He was a very able man; clear-headed, cautious, experienced, and singularly prompt and determined, when once he had resolved on any course of proceeding: in short, he was quite capable of contending against even such a formidable opponent as Gammon, subtle, tortuous, and unscrupulous though he might be. "Let me once get hold of Master Gammon—that's all!"—thought, very frequently, Mr. Runnington. Now, the astounding avowal which Miss Aubrey represented Mr. Gammon as having made to her, in his insane attempt to prevail upon her to entertain his addresses—viz. that he possessed the power of immediately, and by legal means, displacing Mr. Titmouse, and repossessing Mr. Aubrey, of Yatton—had made a profound impression on the mind of Mr. Runnington. The more that he reflected upon the incident—and upon the character of Mr. Gammon, the stronger became his conviction that Mr. Gammon had been in earnest in what he had said; that there was a foundation in fact for his assertion; and that if so, some scheme of profound and infernal wickedness must have been had recourse to, in order to dispossess Mr. Aubrey of Yatton, and place Titmouse there in his stead. Then Mr. Runnington adverted, in his own mind, to the circumstance of Mr. Gammon's exercising such a constant interference and control over Titmouse, and all matters connected with Yatton. Mr. Runnington many and many a time pondered these things in his mind—but was, after all, completely at a loss to know what steps to take, and how to deal with the affair, as it stood. Then again, with reference to the death of Lady Stratton, and the melancholy circumstances attending it, Mr. Runnington had entered into a correspondence with Mr. Parkinson, with a view to ascertaining the chances there were, of procuring his draft of Lady Stratton's will, to be admitted to probate; and laid the whole affair, in the shape of a "case," before an eminent practitioner in the ecclesiastical court. The opinion he thus obtained, was, however, adverse; mainly, on the ground that there was clearly evidence to show a subsequent essential alteration of intention on the part of Lady Stratton—to say nothing of certain other difficulties which, the fee marked being a very handsome one, were suggested by the astute civilian. Mr. Runnington was much chagrined at this result; and abandoned his design of seriously contesting Mr. Titmouse's claim to administration. It could, however, he thought, do no harm if he were just to lodge a caveat, even though he should there leave the matter. It might have the effect of interposing some delay; staving off any contemplated proceedings upon the bond which Mr. Aubrey had given to the late Lady Stratton; and afford an opportunity for negotiation concerning the payment of Mr. Aubrey and Miss Aubrey's shares of the property of the intestate. This step, therefore, he took—and was by no means chagrined at finding, some short time afterwards, that the Vulture Company were bent on pursuing their ordinary course, in cases of policies which rendered it worth their while, viz. not paying till they were forced to do so:—and the Company, in their turn, were only too happy to find that there was a chance of a protracted dispute concerning the right to the policy. Not satisfied with this—still haunted by Mr. Gammon's mysterious statement to Miss Aubrey—it all at once occurred to Mr. Runnington, in the course of one of his many meditations upon the subject, to take an opportunity of discussing the affair, in all its bearings, with Sir Charles Wolstenholme, whose penetrating, practical sagacity, sharpened by his zeal and sympathy, might hit upon something or other undiscernible to Mr. Runnington. Without having intimated his intentions to Mr. Aubrey, Mr. Runnington, shortly after having lodged his caveat, succeeded in obtaining an interview with Sir Charles, expressly with a view of talking over the affairs of the unfortunate Mr. Aubrey.
"God bless my soul!" cried Sir Charles, in a tone of wonder, as soon as Mr. Runnington had mentioned the statement of Mr. Gammon to Miss Aubrey, and the circumstances accompanying it. In short, it was clear that Sir Charles was every whit as much struck with the fact as had been Mr. Runnington; and for some minutes after Mr. Runnington had named it, seemed lost in thought. A considerable pause here ensued in their conversation; and Mr. Runnington was quite delighted to see his distinguished companion evidently engaged in turning about the facts of the case in his clear and powerful understanding; viewing them from every point in which they could be contemplated, and in all their bearings.
"It's very likely, I am disposed to think, that the fellow was in earnest," at length said Sir Charles; "at all events that he believed he had the power which he professed to possess; and that he was hurried away into prematurely disclosing it. Egad, he's a nice person, that Gammon, too, by the way, to think of his proposing to sweet, pretty Miss Aubrey—ah, hah," he added with a faint but contemptuous smile; and presently subjoined in a musing sort of way—"I've got the general facts that came out at the trial still pretty fresh in my mind, and I've been just running over the links in his chain of proof. 'Gad! we could hardly have failed to detect a hitch, if there had been one! Link by link we went over it—and were long enough about it, at any rate! I can conceive too, that in a case of that sort there was room for a little bit of perjury, if it were cleverly managed; and Mr. Gammon is a clever man! By the way, I'm actually going down special for him to York, in that bribery case, ah, hah! Ay," he presently resumed, "I suspect that one or two of the links in that chain of his must have been of base metal. Devil take him! he must have done it well, too!" He smiled bitterly.
"If that's your impression, Sir Charles," said Mr. Runnington, eagerly, "what do you think of having a shot at them—a second ejectment!"
"Oh, by Heaven! that's an awful affair!" replied Sir Charles, shaking his head, and looking very serious; "besides, what he's done once, he may do again."
"Ah, but we know all his witnesses now beforehand! Then we fought him in the dark; but now"——
"Ay, there's something in that, certainly," said Sir Charles, musingly; "but then 't is such a frightful expense; and where poor Aubrey's to get the means"——
"Oh, never mind that, Sir Charles!" replied Mr. Runnington, nevertheless somewhat seriously; but thinking of Lord De la Zouch, he added rather briskly—"If you only intimate an opinion favorable towards venturing the experiment, I'll undertake that funds shall be forthcoming."
While Mr. Runnington was saying this, Sir Charles Wolstenholme sat leaning back in his chair, his head inclined on one side, the fingers of one hand playing mechanically with his chin; in fact, he was deeply engaged in thought, and Mr. Runnington did not interrupt him.