Now he was
envied by many, respected by many, taken by the hand as a friend by
those high in the world's esteem. When he had come near the Guestwick
Mansion in his old walks,--always, however, keeping at a great
distance lest the grumpy old lord should be down upon him and scold
him,--he had little dreamed that he and the grumpy old lord would
ever be together on such familiar terms, that he would tell to that
lord more of his private thoughts than to any other living being; yet
it had come to that. The grumpy old lord had now told him that that
gift of money was to be his whether Lily Dale accepted him or no.
"Indeed, the thing's done," said the grumpy lord, pulling out from
his pocket certain papers, "and you've got to receive the dividends
as they become due." Then, when Johnny had expostulated,--as,
indeed, the circumstances had left him no alternative but to
expostulate,--the earl had roughly bade him hold his tongue, telling
him that he would have to fetch Sir Raffle's boots directly he got
back to London. So the conversation had quickly turned itself away
to Sir Raffle, whom they had both ridiculed with much satisfaction.
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