"
With this and other threats of the same character he marched out of the
room, striking the floor hard with his stick as he went, and left Julia
Clifford amazed, and Walter Clifford aghast, at his vindictive fury.
CHAPTER XIII.
THE SERPENT LET LOOSE.
Walter Clifford was so distressed at this outburst, and the prospect of
actual litigation between his father and his sweetheart's father, that
Julia Clifford pitied him, and, after thinking a little, said she would
stop it for the present. She then sat down, and in five minutes the
docile pen of a female letter-writer produced an ingratiating composition
impossible to resist. She apologized for her apparent insincerity, but
would be candid, and confide the whole truth to Mr. Bell. Then she told
him that Colonel Clifford "had only just been saved from death by a
miracle, and a relapse was expected in case of any great excitement or
irritation, such as a doubtful lawsuit with a gentleman he disliked would
certainly cause. The proposed litigation was, _for various reasons_, most
distressing to his son and successor, Walter Clifford, and would Mr.
Pages:
201
202
203
204
205
206
207
208
209
210
211
212
213
214
215
216
217
218
219
220
221
222
223
224
225