been running in my head for weeks, ever since I heard that the girl was to spend the summer in the North with nobody but an old maiden aunt, half-cracked at that, to keep guard over her; but I couldn't quite make up my mind to it till to-night, for you must see, Tom," he added with a forced laugh, "that it can't be exactly delightful to my family pride to think of bringing such a dissipated fellow as you into the connection."
"Better look at home, lad. But you are right; one such scamp is, or ought to be, all-sufficient for one family."
Arthur said, "Certainly," but winced at the insinuation nevertheless. It was not a pleasant reflection that his vices had brought him down to a level with this man who lived by his wits--or perhaps more correctly speaking, his rascalities--of whose antecedents he knew nothing and whom, with his haughty Southern pride, he thoroughly despised.