The matter was serious. Any mistake in dealing with it might lead
to very painful results.
If Julian had correctly anticipated the nature of the confession
which Mercy had been on the point of addressing to him, the
person whom he had been the means of introducing into the house
was--what she had vainly asserted herself to be--no other than
the true Grace Roseberry.
Taking this for granted, it was of the utmost importance that he
should speak to Grace privately, before she committed herself to
any rashly renewed assertion of her claims, and before she could
gain access to Lady Janet's adopted daughter. The landlady at her
lodgings had already warned him that the object which she held
steadily in view was to find her way to "Miss Roseberry" when
Lady Janet was not present to take her part, and when no
gentleman were at hand to protect her. "Only let me meet her face
to face" (she had said), "and I will make her confess herself the
impostor that she is!" As matters now stood, it was impossible to
estimate too seriously the mischief which might ensue from such a
meeting as this. Everything now depended on Julian's skillful
management of an exasperated woman; and nobody, at that moment,
knew where the woman was.
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