"So I understand from Mr. Cane himself. I absolve you from fortune-hunting, since you knew nothing of Lady Staunton's intentions. But do you think it was quite fair of her to leave the money away from her own family?"
"That is rather a difficult question to put to the man who has benefited, Mr. Enistor. And let me remind you that by marrying Alice I bring back the fortune to your family."
"I think not. Your wife benefits, but I don't."
"Both Alice and I are prepared to be your bankers," said Montrose uneasily.
"To give me what is rightfully my own," retorted the Squire, with a curling lip. "Thank you for nothing. No, that won't do. Until my sister met you it was always her intention to leave the money to me, to restore the position of our family in the county. I want the fortune you hold to myself, as I am a poor man. It is not for a base ambition that I seek the income, but for the sake of going into Parliament and helping to govern. I want power, I want a great sphere to work in. Without money I am condemned to stay in this cramped neighbourhood eating out my heart."
"I quite understand that with such ambitions you feel the need of money, Mr. Enistor, and with Alice's permission I am willing to give you any reasonable sum you desire to forward your aims."
Enistor did not appear to be overcome by this generous offer, or even thankful for the same. "I take nothing as a gift and I claim my rights."
"The whole fortune of your sister?"
"Certainly! She ought to have willed it to me."
"I understood from Alice that you were quite agreeable that Lady Staunton should do what she wished with her own," said Montrose slowly.