He secretly enjoyed poor Anthony's mortification; and, though he
detested the old maid himself, he had successfully wormed himself into
her good graces, by paying her some judicious compliments, in which the
graces of her person and her youthful appearance had been the theme of
praise.
"By the by, Tony," he said, turning suddenly to his cousin, "you have
received a letter from your father, and never told me one word about it.
Was it a kind epistle?"
"Better than I expected," returned Anthony coldly. "But I never discuss
family matters in public."
"Public! Are we not among friends?" said Godfrey, persisting in his
impertinent interrogatories.
"But you inherit a good deal of the suspicious cautious character of
your father. When you grow old, I believe that you will be just as fond
of money as he is. Did he offer to advance a sufficient sum to settle
you in life?"
"No, he did not."
"Astonishing! What excuse can he give for such unreasonable conduct?"
"The old one, I suppose," said Colonel Hurdlestone, laughing--"poverty."
"Ha! ha! ha!" reiterated Godfrey.
"Godfrey!" said Anthony, with much severity of look and tone: "how can
such a lamentable instance of human weakness (madness, I might say)
awaken your mirth?"
"Is it not enough to make one laugh, when an old fellow, rich enough to
pay the National Debt, refuses to provide for his only son, and suffers
him to live upon the _charity_ of a brother?"
This unexpected though oft-repeated insult was too much for Anthony to
bear at such a moment, and in the presence of the woman he loved.
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