Easton saw as a friend, with her good mother-wit, this
man saw in a moment as an enemy, viz., that this new combination dwarfed
the L20,000 altogether. Monckton had no idea that his unknown antagonist
Nurse Easton had married the pair, but the very attachment, as the
chatter-box of the Dun Cow described it, was a bitter pill to him. "Who
could have foreseen this?" said he. "It's devilish." We did not ourselves
intend our readers to feel it so, or we would not have spent so much time
over it. But as regards that one adjective, Mr. Monckton is a better
authority than we are. He had a document with him that, skillfully used,
might make mischief for a time between these lovers. But he foresaw there
could be no permanent result without the personal assistance of Mrs.
Braham. That he could have commanded fourteen years ago, but now he felt
how difficult it would be. He would have to threaten and torment her
almost to madness before she would come down to Derbyshire and declare
that this Walter Clifford was the Walter Clifford of the certificate, and
that she was his discarded wife.
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