"For what?"
"For business connected with the Purple Fern."
"Anthony!" Clarice recoiled, as though he had struck her. "Oh, I know it sounds ridiculous," said Ackworth, hurriedly, "and perhaps it may prove to be ridiculous. All the same, the fact of that man searching Jerce on the terrace, and this mysterious illness, and the envelope containing the stamped fern, and the presence of the gold box, which Jerce now has--well, you see--I don't exactly know how to put it."
Clarice drew near to him again. "Do you mean to say that Uncle Henry has anything to do with these murders?"
"Oh, no--I don't go so far as that, my dear. Do you remember that when I became engaged to you, you asked me to see Barras, the lawyer, since your guardian was too ill to be spoken to?"
"Yes, I wanted you to inquire about the money."
"Well, I spoke to Barras last week, and learn that you certainly get two thousand per annum in a couple of years. Ferdy gets the same, and Mr. Horran is sole guardian, with a right to appoint another guardian should he die. Mr. Barras, wishing to stand well with me, I suppose, as your future husband, hinted that you might not find everything right at Horran's death."
"But Uncle Henry told me that everything was in order," cried Miss Baird, "and declared that he had appointed me guardian to look after Ferdy's money when he died--when Uncle Henry died, I mean."
"Humph! That does not entirely agree with Mr. Barras' hints, and he did no more than hint. But something is wrong, and Mr. Horran--as I understood from Barras--is the cause of its being wrong."
"Uncle Henry has always been a good friend."