It was a beautiful day, of the lamb-like entrance weather of March, and on the way home Miss Adeline was met taking advantage of the noontide sunshine to exchange her book at the library, ‘where,’ she said, ‘I found Mr. White reading the papers, so I asked him to meet Jasper at luncheon, thinking that may be useful.’
If Sir Jasper would rather have managed matters by himself, he forebore to say so, and he got on very well with Mr. White on subjects of interest, but, to the ladies’ vexation, he waited to be alone before he began, ‘I have come down to see what can be done for this poor young man, Mr. White, a connection of yours, I believe.
‘A bad business, Sir Jasper, a bad business.’
‘I am sorry to hear you say so. I have seen a great deal of service with his father, and esteemed him very highly—’
‘Ay, ay, very likely. I had a young man’s differences with my cousin, as lads will fall out, but there was the making of a fine fellow in him. But it was the wife, bringing in that Greek taint, worse even than the Italian, so that there’s no believing a word out of any of their mouths.’
‘Well, the schoolmaster has just given me a high character of the younger one, for truthfulness especially.’
‘All art, Sir Jasper, all art. They are deeper than your common English sort, and act it out better. I’ll just give you an instance or two. That eldest son has been with me just now, a smart young chap, who swears he has been keeping his mother all this time—he has written to me often enough for help to do so. On the other hand, the little sister tells me, “Mamma always wants money to send to poor Richard.” Then again, Miss Mohun assures me that the elder one vows that she never encouraged Frank Stebbing for a moment, and to his mother’s certain knowledge she is keeping up the correspondence.’
‘Indeed,’ said Sir Jasper. ‘And may I ask what is your opinion as to this charge? I never knew a young man enlist with fifteen pounds in his pocket.’
‘Spent it by the way, sir. Ran through it at billiards. Nothing more probable; it is the way with those sober-looking lads when something upsets them. Then when luck went against him, enlisted out of despair. Sister, like all women, ready to lie through thick and thin to save him, most likely even on oath.’
‘However,’ said Sir Jasper, ‘I can produce independent witness that the youngest boy set off with the letter for the office, and the porter not admitting him, carried it to the house.’