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280, then raising it upon De Brooke, with a look that seemed to denote he was unaccustomed and equally disinclined to free communication, he entered concisely upon the business which had brought him.

"I am come," said he, "as the confidential lawyer of Sir Aubrey De Brooke, who desires an immediate statement laid before him of your debts."

Expectation and curiosity succeeded to that deep anxiety before visible on the brow of De Brooke, who would have spoken, but the stranger interrupted him.

"From family and prudential motives," said he drily, "Sir Aubrey has conceived the intention of appropriating a certain sum for the liquidation of your debts, provided it will come within its compass, and that you prepare immediately upon your liberation to leave the kingdom; such being the conditions only upon which Sir Aubrey means to interfere."

"Prepare to leave the kingdom!" echoed De Brooke; "to what banishment does he intend sending me?" Impatient for a direct reply, the stranger added, he supposed it did not require much time to satisfy his demand; and asked whether he had by him a list, as desired by Sir Aubrey, that without further delay he might proceed to execute his commands.