the devil to pay

行方昭夫東大名誉教授の「英文精読術」でモームの『赤毛』を読んでいます。その中にあった覚えたい表現三つの内の二つ目です。
It was as though he spoke from emotion which his intellect found ridiculous. He had said himself that he was a sentimentalist, and when sentimentality is joined with sceptism there is often the devil to pay.
"the devil to pay" を英英辞書で見ます。
・Oxford English Dictionary: Serious trouble to be dealt with.: there was the devil to pay when we got home
・Cambridge English Dictionary: a lot of trouble, difficulty, punishment, anger, etc.: If he catches you going through his drawers there'll be the devil to pay!
・Collins Dictionary: problems or trouble to be faced as a consequence of an action