"Never speak of her again!" cried the Squire, fiercely. "And as to that ungrateful boy--but I don't mean to behave harshly to him--he shall have money enough to keep her if he likes--keep her from coming to me--keep him, too, from counting on my death, and borrowing post-obits on the Casino--for he'll be doing that next--no, I hope I wrong him there; I have been too good a father for him to count on my death already. After all," continued the Squire, beginning to relax, "as Audley says, the marriage is not yet made; and if the woman has taken him in, he is young, and his heart is warm. Make yourself easy, my boy. I don't forget how kindly you took his part; and before I do any thing rash, I'll at least take advice with his poor mother." Randal gnawed his pale lip, and a momentary cloud of disappointment passed over his face. "True, sir," said he, gently; "true, you must not be rash. Indeed, I was thinking of you and poor dear Frank at the very moment I met you. It occurred to me whether we might not make Frank's very embarrassments a reason to induce Madame di Negra to refuse him; and I was on my way to Mr. Egerton, in order to ask his opinion, in company with the gentleman yonder." "Gentleman yonder? Why should he thrust his long nose into my family affairs? Who the devil is he?" "Don't ask, sir. Pray let me act." But the Squire continued to eye askant the dark-whiskered personage thus thrust between himself and his son, and who waited patiently a few yards in the rear, carelessly readjusting the camellia in his button-hole. "He looks very outlandish. Is he a foreigner, too?" asked the Squire, at last. "No, not exactly. However, he knows all about Frank's embarrassments; and--" "Embarrassments! what, the debt he paid for that woman? How did he raise the money?" "I don't know," answered Randal; "and that is the reason I asked Baron Levy to accompany me to Egerton's, that he might explain in private what I have no reason--" "Baron Levy!" interrupted the Squire. "Levy, Levy--I have heard of a Levy who has nearly ruined my neighbor, Thornhill--a money-lender. Zounds! is that the man who knows my son's affairs? I'll soon learn, sir." Randal caught hold of the Squire's arm: "Stop, stop; if you really insist upon learning more about Frank's debts, you must not appeal to Baron Levy directly, and as Frank's father; he will not answer you. But if I present you to him as a mere acquaintance of mine, and turn the conversation, as if carelessly, upon Frank--why, since, in the London world, such matters are never kept secret except from the parents of young men--I have no doubt he will talk out openly." "Manage it as you will," said the Squire. Randal took Mr. Hazeldean's arm, and joined Levy--"A friend of mine from the country, Baron." Levy bowed profoundly, and the three walked slowly on.