Domestic fiction; Fathers and sons -- Fiction; Hertfordshire (England) -- Fiction; Inheritance and succession -- Fiction
And in truth he had done much for Augustus. For years past it had been
his object to leave to his second son as much as would come to his
first. He had continued to put money by for him, instead of spending his
income on himself.
Of this Mr. Grey had known much, but had said nothing when he was
speaking those severe words which Mr. Scarborough had always contrived
to receive with laughter. But he had felt their injustice, though he had
himself ridiculed the idea of law. There had been the two sons, both
born from the same mother, and he had willed that they should be both
rich men, living among the foremost of their fellowmen, and the
circumstances of the property would have helped him. The income from
year to year went on increasing.
The water-mills of Tretton and the town of Tretton had grown and been
expanded within his domain, and the management of the sales in Mr.
Grey's hands had been judicious. The revenues were double now what they
had been when Mr. Scarborough first inherited it. It was all, no doubt,
entailed, but for twenty years he had enjoyed the power of accumulating
a sum of money for his second son's sake,--or would have enjoyed it, had
not the accumulation been taken from him to pay Mountjoy's debts. It was
in vain that he attempted to make Mountjoy responsible for the money.
Mountjoy's debts, and irregularities, and gambling went on, till Mr.
Scarborough found himself bound to dethrone the illegitimate son, and to
place the legitimate in his proper position.
In doing the deed he had not suffered much, though the circumstances
which had led to the doing of it had been full of pain. There had been
an actual pleasure to him in thus showing himself to be superior to the
conventionalities of the world. There was Augustus still ready to occupy
the position to which he had in truth been born. And at the moment
Mountjoy had gone--he knew not where. There had been gambling debts
which, coming as they did after many others, he had refused to pay. He
himself was dying at the moment, as he thought. It would be better for
him to take up with Augustus. Mountjoy he must leave to his fate. For
such a son, so reckless, so incurable, so hopeless, it was impossible
that anything farther should be done. He would at least enjoy the power
of leaving those wretched creditors without their money. There would be
some triumph, some consolation, in that. So he had done, and now his
heir turned against him!
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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