His first brief was a success.
His second, and more difficult one, was a still greater victory.
His third, and most important, was the greatest triumph of the three.
And from this time the high road to fame and fortune was open to him.
The astonishing rapidity of his rise was explained in various ways by different persons.
Emma Cavendish, who loved and esteemed him, ascribed his great prosperity to his own splendid talents alone.
Alden Lytton himself, full of filial respect, attributed it to the prestige of his late father's distinguished name.
And the briefless young lawyers, his unsuccessful rivals at the bar, credited it to the "loud" advertisement afforded by his handsome office and the general appearance of wealth and prosperity that surrounded him.
No doubt they were all right and—all wrong.
Not one of these circumstances taken alone could have secured the young barrister's success. Neither his own talents nor his father's name, nor the costly appointments of his office, could have done it; yet each contributed something, and all together they combined to insure his rapid advancement in his profession.