And then there was another matter which was also very grievous to him.  If it were as he now stated,—­if the squire had been guilty of this fraud,—­to what punishment would he be subjected?  Mountjoy was declared to have been innocent.  Mr. Tyrrwhit, as he put the case to his own lawyers, laughed bitterly as he made this suggestion.  And Augustus was, of course, innocent.  Then there was renewed laughter.  And Mr. Grey!  Mr. Grey had, of course, been innocent.  Then the laughter was very loud.  Was it to be believed that anybody could be taken in by such a story as this?  There was he, Mr. Tyrrwhit:  he had ever been known as a sharp fellow; and Mr. Samuel Hart, who was now away on his travels, and the others;—­they were all of them sharp fellows.  Was it to be believed that such a set of gentlemen, so keenly alive to their own interest, should be made the victims of such a trick as this?  Not if they knew it!  Not if Mr. Tyrrwhit knew it!

It was in this shape that the matter reached Mr. Grey’s ears; and then it was asked, if it were so, what would be the punishment to which they would be subjected who had defrauded Mr. Tyrrwhit of his just claim.  Mr. Tyrrwhit, who on one occasion made his way into Mr, Grey’s presence, wished to get an answer to that question from Mr. Grey.  “The man is dying,” said Mr. Grey, solemnly.

“Dying!  He is not more likely to die than you are, from all I hear.”  At this time rumors of Mr. Scarborough’s improved health had reached the creditors in London.  Mr. Tyrrwhit had begun to believe that Mr. Scarborough’s dangerous condition had been part of the hoax; that there had been no surgeon’s knives, no terrible operations, no moment of almost certain death.  “I don’t believe he’s been ill at all,” said Mr. Tyrrwhit.

“I cannot help your belief,” said Mr. Grey.

“But because a man doesn’t die and recovers, is he on that account to be allowed to cheat people, as he has cheated me, with impunity?”

“I am not going to defend Mr. Scarborough; but he has not, in fact, cheated you.”

“Who has?  Come; do you mean to tell me that if this goes on I shall not have been defrauded of a hundred thousand pounds?”

“Did you ever see Mr. Scarborough on the matter?”

“No; it was not necessary.”

“Or have you got his writing to any document?  Have you anything to show that he knew what his son was doing when he borrowed money of you?  Is it not perfectly clear that he knew nothing about it?”

“Of course he knew nothing about it then,—­at that time.  It was afterward that his fraud began.  When he found that the estate was in jeopardy, then the falsehood was concocted.”

“Ah, there, Mr. Tyrrwhit, I can only say, that I disagree with you.  I must express my opinion that if you endeavor to recover your money on that plea you will be beaten.  If you can prove fraud of that kind, no doubt you can punish those who have been guilty of it,—­me among the number.”