o L.145,000.

Already the fatal intelligence had been communicated by the attorneys
of John Julius Altham to those of the astonished man, who, though
still convinced of the goodness of his cause, (which, on the strength
of certain various statutes affecting such a case, he was advised to
contest to the utmost,) foresaw a long, vexatious, and expensive
lawsuit, that would certainly last his life, and prevent the
possibility of one moment's enjoyment of the estate, from which he had
received the usual notice of ejection. Fortunately for him, the
present Mr Altham was not only a gentleman, and disposed to exercise
his rights in the most decorous manner; but, of course, unbiassed by
the personal prejudices so strongly felt by Sir Laurence, and so
unfairly communicated by him to the General. Still, the question was
proceeding at the snail's pace rate of Chancery suits at the
commencement of the present century, and the unfortunate Congleton
manufacturer had every reason to curse the day when he had become
enamoured of the grassy glades and rich woodlands of Lexley; seeing
that, at the close of an honourable and well-spent life, he was
uncertain whether the sons and daughters to whom he had laboured to
bequeath a handsome independence, might not be reduced to utter
destitution.

Such was the intelligence that saluted the ill-starred Mary and her
husband on their return to England! Instead of the brilliant prospects
in which she had been nurtured--disinheritance met her on the one
side, and ruin on the other!

Her vindictive father had even made it a condition of his bounties to
Lord and Lady Robert, that all intercourse should cease between them
and their sister; a condition which the former, in revenge for the
early slights of his fairer cousin, took care should be punctually
obeyed by his wife.

Till the event of the trial, Mr Sparks retained, of course, possession
of the Park; but so bitter was the mortification of the family, on
discovering in the village precisely the same ungrateful feeling which
had so embittered the soul of Sir Laurence, that they preferred
remaining in London--where no one has leisure to dwell upon the
mischances of his neighbours, and where sympathy is as little expected
as conceded. But when Mary arrived--_poor_ Mary! who had now the
prospect of becoming a mother--and who, though affectionately beloved
by her husband's family, saw they regarded her as the innocent origin
of their present reve