'I tell you again, I am convinced the attorney _believes_ it. He did not say so, indeed; but, cunning as he is, I think I've quite seen through his plot; and even in what he said to me, there was something that half betrayed him every moment. And, Dolly, if you allow this sale, you deserve the ruin you are inviting, and the remorse that will follow you to your grave.' 'Do you hear that, Willie?' said Dolly, with her hand on his arm. 'But, dear, it is too late--I _have_ signed this--this instrument--and it is too late. I hope--God help me--I have not done wrong. Indeed, whatever happens, dear Miss Lake, may Heaven for ever bless you. But respecting good Mr. Larkin, you are, indeed, in error; I am sure you have quite misunderstood him. You don't know how kind--how _disinterestedly_ good he has been; and _now_, my dear Miss Lake, it is too late--_quite_ too late.' 'No; it is _not_ too late. Such wickedness as that cannot be lawful--I won't believe the law allows it,' cried Rachel Lake. 'It is all a fraud--even if you have signed--all a fraud. You must procure able advice at once. Your enemy is that dreadful Mr. Larkin. Write to some good attorney in London. I'll pay everything.' 'But, dear Miss Lake, I can't,' said the vicar, dejectedly; 'I am bound in honour and conscience not to disturb it--I have written to Messrs. Burlington and Smith to that effect. I assure you, dear Miss Lake, we have not acted inconsiderately--nothing has been done without careful and deep consideration.' 'You _must_ employ an able attorney immediately. You have been duped. Your little boy must not be ruined.' 'But--but I do assure you, I have so pledged myself by the letter I have mentioned, that I _could_ not--no, it is _quite impossible_,' he added, as he recollected the strong and pointed terms in which he had pledged his honour and conscience to the London firm, to guarantee them against any such disturbance as Miss Lake was urging him to attempt. 'I am going into the town, Dolly, and so are you,' said Rachel, after a little pause. 'Let us go together.' And to this Dolly readily assented; and the vicar, evidently much troubled in mind, having run up to the nursery to see his little man, the two ladies set out together. Rachel saw that she had made an impression upon Dolly, and was resolved to carry her point. So, in earnest terms, again she conjured her, at least, to lay the whole matter before some friend on whom she could rely; and Dolly, alarmed and eager, quite agreed with Rachel, that the sale must be stopped, and she would do whatever dear Rachel bid her. 'But do you think Mr. Larkin really supposes that poor Mark is dead?' 'I do, dear--I suspect he knows it.' 'And what makes you think that, Rachel, darling?' 'I can't define--I've no proofs to give you. One knows things, sometimes. I perceived it--and I think I can't be mistaken; and now I've said all, and pray ask me no more upon that point.'