'This is a very sad affair,' said the lawyer,—'sad and sudden. Mr. Graham was an old man, but he has always been so robust, he appeared to have the prospect of still longer life. It will make a great change here.'
'It will, sir.' Walter placed a chair for him, and a look of genuine relief was visible on his face. 'I am very glad you have come up. I was sitting here thinking over things. It is a very strange case.'
'You know something, I presume, of this business, whether it was a paying concern or not?' said the lawyer keenly.
'It is a large business done in a small way, sir,—a worrying, unsatisfactory kind of business, I know that much; but my master always kept his books himself, and I had no means of knowing whether it really paid or not. I know there were bad debts—a lot of them; but I am quite ignorant of the state of affairs. I have only one hope, sir, which I trust will not be disappointed'—
'Well?' inquired the lawyer steadily, when the young man stopped hesitatingly.
'That there will be something left for Miss Gladys. That has troubled me ever since the master took ill.'
'You may set your mind at rest, then. Miss Graham will be a rich woman.'
Walter looked incredulous at these words.
'A rich woman?' he repeated,—'a rich woman? Oh, I am glad of it!'
His face flushed, his eye shone, with the intensity of his emotion. He was very young, but these signs betrayed an interest in the fate of Gladys Graham which stirred a vague pity in the lawyer's heart.