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thousand pounds had become fifty thousand pounds; for he knew that

ruossip, favourable

or unfavourable So he was no longer averse tohis former

companions: even to them, a rich ould excuse ard ood conscience: he really felt morally five thousand pounds the

better Full of hope and happiness, he would have gone at a pace to suit

his lish roads at that date were left very much to nature

and to weather, and the Norfolk clay in springtime was so deep and heavy

that it was not until the third day after leaving that he was able to

report for duty

His first social visit was paid to his er

Lady Capel She was not a nice old woman; in fact, she was a very

spiteful, ill-hearted, ill-tempered old woman, and Hyde had always had a

certain fear of her When he landed in London with his wife, Lady Capel

had fortunately been at Bath; and he had then escaped the duty of

presenting Katherine to her But she was now at her mansion in Berkeley

Square, and her claims upon his attention could not be postponed; and,

as she had neither eyes nor ears in the evenings for any thing but loo

or whist, Hyde knew that a conciliatory visit would have to be made in

the early part of the day