"
"You are not likely to meet him here, Squire. A year ago he
happened to be over at Chippenham one market day. There were a
dozen of us there, and I can tell you we gave him such a reception
that he mounted his horse and rode straight on again. If he hadn't,
I believe that we should have horsewhipped him through the town.
Three months afterwards his estate was put up for sale, and he has
never been down in this part of the country since; not that he was
ever here much before. London suited him better. You see, his
mother was, as I have heard, the daughter of a banker, and an only
child; and even if he hadn't had the estate he would have been a
rich man. Anyhow, I am heartily glad that he has left the county."
"I, too, am glad that he has gone, Lechmere. I have not met him for
years, but if we had both been down here we must have run against
each other sometimes, and after some matters that had passed
between us years ago we could scarcely have met on friendly terms.
However, as there is nothing beyond mere suspicion against him, he
may in this case be innocent. You see, I was suspected unjustly
myself, and the same thing may be the case with him.
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