But here was a chance to make everything all right again, and he would be delighted to see Junius, a relative, although a distant one, come into possession of Midbranch.

As for the old lady's opposition, that should not be considered at all, he thought.

It was his opinion that her mind had been twisted by her bad temper, and nothing she could say could hurt anybody.
Of late Mr Brandon had been much encouraged by the fact that Junius had begun to resume his position as a friend of the family.

This was all very well.

If the young people, by occasional meetings, could keep alive their sentiments toward each other, the time would come when all opposition would cease, and the marriage would become an assured fact.
He did not believe either of the young people would care enough for a post-mortem curse, if there should be one, to keep themselves separated from each other on its account for the rest of their lives.
But the recent quite unexpected return of Lawrence Croft to Midbranch, combined with the evident discomposure into which Roberta had been thrown by his failure to come the next day, had given the old gentleman some unpleasant ideas.