“Still this would only serve to protract matters—they 'd bring another action.”
“Of course they would, and Kelson has money!”
“I declare I see no benefit in continuing a hopeless contest.”
“Don't be hopeless then, that's the remedy.”
Bramleigh made a slight gesture of impatience, and slight as it was, Sedley observed it.
“You have never treated this case as your father would have done, Mr. Bramleigh. He had a rare spirit to face a contest. I remember one day hinting to him that if this claim could be backed by money it would be a very formidable suit, and his answer was:—'When I strike my flag, Sedley, the enemy will find the prize was scarcely worth fighting for.' I knew what he meant was, he 'd have mortgaged the estate to every shilling of its value, before there arose a question of his title.”
“I don't believe it, sir; I tell you to your face I don't believe it,” cried Bramleigh, passionately. “My father was a man of honor, and never would have descended to such duplicity.”
“My dear sir, I have not come twelve hundred miles to discuss a question in ethics, nor will I risk myself in a discussion with you. I repeat, sir, that had your father lived to meet this contention, we should not have found ourselves where we are to-day. Your father was a man of considerable capacity, Mr. Bramleigh. He conducted a large and important house with consummate skill; brought up his family handsomely; and had he been spared, would have seen every one of them in positions of honor and consequence.”
“To every word in his praise I subscribe heartily and gratefully;” and there was a tremor in his voice as Bramleigh spoke.
“He has been spared a sad spectacle, I must say,” continued Sedley. “With the exception of your sister who married that Viscount, ruin—there's only one word for it—ruin has fallen upon you all.”