“And killed the goose with the golden eggs? I am not altogether childish, Dr. Crackenthorpe, or quite ignorant of the first principles of law. In England the burden of proof lies on the prosecution. How would you have proceeded?”
“I should at least have eased my conscience of an intolerable load and escaped the discomforting reflection that I might be considered an accessory after the fact.”
“As indeed you are in the sight of heaven by your own showing, though I swear my father is as innocent of the crime as I am.”
He shrugged his shoulders with a deprecating gesture.
“Anyhow, my position shows my disinterestedness,” he said.
“And you are growing frightened over it, it seems. Well, take whatever course pleases you. From our point of view, here, I feel quite easy as to results.”
“You misapprehend me. This visit is actuated by no motive but that of friendliness. I wish to bury the hatchet and resume the pleasant relations that existed of old.”
“They were too one-sided. Besides, all the conditions changed upon my return.”
“And no one regretted it more than I. I have from the first been your true friend, as I have attempted to show. You have a valuable inheritance in my keeping. Indeed”—he gave a sort of high embarrassed titter—“it would be to your real advantage to hand the residue over to me before he has any further opportunity of dissipating it.”
I broke into a cackle of fierce laughter.