received from Anjengo more precise details as to what was due to the
Company from Gyfford's estate. All the cowries, pepper, and cloth that
were said to belong to Gyfford had been bought with the Company's money,
and the Company's claim against his estate was nearly £9000. A stringent
order was sent to Mrs. Gyfford, forbidding her to leave Bombay till the
claim was settled. Matthews at once put her on board the _Lyon_ again, and
there she remained; not venturing to set foot on shore, lest the Council
should lay hands on her.

By the end of the year, Matthews was ready to return to England. Intent to
the last on trade, he touched at Carwar, Tellicherry, and St. David's, and,
in Mrs. Gyfford's interests, a visit was also paid Anjengo, to try and
recover some of the property she claimed to have left there. She was not
going to be put off with Lapthorne's 'two wiggs and a bolster.' In July
(1724) the _Lyon_ reached Portsmouth, and was put out of commission.

At first the Directors appear to have paid little attention to Mrs.
Gyfford, perhaps not thinking her worth powder and shot. Their principal
anger was directed against Matthews, against whom they obtained a decree
in the Court of Chancery for unlawful trading. But Mrs. Gyfford would not
keep silence. Perhaps she really believed in the justice of her claims.
She bombarded the Directors with petitions, till at last, two years after
her arrival in England, they tardily awoke to the fact that they
themselves had substantial claims against her. They offered to submit the
claims to arbitration, to which Mrs. Gyfford consented; but as she still
refrained from coming to close quarters, they filed a suit against her in
the Court of Chancery, nearly four years after her arrival in England. Mrs.
Gyfford promptly replied with a counter-suit, in which, among other things,
she claimed £10,000 for presents taken by Gyfford to the Rani of Attinga
on that fatal 11th April, seven years before. Four years later, she was