But from what the young man had seen of Braddock's longing for
the especial sepulchre, which he desired to loot, he believed
that the scientist would not readily surrender his whim. Random
could easily lend or give the money, since he was extremely rich,
and extremely generous, but it was improbable that he would aid
Braddock without a quid pro quo. As the sole desire of the
baronet's heart was to make Lucy his wife, it could easily be
guessed that he would only assist the Professor to realize his
ambition on condition that the savant used his influence with his
step-daughter. That meant the breaking of the engagement with
Hope and the marriage of the girl to the soldier. Of course such
a state of things would make Lucy unhappy; but Braddock cared
very little for that. To gratify his craze for Egyptian
research, he would be willing to sacrifice a dozen girls like
Lucy.
Undoubtedly Lucy would refuse to be passed along from one man to
another like a bale of goods, and Archie knew that, so far as in
her lay, she would keep to her engagement, especially as she
denied Braddock's right to dispose of her hand. All the same,
the Professor, in spite of his cherubical looks, could make
himself extremely disagreeable, and undoubtedly would do so if
thwarted.
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