He was nobody's enemy but his own.

His very distresses--the prospect of his ruin, if left unassisted by Sir Miles's testamentary dispositions--were arguments in his favour.

And, after all, though Lucretia was a nearer relation, Vernon was in truth the direct male heir, and according to the usual prejudices of family, therefore, the fitter representative of the ancient line.

With these feelings and views, he had invited Vernon to his house, and we have seen already that his favourable impressions had been confirmed by the visit.
And here we must say that Vernon himself had been brought up in boyhood and youth to regard himself the presumptive inheritor of Laughton.

It had been, from time immemorial, the custom of the St.Johns to pass by the claims of females in the settlement of the entails; from male to male the estate had gone, furnishing warriors to the army, and senators to the State.