"He said he came upon business; what business could he have?"
It was not very easy for her to tell him what had been Mr Rubb's business. She had no wish to keep anything secret from her cousin, but she did not know how to describe the scene which had just taken place, or how to acknowledge that the man had come there to ask her to marry him.
"Does he know anything of this matter of your money?" continued Mr Ball.
"Oh yes; he knows it all. He was in Gower Street when I told my sister-in-law."
"And he came to advise you about it?"
"Yes; he did advise me about it. But his advice I shall not take."
"And what did he advise?"
Then Margaret told him that Mr Rubb had counselled her to fight it out to the last, in order that a compromise might at any rate be obtained.
"If it has no selfish object in view I am far from saying that he is wrong," said John Ball. "It is what I should advise a friend to do under similar circumstances."
"It is not what I shall do, John."