The irony of Richard’s tone was not lost on the old man.
‘What do you mean, boy?’
‘I said a few moments ago, sir, that you were an incomparable actor. I alluded to our previous interview in this room. Most cheerfully I admit that Teresa’s father imposed on me then to perfection. I believed you absolutely. Since then——’
‘What?’
‘Since then I have found out that you never had any uncle, and that, consequently, your uncle, being non-existent, could not have left you a hundred thousand pounds in silver coin.’
Raphael Craig took a long, deep breath.
‘Yes,’ he said, ‘I lied to you. But it was a good lie—a lie which I have used so often during the last year or two that I had almost come to believe it truth. You are a clever fellow, Redgrave. How did you discover this?’
‘To be precise,’ said Richard, ‘it was not I, but your precious Micky, who discovered it.’
‘Then you are not so clever a fellow.’
‘Clever enough, sir, to go straight to the point. And the point is, the point at which I have been gradually arriving since our talk began—how did you become possessed of that silver? I ask the question, and I demand an answer to it, as the affianced of your daughter.’