Chapter XIII

[The Reverend Arthur Warrington writes in all haste to his Solicitor, Mr. James Frogg, of Serjeant’s Inn, Strand.]

St. Philip’s, Lowestoft,
Feast of St. Alphonsus.

James Frogg, Esq.

Dear Mr. Frogg,--I am writing in much haste to inform you that my cousin, Henry Gastonard, has returned from Paris, and has had the effrontery to come here.

I trust I am not lacking in charity, nor harder than my fellows, but the life this young man has led in Paris makes him no fit companion for my wife, who, I regret to say, appears to have taken a fancy to him, and insists upon his remaining with us.

I write, therefore, to ask you if this will imperil in any way my hopes under the will of Martha’s uncle; are we doing right to have Henry here, and is there any possibility of the judges construing this as a consent upon my part to any division of the valuable property? Please inform me at once that I may convince Mrs. Warrington of her folly, and put an end to this foolish infatuation.--Dear Mr. Frogg, yours very faithfully,

Arthur Warrington.