Two merciless alternatives confronted him. Either he must repay
the borrowed forty thousand pounds on the day when repayment was due,
or he must ask Bulpit Brothers to grant him an extension of time, and so
inevitably provoke an examination into the fraudulent security deposited
with the firm, which could end in but one way. His last, literally his
last chance, after Sir Joseph had diminished the promised dowry by one
half, was to adopt the high-minded tone which became his position, and
to conceal the truth until he could reveal it to his father-in-law in
the privileged character of Natalie's husband. "I owe forty thousand
pounds, sir, in a fortnight's time, and I have not got a farthing of
my own. Pay for me, or you will see your son-in-law's name in the
Bankrupt's List." For his daughter's sake--who could doubt it?--Sir
Joseph would produce the money. The one thing needful was to be married
in time. If either by accident or treachery Sir Joseph was led into
deferring the appointed day, by so much as a fortnight only, the fatal
"call" would come, and the firm of Pizzituti, Turlington & Branca would
appear in the Gazette.
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