“I heard you.”

“Heard me talking?”

“Yes.”

“What did I say?”

“You were asking Mr Gleason for money—a big sum.”

“And you heard me ask him?”

“I didn’t exactly hear you, you spoke very low, and I was behind a closed door. But I heard all Mr Gleason said—so I could tell.”

“What did he say?”

“He said, ‘twenty thousand dollars! I should say not! Not unless—well, you know my conditions.’ That’s exactly what he said. And then you murmured something, and he said, ‘You’re a Lindsay—you’re both Lindsays,’ but I don’t know whether he meant you and his sister, or you and your brother.”

“What has my brother to do with it?”