reason to believe, be much longer for this world.  How his property was to be divided she had no means of discovering; Joseph professed to have no accurate information, but as a matter of course he was deceiving her.  Should he inherit a considerable sum, it was more than probable he would think of again quitting his native land—­ and without encumbrances.  That movement must somehow be guarded against; how, it was difficult as yet to determine.  In the next place, Jane was sure to take a large share of the fortune.  To that Clem strongly objected, both on abstract grounds and because she regarded Jane with a savage hatred—­a hatred which had its roots in the time of Jane’s childhood, and which had grown in proportion as the girl reaped happiness from life.  The necessity of cloaking this sentiment had not, you may be sure, tended to mitigate it.  Joseph said that there was no longer any fear of a speedy marriage between Jane and Kirkwood, but that such a marriage would come off some day,—­if not prevented—­Clem held to be a matter of certainty.  Sidney Kirkwood was a wide-awake young man; of course he had his satisfactory reasons for delay.  Now Clem’s hatred of Sidney was, from of old, only less than that wherewith she regarded Jane.  To frustrate the hopes of that couple would be a gratification worth a good deal of risk.

She heard nothing of what had befallen Clara Hewett until the latter’s return home, and then not from her husband.  Joseph and Scawthorne, foiled by that event in an ingenious scheme which you have doubtless understood (they little knowing how easily the severance between Jane and Kirkwood might be effected), agreed that it was well to get Clara restored to her father’s household—­for, though it seemed unlikely, it was not impossible that she might in one way or another aid their schemes—­and on that account the anonymous letter was despatched which informed John Hewett of his daughter’s position.  Between John and Snowdon, now that they stood in the relations of master and servant, there was naturally no longer familiar intercourse, and, in begging leave of absence for his journey northwards, Hewett only said that a near relative had met with a bad accident.  But it would be easy, Joseph decided, to win the man’s confidence again, and thus be apprised of all that went on.  With Clem he kept silence on the subject; not improbably she would learn sooner or later what had happened, and indeed, as things now stood, it did not matter much; but on principle he excluded her as much as possible from his confidence.  He knew she hated him, and he was not backward in returning the sentiment, though constantly affecting a cheerful friendliness in his manner to her; after all, their union was but temporary.  In Hanover Street he was also silent regarding the Hewetts, for there his role was that of a good, simple-minded fellow, incapable of intrigue, living for the domestic affections.  If Kirkwood chose to speak to Michael or Jane of the matter, well, one way or another, that would advance things a stage, and there was nothing for it but to watch the progress.