When Harry grew up, and went into the army, your
grandfather wasn't so satisfied with what he had done. 'Here's a fine
property going to sharpers and tailors and Italian singing-women,' he
used to say; and he felt baddish about it. And yet he loved Squire
William, as he had loved his father, and Mistress Alice and Harry and
Sophia and Charlotte; why, he thought of them like his own flesh and
blood. And he could not bear to undo his kindness. And he could not bear
to tell Squire William the truth, for he knew well that he would undo
it. So one day he sent for Lawyer Moser; and the two of them together
found out a plan that seemed fair, for both Sandal and Latrigg.
"You were to remain Stephen Latrigg, unless it was to ward off wrong or
ruin in Sandal-Side. But if ever the day came when Sandal needed
Latrigg, you were to claim your right, and stand up for Sandal. Such a
state of things as Harry brought about, my father never dreamed of. He
would not have been able to think of a man selling away his right to a
place like Seat-Sandal; and among all the villains he ever knew, or
heard tell of, he couldn't have picked out one to lead him to such a
villain as Julius Sandal. So, you see, he left no special directions for
such a case, and I was a bit feared to move in too big a hurry; and,
maybe, I was a bit of a coward about setting every tongue in Sandal-Side
talking about me and my bygone days.
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