He had not asked Mr. Brading what Mr. Andrews said. But in point of fact, that gentleman showed the letter that he had received the previous evening, with the exclamation, "A lad of such promise as that is worth working for, and I mean to get the chestnuts out of the fire, if I can!"
"But suppose you are mistaken in your estimate of this boy's character?" objected Mr. Brading.
"But I am not mistaken. I have not managed things for the Murrays without knowing them; and I have always said if they could only be induced to work, instead of idling their life away, there would not be much to complain of. Now, this lad has taken to work as a duck takes to water, and I tell you it will be his salvation."
"But work is not everything, my friend."
"That's true enough. But I have had the lad watched to see if he is following in the steps of his friend, Lady Mary's son, for they were pretty close friends when they were younger, and Arthur has no one to look after him but a couple of sisters about his own age. So I set a watch upon that new billiard saloon that all the lads are going mad over. Mind, I don't object to billiards as a game, if they would keep the drink away from it. But there it is. The drink is there, and Lady Mary's boy is tipsy five times a week at least. But Arthur Murray has never been seen there. He seems to spend his evenings at home or in taking a stroll occasionally. I have met him myself once or twice, either alone or with one of his sisters."
"Well, I hope you may be right," said Mr. Brading. And then he told the lawyer of the missing letter, and how Lady Mary suspected Arthur of taking it.
"By the way, it was a cheque of yours for five pounds that she had enclosed in the missing letter!"
"And you think this lad stole it?"
"So she supposes. You see, we have no direct evidence that the letter ever came into our hands, but if it did, Murray would have to hand it on to the department to which it was addressed."
The lawyer shook his head. "I don't believe Arthur touched it," he said. "He has no evening expenses to meet, and he was perfectly frank and open with me as to what you were to pay him. What I could afford for household expenses I stated, and there was no margin left for billiard saloons, and if he went there, some of my informants must have seen him, for they have seen his cousin often enough!"