CHAPTER II.
A NOBLE RESOLVE NOBLY CARRIED OUT.
It was morning. Walter Vaughan and his heir were partaking of an early meal before going to the chase. Just previous to their departure, “faithful Evan,” as he was called by the neighbours, entered the hall, and handed his master a letter, which he received with a trembling hand. Mr. Vaughan hastily broke the seal, and commenced perusing its contents, but before he had concluded its perusal, he became as pale as death, he shook like an aspen leaf, and his hand trembled violently. The young lord, seeing his father’s distress and mental agony, became seriously alarmed, and, in a paroxysm of anguish and grief, exclaimed in weeping tones:—
“Oh, father, my dear and fond parent! what is the matter? Are you ill?”
“My boy,” replied the lord, “I am a ruined man!”
“Yes, completely and, I fear, irretrievably ruined.”
“How, and by what means has so great a calamity befallen you?”
“This I will explain in a few words. Some time ago I placed my affairs in the hands of an attorney, whom I then believed to be an honest man. He has, however, proved himself to be a faithless friend and an arrant rogue. This is his letter, in which he informs me that the lawsuit has been decided in favour of my opponent, who is my bitterest foe. This vagabond lawyer further tells me, that the costs are so enormous that I shall be compelled to sell my estates in order to meet the liability. He even doubts whether the castle and manor of Dunraven will realize sufficient, over and above the present encumbrance, to meet the debt.”
“But you need not, dear father, dispose of the estate to satisfy the claims of these lawyers. There is the twenty thousand pounds my uncle left me in the bank. I will send an authority to the manager to pay you that sum. Surely, that will be sufficient to meet all claims.”
“My dear and noble-hearted boy, it almost breaks my heart to be obliged to tell you that your money, even to the last shilling, has already been spent.”