"Fudge! how long have you been so conscientious?" sneered Jaspar.
"When a man has a reputation to make or break, it becomes him to handle it with care."
"Out upon you, man! Your reputation is not so fair, that you need be so tender of it," replied Jaspar, with some severity.
"Sir!"
"O, you needn't 'sir' me! You have led me to commit myself, and now assume a virtue you possess not."
"Sir, I value my reputation, and—"
"Of course you do, but you would not sacrifice a fortune for it," interrupted Jaspar, easily changing the tenor of the conversation.
"I certainly would not stain it unnecessarily," replied Maxwell, with a meaning smile, for he saw the folly of attempting the "high flight" with Jaspar.
"Now you talk sensibly," said Jaspar.
"Mr. Dumont, it is useless to beat about the bush any longer; if you have any proposition to make, out with it at once; and if I cannot aid you, I will, at least, keep your secret."
"Will you swear never to reveal what I shall propose?"
"Yes, if paid for it," said Maxwell, frankly.
"It is well. Now, I will put you in the way of making ten thousand dollars, if you so will," said Jaspar, slapping the attorney on the back with a familiarity which was likely to breed contempt.
This was a tempting offer, and Maxwell prepared to listen to the proposition. He was aware that it was some design upon the estate of Colonel Dumont, and he inwardly resolved to be a gainer by the operation, whether he joined in it or not.
Jaspar Dumont laid aside his sternness, and disclosed his plot to Maxwell. It was, as may be supposed, a nefarious scheme, and not only intended to deprive Henry Carroll of his legacy, but also to disinherit the heiress, and cast a stigma upon the character of his brother.
The plot we will not here disclose.
Maxwell listened attentively, occasionally interrupting the speaker, by asking for details, or pointing out dangers But the foul wrong intended towards her for whom he entertained warmer sentiments than those of friendship shocked even his hardened sensibilities, and he strongly objected to its consummation. It would also, by stripping her of her broad lands, and stigmatizing her birth, render her undesirable as a wife. But Jaspar was firm in his purpose, and refused to listen to any other scheme. This one, he contended, was the safest and surest.
"But it is a diabolical transaction," suggested Maxwell.
"Call it what you will, it is the only one that will work well."
Maxwell remained silent. He was studying to make this scheme subservient to his own purpose. He was obliged to confess to himself that his hopes with the heiress were worse than folly, and he judged that the execution of Jaspar's scheme would remove his rival. He looked forward years, and saw his own purpose gained by means of Jaspar's plan. It was true that he and Jaspar both could not have her estates; but then Jaspar was a villain, and it would be a good service, at a convenient season, to be a traitor to him. His plans were arranged, and he determined to encourage his companion to proceed, though, at the same time, to seem unwilling, and to keep his own hands clean from all participation in it.
After this long interval of silence, which Jaspar had endured with patience, for he recognized the truth of the saying, that "He who deliberates is damned," Maxwell said,
"I cannot consent to stain my hands with such gross injustice."
"You cannot!" sneered Jaspar.
"It would ruin me."
"It was part of my intention to keep the transaction a secret," said Jaspar, sarcastically.
"Of course, and your confidence in me shall not be misplaced."
Jaspar's fists were clenched, and a demoniacal expression rested on his countenance, as he said, savagely,
"You know your own interest too well to do otherwise."
"I am not to be intimidated," replied Maxwell, who despised his companion most heartily, and did not relish his tyrannical manner. "Your confidence, I repeat, is safe. Honor will keep your secret—threats will not compel me to do so."
"Honor! ha, ha, ha!" chuckled Jaspar. "Do you know, Maxwell, that you are a—— fool, to talk to me of your honor?"
"Would you insult me, sir?" said, Maxwell, with vehemence.
"O, no, my fine fellow! Your honor!—ha, ha!" returned Jaspar, taking from his pocket a little slip of paper. "Look here, my honorable worthy, do you know this check?"
Maxwell's face assumed a livid hue, and a convulsive tremor passed through his frame, as he read the check.
In a moment of temporary embarrassment he had been tempted to forge the name of Colonel Dumont to this check, for five hundred dollars, to liquidate a debt of honor, not doubting that he should be able to obtain it again before the day of settlement at the bank, by means of a dissolute teller, a boon companion at the gaming-table. But Colonel Dumont, in arranging his affairs for their final settlement, had sent Jaspar for a statement of his bank account at an unusual time. Jaspar, who, in the illness of his brother, had managed all his business, immediately discovered the forgery. Without disputing its genuineness, he ascertained who had presented it, and traced the deed to the attorney, and thus obtained a hold upon him which was peculiarly favorable to the execution of his great purpose.
"You see I have not laid myself open to your fire without fortifying my position," said Jaspar, enjoying, with hearty relish, the discomfiture of the lawyer. "Now, no more of honor to me. I have kept your secret for my own interest, and now you will keep mine from the same motive."
"But I dare not do this thing," replied Maxwell, keenly sensitive to the weakness of his position; "I lack the ability."
"You have signed the colonel's name once very well; perhaps you can do it again," sneered Jaspar, who had no mercy for an unwilling servant.
"It will not be for your interest or mine that I should do it," returned Maxwell, determined, if possible, to avoid committing himself.
"Why not?" said Jaspar.
"My frequent visits to Bellevue would subject me to suspicion. I am known. Another would not be suspected. If I clear myself, I shall clear you at the same time. I can procure a person who will accomplish all in safety."
"Think you I will trust another man with the possession of the secret?"
"I shall compromise my own safety by writing the will, as you propose."
"True—who is this person?"
"His name is—" and Maxwell hesitated; then a severe fit of coughing apparently prevented his uttering the name—"his name is Antoine De Guy."
"Do I know him?"
"You do, I think—a kind of street lawyer—you must have met him at the Exchange."
"What looking man is he?"
"About fifty years of age," replied Maxwell, more thoughtful than the simple description of a person would seem to require—"rather corpulent, black hair and whiskers, intermixed with gray—dresses old-fashioned, and always looks rusty."
"I do not remember him—De Guy—De Guy," said Jaspar, musing; "no, I do not know him. Are you confident he can be trusted?"
"Perfectly confident. I pledge my own safety on his fidelity," replied Maxwell, not a little satisfied at gaining his point—for he had a point, and a strong one, as the reader may yet have occasion to know.
"Very good—I will inquire about him."
"And