"To be let on lease," Mr. Gascoigne replied.
"The rent would be too high," I observed.
"I don't think so. Ninety pounds a year."
"What?" I cried.
"Ninety pounds a year," he repeated.
I looked at my wife; her face fairly beamed. She whispered to me, "A prize! Why did we not come here before? It would have saved us a world of trouble."
For my part, I could not understand it. Ninety pounds a year! It was a ridiculous rent for such a mansion.
I turned to the agent. "Is there a care-taker in the house?"
"No," he replied, "it is quite empty."
"Has it been long unlet?"