There is reason to suppose that Mr. Preston was very much shocked, very much cut up. It ended, however, in his sending for his foster-son. What took place at the interview is not known; but this is certain—Mr. Preston told the young man that if he would solemnly promise him to reform, he would exert himself to obtain him an appointment in India under the Honourable East India Company, and that if he conducted himself well for three years and showed a sincere desire to make a good name for himself, he should be allowed to marry his foster-sister, and that on the morning of his marriage there should be paid to him as a marriage portion the sum of fifty thousand pounds.
The inducements thus held out were so strong, the prize so great, that any man with a scintilla of honour in him would neve
