The mother will fleece you out of every
farthing you have, while the daughter--well I do not know her, so will
not say what she may do; only keep clear of them both and shun that
crafty woman as you would the plague."
With this letter in his pocket and barely enough money to defray his own
expenses for a few weeks longer, it is not to be wondered at, if Neil
was not in a very jubilant state of mind when he reached the Quirinal,
and found matters as they were--Bessie very low with the fever, of which
he had a mortal terror and her mother destitute of funds except as Grey
Jerrold had supplied them, or as she had borrowed from Mrs. Meredith,
to whom she owed twenty pounds, with no possible means of paying. All
this and more, she tearfully explained to Neil, who listened to her with
a great sinking at his heart and a feeling that he had plunged into
something dreadful, from which he could not escape. There was manliness
enough in his nature to make him wince a little, when he heard what Grey
had done, while at the same time he was conscious of a pang of jealousy
as he reflected that only a stronger sentiment than mere friendship for
Bessie could have actuated Grey, generous and noble as he knew him to
be.
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