At the same time it was equally evident that he must stand out for terms. Mud had been thrown; and while there had been no specific charges, there had been dark hints of monstrous crimes. It was necessary, therefore, to insist that Lady Byron should give "a positive disavowal of all the grosser charges" which had been suggested without being positively preferred; and Hobhouse proceeded to continue the negotiations on those lines. There were, in fact, two "gross" charges to be faced. One of these concerned Mrs. Leigh, and the other did not. On the nature of the latter charge it is quite superfluous to speculate. Whatever it may have been, no evidence was offered in support of it at the time, and no evidence bearing on it has since been brought to light. It was not maintained; it was not revived; it has been forgotten. The rules of controversy not only warrant us in passing it over, but bid us do so. The Byron mystery, wherever it may be, is not there. Though all the "gross" charges had, at the moment, to be dealt with collectively, the only charge which mattered was the charge in which Mrs. Leigh was involved. Lady Byron, when challenged with the charges, at first equivocated. She was quite willing, she said, to declare that the rumours indicated "had not emanated from her or from her family." That, naturally, was not good enough for Byron and his friends. What they required was that Lady Byron should state "not only that the rumours did not originate with her or her family, but that the charges which they involved made no part of her charges against Lord Byron." A statement to that effect was drawn up for her to sign, and she signed it. The signed statement, witnessed by Byron's cousin, Wilmot Horton, was shown to Hobhouse, and was left in Wilmot Horton's hands until the settlement should be completed. The Byron mystery, such as it is, or was, only exists--or existed--because Byron and Wilmot Horton fell out, and the latter, withdrawing from the negotiations, mislaid or lost the document. That Lady Byron did sign the document, however, and that its contents were as stated, no doubt whatever can be entertained. Hobhouse's subsequent evidence on the subject is supported by the correspondence which passed at the time. He referred to the document, with full particularity, in a letter which he wrote Lady Byron, and which has been published; and Lady Byron, in her answer, did not deny either that she had signed, or that she was bound by its contents. The trouble arose because, after having signed it, she behaved as if she had not done so, and, by her conduct, gave the lie to her pledged word that "neither of the specified charges would have formed part of her allegations if she had come into Court."