esidder sees
that if she marries you, you will be owner of Trevose, and will thus be
able, under your grandfather's curious will, to oust him from
Pennington. He is naturally fighting for his hand; ay, and will to the
end. You may call him a villain if you like, but his course is almost
natural. The fact is, the old lady was, and is, ambitious for her
family, and all of them love money, dearly love it. This explains their
actions. Mark, I will admit that the whole lot of them have stained
their honour to get their way, but not more than most others would have
done had they been similarly circumstanced."

Lawyer Trefry walked up and down his office as he said this, and seemed
to be speaking partly to himself, partly to me.

"But I have no money," I said, "neither has Naomi. How can I do as you
suggest?"

"That shall be forthcoming if you will do as I suggest," he replied. "I
will find a safe retreat for the young lady, at least I will try,
although my name must not appear in the matter. Of course, it will take
a week or two; in the meantime, you could, perhaps, arrange for a safe
hiding-place, for I dare not let her stay at my house, much as I would
like."

"And until Naomi is twenty-one?" I asked.

"Tresidder will be the nominal owner of Trevose. It cannot be helped. I
don't think he will do anything very rash; in any case it seems to be
the only arrangement for the present. In the meanwhile I will consider
the matter more carefully, and what can be done shall be done."

I suggested many other things, but I did not succeed in altering Mr.
Trefry's opinions.

Now when I had left him, while I could not help seeing that he had
uttered many wise words, I was far from satisfied with his plans. True,
Naomi had promised to be my wife, but my whole nature revolted at the
thought of becoming entirely dependent on her income, while my rightful
possessions had been robbed from me. Thus, although the lawyer had told
me to leave the county, so as to ensure my safety until Naomi came of
age, I determined that I would stay and seek to get back my own. True, I
had been entirely unsuccessful in the past, and had played into the
hands of those who had wronged me. At the same time I had been learning
wisdom, and I pondered over the schemes which had come into my mind.

It was dark when we left Truro, for I did not think it wise to travel in
the day. I took the precaution, however, to buy a brace of pistols in
the town. This I wa