'And let me ask, my lord, if I may presume, whether, in what you suggested by the word fraud, your lordship had any particular meaning?' said St. Dennis.
'A very particular meaning, sir,—feel in your pocket for the key of this widow's house, and deliver it to her.'
'Oh, if that's all the meaning, with all the pleasure in life. I never meant to detain it longer than till the leases were signed,' said St. Dennis.
'And I'm ready to sign the leases this minute,' said the brother.
'Do it, sir, this minute; I have read them; I will be answerable to my father.'
'Oh, as to that, my lord, I have power to sign for your father.' He signed the leases; they were duly witnessed by Lord Colambre.
'I deliver this as my act and deed,' said Mr. Garraghty;—'My lord,' continued he, 'you see, at the first word from you; and had I known sooner the interest you took in the family, there would have been no difficulty; for I'd make it a principle to oblige you, my lord.'
'Oblige me!' said Lord Colambre, with disdain.
'But when gentlemen and noblemen travel INCOGNITO, and lodge in cabins,' added St. Dennis, with a satanic smile, glancing his eye on Grace, 'they have good reasons, no doubt.'
'Do not judge my heart by your own, sir,' said Lord Colambre, coolly; 'no two things in nature can, I trust, be more different. My purpose in travelling INCOGNITO has been fully answered: I was determined to see and judge how my father's estates were managed; and I have seen, compared, and judged. I have seen the difference between the Clonbrony and the Colambre property; and I shall represent what I have seen to my father.'