Then
came Mr Moreton's letter telling him the whole.
At the meeting which took place between Silverbridge and his
father's agent at Carlton Terrace it was settled that Mr Moreton
should write the letter. Silverbridge tried and found that he
could not do it. He did not know how to humiliate himself
sufficiently, and yet could not keep himself from making attempts
to prove that according to all recognised chances his bets had
been good bets.
Mr Moreton was better able to accomplish the task. He knew the
Duke's mind. A very large discretion had been left in Mr Moreton's
hands in regard to moneys which might be needed on behalf of that
dangerous heir!-so large that he had been able to tell Lord
Silverbridge that if the money was in truth lost according to
Jockey Club rules, it should be all forthcoming on the settling-
day,--certainly without assistance from Messrs Comfort and Criball.
The Duke had been nervously afraid of such men of business as
Comfort and Criball, and from the earliest days of his son's semi-
manhood had been on his guard against them.
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