"Indeed; why not?"
"I'm not going to have such a sin on my conscience."
"There's no sin, you Puritan," he said quickly, "the re-incarnation idea is rubbish; no one will appear to claim the property, so why not give the ten thousand a year to Reginald?"
"It would dispossess Miss Una."
"It would do nothing of the sort--under the will Miss Una cannot claim--the lawyers don't know anything about the re-incarnation theory; all they know is that Squire Garsworth has a son who will appear and prove his claim by the possession of certain papers and a seal ring--until that son appears no one can claim the estate."
"Miss Una could dispute the will on the ground of madness."
"I dare say she could, but she won't--if Reginald becomes master of Garsworth Grange she will marry him, and will enjoy the property just the same as if she were sole heiress--on the other hand, if he does not become master she'll have to wait till this non-existent son appears or upsets the will, one of which things will be impossible and the other troublesome."
Patience thought for a moment or two and then looked up.
"How do you know Reginald will marry Una?"
"Because I've got eyes in my head. The boy is madly in love with her. I'm sure you must see that your helping me to place Reginald in possession of this property will hurt no one and be for the benefit of both Una and your own son."