Chapter 8 - Page 2

his power never to put an acre of it in danger; but it
would represent so much capital in the eyes of the men with whom he
had to count sovereigns.

And in his suspense he was half angry with Elizabeth. He thought she
must divine his feelings, and might say a word which would relieve
them, if she chose. He watched Richard jealously. He was sure that
Richard would be averse to his future wife relinquishing any of her
rights, and he could scarcely restrain the bitterness of his thoughts
when he imagined Richard master of Hallam. And Richard, quite innocent
of any such dream, preserved a calmness of manner, which Antony took
to be positive proof of his satisfaction with affairs.

At length the funeral was over, and the will of the late squire made
known. It was an absolute and bitter disappointment to Antony. "A
good-will remembrance" of L1,000 was all that was left him; excepting
the clause which enjoined Elizabeth to resell Hallam to him for
L50,000, "if it seem reasonable and right so to do." Elizabeth was in
full possession and her father had taken every precaution to secure her
rights, leaving her also practically unfettered as to the final
disposition of the property.

But her situation was extremely painful, and many openly sympathized
with Antony. "To leave such a bit o' property as Hallam to a lass!"
was against every popular tradition and feeling. Antony was regarded
as a wronged man; and Richard as a plotting interloper, who added to
all his other faults the unpardonable one of being a foreigner, "with
a name that no Yorkshireman iver did hev?" This public sympathy, which
he could see in every face and feel in every hand-shake, somewhat
consoled Antony for the indifference his wife manifested on the
subject.

"If you sold your right, you sold it," she said, coldly; "it was a
strange thing to do, but then you turn every thing into money."

But to Elizabeth and Richard he manifested no ill-will. "Both of them
might yet be of service to him;" for Antony was inclined to regard
every one as a tool, which, for some purpose or other, he might want
in the future.

He went back to London an anxious and disappointed man. There was also
in the disappointment an element of humiliation. A large proportion
of his London friends were unaware of his true position; and when,
naturally enough, he was congratulated on his supposed accession to
the Hallam property, he was obliged to decline the honor. There was
for a few days a deal of talk in the clubs and exchanges on the
subject, and many suppositions which were not all kindly ones. Such
gossip in a city lasts but a week; but, unfortunately, the influence is
far more