"Yes! Durham was in a Goorkha regiment, and so was Rebb. Later, I daresay, Rebb exchanged to the West Indies. I always heard that he came from that place."
"Yes. Jamaica," said Haskins mechanically, thinking of Geary. "So this is why Rebb has shut up the girl, and put about the rumor that she is crazy. The plotting beast!"
"He's all that," nodded the solicitor, emphatically, "in that way he prevents Mavis ever getting a husband, and so, while she remains unmarried, he can enjoy his income--or rather her income--in a legal way."
"In a legal way," echoed Gerald, disgusted. "Why, the man ought to be hanged and quartered."
"You can punish him more by depriving him of his income."
"Oh, I'll do that. So far as I am personally concerned, I don't care two straws for the income----"
"Oh, come now. Human nature----"
"I don't go by human nature," interrupted Haskins sharply; "I go by my own feelings. I would marry Mavis without one penny, since my five hundred a year and what I make by writing is enough to keep things going. But Rebb must be punished, and I shall do all I can to deprive him of this six thousand a year."
"There is no necessity to bother," said Tod soothingly, "the thing acts automatically, as you might say. When Mavis becomes your wife the money is paid over--or rather the income is transferred to her on the wedding day. The sole chance that Rebb has of keeping his money is to prevent the marriage."
"Oh, he'll do his best to do that," said Gerald, with a frown, "I'll tell you what, Tod, that man won't stop short of murder."