Emmons turned on him. “I don’t have to ask whether you are satisfied or not. I don’t imagine that you have any complaint to make.”
“None at all,” said Vickers.
“Do you mean to tell me that you would take that property?” Emmons demanded.
“What are you talking about, James?” said Nellie. “Of course Bob will take what his father leaves to him.”
“I shall have my opinion of him if he does.”
“Well,” said Vickers, “if anything could separate me from an inheritance, it would certainly be the fear of Mr. Emmons’s criticism.”
“I shall only call your attention to one thing,” said Emmons, flushing slightly. “Does it ever strike you, Mr. Bob Lee, to ask what it was saved you from criminal prosecution twelve years ago? No? Well, I’ll tell you. Respect for your father, and the fact that you did not have any money. Both of these conditions have changed to-day.”
Vickers turned to Overton as if he had not heard. “I wonder,” he said, “if we could not talk over family affairs more comfortably if there were no outsiders present.”
“James is not an outsider,” said Nellie.
“He is to me,” said Vickers.