"No one, but the wearer, knows where the shoe pinches," quoted Hendle grimly.
"Quite so, and no one ever will know unless the wearer explains the bad fit, my friend. Bothered? You! With beeves and lands and money, and the promise of a beautiful and desirable damsel to be your wife."
"That's just it," said the visitor, seizing the opening. "I may lose all these things, Carrington."
The barrister wheeled his chair round to stare, and his keen dark face was alive with curiosity. "Have you been outrunning the constable?" he asked; "has the lady changed her mind? Has----"
"You are wide of the mark. To put the matter in a nutshell, it's a will."
"A will! What about it?"
"This much. It exists and may disinherit me."
"The deuce. In whose favor?"
"In favor of Julius Mallien, my cousin."
"Then he will have his rights, if he has a leg to stand on," said Carrington grimly. "Mallien struck me as a man who would go through fire and water for himself. Why did your father make a will in his favor?"