"That's all very well! That's all very well! But I'm not quite so sure as all that. Will she let some of it be on mortgage?"
"No, she won't," said Albert.
"Why not?"
"Because I've got a new security for the whole amount myself."
"Oh!"
Edwin glanced at his wife and his resentful eyes said: "There you are! All through your infernal hurry and cheek Maggie's going to lose eighteen hundred pounds in a rotten investment. I told you Albert would get hold of that money if he heard of it. And just look!"
At this point Albert, who knew fairly well how to draw an advantage from his brother-in-law's characteristic weaknesses, perceived suddenly the value of an immediate departure. And amid loud enquiries of all sorts from Clara, and magnificent generalities from Albert, and gloomy, stiff salutations from uncomfortable Bert, the visit closed.
But destiny lay in wait at the corner of the street for Albert Benbow's pride. Precisely as the Benbows were issuing from the portico, the front-door being already closed upon them, the second Swetnam son came swinging down Trafalgar Road. He stopped, raising his hat.
"Hallo, Mr. Benbow," he said. "You've heard the news, I suppose?"
"What about?"