Moreover, since war had been declared between the two schoolfellows, Maunders would undoubtedly make himself disagreeable in any case. Already, acting treacherously, he had informed Lady Corsoon of the way in which Vernon earned his money, and it was probable that now he would inform others. Of course, the young man wished to prevent this, for, in spite of his defence of his profession, he was aware that the world does not look amiably on one who lives by learning the secrets of weak humanity, even when the aim is to preserve those same secrets from use by villains. But the difficulty was to seal Maunders' mouth, as the moment he noticed--and he certainly would, speedily--that Vernon was favoured by Lady Corsoon, he would spread the scandal with a zeal born of the knowledge that his empire was slipping from him. Also, he would strive to intimidate Lady Corsoon more openly, and it could not be denied but what her position towards her aggressively upright husband was a delicate one. Thus Maunders was the enemy both of Lady Corsoon and of Vernon: to crush him they therefore formed a secret partnership. In this unity lay their strength. The weapon Vernon proposed to use towards his dangerous foe was that supplied by the chance remark of Lady Corsoon that Maunders might be The Spider. When she departed with the assurance that there was nothing to be afraid of for at least one month, Vernon sat silently in his chair, thinking over what had been said. After all, it did not seem impossible that Maunders should be this arch-scoundrel, for whom the police were so eagerly seeking. To Vernon's own knowledge, the young man did not receive large sums from Mrs. Bedge, and he had no other source of income. Yet, as Vernon had seen, he contrived to live like a prince on nothing a year. Perhaps, like the amiable and talented Mrs. Rawdon Crawley, he managed to keep up his princely appearance by spending other people's money--that is, by getting deeply into debt. But Vernon knew that Maunders did not owe one penny.