Page:Paul Clifford Vol 2.djvu/139

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PAUL CLIFFORD.
131

"But, my dear brother," he began, "so great a match for my Lucy, the Lord-Lieutenant of the Coun——"

"And what of that?" cried Brandon proudly, and interrupting his brother; "is not the race of Brandon, which has matched its scions with royalty, far nobler than that of the upstart stock of Mauleverer?—what is there presumptuous in the hope that the descendant of the Earls of Suffolk should regild a faded name with some of the precious dust of the quondam silversmiths of London?—Besides," he continued after a pause, "Lucy will be rich—very rich—and before two years my rank may possibly be of the same order as Mauleverer's!"

The Squire stared; and Brandon, not giving him time to answer, resumed.—It is needless to detail the conversation; suffice it to say, that the artful barrister did not leave his brother till he had gained his point—till Joseph Brandon had promised to remain at Bath in possession of the house and establishment of his brother, to throw no impediment on the suit of Mauleverer, to cul-