"I asked him for it," he said curtly. "That's true enough; but I didn't get it."
"That don't matter," Mr. Tracy retorted. "The fact that you asked for it did you a lot of harm to-day."
"I don't see why Melville should have referred to it at all."
"Perhaps he couldn't help himself," the solicitor said. "Some of those fellows are marvellous at making you say more than you mean to say. Why did you ask him for it?"
"Because I was a silly ass," Ralph answered viciously, "and didn't like to ask Sir Geoffrey. I never did ask him for a sovereign in my life; goodness knows he gave me enough without that. Do you remember selling out some railway stock for me a little time ago?"
"Yes," said Mr. Tracy, "and advising you not to do it, but you would not listen."
"That was the time," Ralph said. "I had bought a yacht for Gwen and didn't want to give it to her not paid for, and you were slower than usual, and I was cleaned out, and only just engaged. And I asked Melville to lend me a hundred till you settled up. Of course, Sir Geoffrey would have given it to me if I had asked him, but he would have insisted on its being a gift, not a loan, and I wanted the boat to be my present to Gwen, not his."
"Well, I'll see that some of that comes out next time," said Mr. Tracy. "I could see that it made a very bad impression to-day."
"There's a continuation to the story," said Ralph, with a hard look in his eyes, "and since Melville has chosen to reopen it, I don't see why I should not tell you the rest. He did not answer my letter, did not send me the money."
"Well?" said Mr. Tracy.