The disguised lady had now time for reflection. She had been more or less prepared for the assertion of Mr. Stephens that Eliza Sydney was dead, and that Walter was living:--but the bare-faced falsehood uttered by Mac Chizzle (who, so far from having been acquainted with her for years, had never seen her until that morning), shocked and astounded her. She had also just learnt for the first time, that her late mother was the natural daughter of an Earl; and she perceived that she herself could claim a distant kinship with the nobleman in whose presence she then was. This circumstance inspired her with feelings in his favour, which were enhanced by the urbanity of his manners, and the readiness with which he admitted all the proofs submitted to him by Mr. Stephens. She had expected, from the arguments used by this gentleman to convince her that she should not hesitate to fight the law with its own weapons, &c., that every obstacle would be thrown in the way of her claims by him on whom they were to be made;--and she was astonished when she compared all the specious representations of Stephens with the readiness, good-will, and alacrity manifested by the Earl in yielding up an enormous sum of money. Now also, for the first time, it struck her as remarkable that Stephens had promised her ten thousand pounds only--a fourth part of that amount to which, according to his own showing, she alone was justly entitled. All these reflections passed rapidly through her mind while the lawyer was reading the deed of release, not one word of which was attended to by her. She suddenly felt as if her eyes were opened to a fearful conspiracy, in which she was playing a conspicuous part:--she trembled, as if she were standing upon the edge of a precipice;--and yet she knew not how to act. She was bewildered: but the uppermost idea in her mind was that she had gone too far to retreat. This was the impression that ruled her thoughts at the precise moment when Mr. Pakenham brought the reading of the long wearisome document to a termination. The buzzing, droning noise which had filled her ears for upwards of twenty minutes, suddenly ceased;--and she heard a voice say in a kind tone. "Will you now please to sign this?" She started--but immediately recovered her presence of mind, and, taking the pen from the lawyer's hand, applied the signature of _Walter Sydney_ to the document. It was next witnessed by Pakenham, Stephens, and Mac Chizzle, and handed to the Earl. The nobleman then took several papers--familiar to all those who have ever possessed Bank Stock--from an iron safe in one corner of the library, and handing them to the disguised lady, said, "Mr. Walter Sydney, I have much pleasure in putting you in possession of this fortune; and I can assure you that my best--my very best wishes for your health and prosperity, accompany the transfer." Walter received the documents mechanically as it were, and murmured a few words of thanks and gratitude.