Mr. Marsh ventured to obtrude himself into the conversation. Timidly he said:
"Perhaps my niece may find the hour inconvenient. I'm perfectly willing to postpone——"
Mr. Cooley stamped his foot impatiently.
"Now, look here, Marsh, don't be a fool; don't establish a precedent of meekness, or you'll have to be meek all the time. That's the advice I give young married men, Ricaby."
He laughed boisterously at his own wit, and looked at Mr. Ricaby as if expecting him to join in the merriment. But Paula's attorney remained sober as a judge.
"Come, come, be cheerful!" went on Mr. Cooley; "why not let us be good friends? Why can't Miss Paula be made to understand that my client is her friend as well as her nearest relative? Flesh and blood is flesh and blood—you can't get away from that fact. He wants to open his heart to her. Hang it, they've been separated long enough! All his movements, however seemingly unfriendly, have been actuated only by a sense of justice to his own family."
"Perfectly true—perfectly true," broke in Jimmy eagerly. "She is my brother's child, and, although we've seen nothing of her, nevertheless I feel that I am far more competent to—to take charge of—the family estate—than she is."
"The family estate?" interrupted Mr. Ricaby, elevating his eyebrows.
"Yes," said Jimmy boldly. "My brother's estate and mine. You know, the woman he married——"
Cooley held up his hand with a deprecating gesture: