Our Mr. Moxey will be disposed to help me with his recommendation.'

'But, my dear, wouldn't it come to the same thing, then, if you went
back to Mr. Moxey's?'

He made a gesture of impatience.

'No, no, no! I couldn't live at Twybridge. I have my way to make,
mother, and the place for that is London. You know I am ambitious.
Trust me for a year or two, and see the result. I depend upon your
help in this whole affair. Don't refuse it me. I have done with
Whitelaw, and I have done with Twybridge: now comes London. You
can't regard me as a boy, you know.'

'No--but'--

'But me no buts!' he cried, laughing excitedly. 'The thing is
settled. As soon as possible in the morning I post this letter. I
feel it will be successful. See aunt to-morrow, and get her support.
Mind that Charlotte and Oliver don't talk to people. If you all use
discretion, there's no need for any curiosity to be excited.'

When Godwin had taken a resolve, there was no domestic influence
strong enough to prevent his acting upon it. Mrs. Peak's ignorance of
the world, her mild passivity, and the faith she had in her son's
intellectual resources, made her useless as a counsellor, and from
no one else--now that Mr. Gunnery was dead--would the young man
have dreamt of seeking guidance. Whatever Lady Whitelaw's reply, he
had made up his mind to go to London. Should his subsidy be refused,
then he would live on what his mother could allow him until--