Jimmy’s voice never rose, but he gripped Connor’s arm and pulled him down into his chair.
“I won’t! I won’t! D’ye think I’m going to throw away——”
Jimmy released the man’s arm and rose with a shrug of his shoulders.
He walked to where Kathleen was standing.
“Miss Kent,” he said, and hesitated. “It is difficult for me to say what I have to say; but I want to tell you that so far as I am concerned the fortune is yours. I shall make no claim to it, and I will afford you every assistance that lies in my power to discover the word that is hidden in the verse.”
The girl made no reply. Her lips were set tight, and the hard look that Angel had noticed when the lawyer had referred to her father came back again.
Jimmy waited a moment for her to speak, but she made no sign, and with a slight bow he walked toward the door.
“Stop!”
It was Kathleen that spoke, and Jimmy turned and waited.
“As I understand this will,” she said slowly, “you are one of the men to whom my father owed his ruin.”