CHAPTER XIV.
LOVE AND HATRED.
At first Mr.Moncton refused to see his son; but on the receipt of a letter from Theophilus, his positive orders on that head were not only reversed, but the worthy young gentleman was received with marked attention by his father.
The contents of that letter I did not know then, but got a knowledge of them in after years.

The son had become acquainted with some villainous transactions of the parent, which he threatened to expose to the world, if any rigorous measures were adopted towards himself.

These revelations were of such a startling nature, that no alternative remained to Mr.Moncton but to submit, which he did, and with a wonderful good grace.
It would be no easy matter to describe the surprise and indignation of Theophilus Moncton, when he discovered that the despised and insulted Geoffrey had become a person of some consequence during his absence.

I shall never forget the studied air of indifference, the chilling coldness, with which he met me on his return, and under the cover of which he endeavoured to conceal his chagrin.
The long-cherished dislike that I had entertained for him, had lost much of its bitter character during a separation of many months.

I was willing to believe that I might sometimes have been the aggressor, and that time, and a more intimate knowledge of the world, might have produced a favourable change in his surly and morose disposition.