"
Mrs Machin perceived then, in a flash of terrible illumination, that
there never had been any Cecil Wilbraham; that Denry had merely invented
him and his long moustaches and his wall eye for the purpose of getting
the better of his mother. The whole affair was an immense swindle upon
her. Not a Mr Cecil Wilbraham, but her own son had bought her cottage
over her head and jockeyed her out of it beyond any chance of getting
into it again. And to defeat his mother the rascal had not simply
perverted the innocent Nellie Cotterill to some co-operation in his
scheme, but he had actually bought four other cottages, because the
landlord would not sell one alone, and he was actually demolishing
property to the sole end of stopping her from re-entering it!
Of course, the entire town soon knew of the upshot of the battle, of the
year-long battle, between Denry and his mother, and the means adopted by
Denry to win. The town also had been hoodwinked, but it did not mind
that. It loved its Denry the more, and seeing that he was now properly
established in the most remarkable house in the district, it soon
afterwards made him a Town Councillor as some reward for his talent in
amusing it.
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