Grey as he left the squire's chamber after this last revelation.
But there was no one who could punish him. The money-lenders had no
writing under his hand. Had Mountjoy been born without a
marriage-ceremony it would have been very wicked, but the vengeance of
the law would not have reached him. If you deceive your attorney with
false facts he cannot bring you before the magistrates. Augustus had
been the most injured of all; but a son, though he may bring an action
against his father for bigamy, cannot summon him before any tribunal
because he has married his mother twice over. These were Mr.
Scarborough's death-bed triumphs; but they were very sore upon Mr. Grey.
On his journey back to town, as he turned the facts over more coolly in
his mind, he began to fear that he saw a glimmer of the truth. Before he
reached London he almost thought that Mountjoy would be the heir. He had
not brought a scrap of paper away with him, having absolutely refused to
touch the documents offered to him. He certainly would not be employed
again either by Mr. Scarborough or on behalf of his estate or his
executors. He had threatened that he would take up the cudgels on
behalf of Augustus, and had felt at the moment that he was bound to do
so, because, as he had then thought, Augustus had the right cause.
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