"I will, sir," answered George. "I suppose you mean that if he really committed the crime with malice aforethought Mrs. Jersey would have blackmailed him."
Lord Derrington nodded approvingly. "You are what the Scotch call 'quick in the uptake,' George. That is what I mean. Mrs. Jersey must have been afraid for herself or she would never have kept her claws off Ireland's money. She had plenty of mine," added the old gentleman, grimly. "Bad lot, George!"
"I quite agree with you, sir. Poor Bawdsey was honest, however."
"Well--" Lord Derrington did not assent immediately to this--"if Bawdsey had been really honest he would have asked me to be silent on the matter, and need not have used threats, however unwilling he was to carry them out. No, George, Bawdsey is like the serpent in the bamboo, straight so long as it is kept in check. I suppose he will marry the girl?"
"I think so. He is madly in love with her. I promised that you would give him a thousand pounds if he went to America."
"The deuce you did!" said Derrington, wrathfully.
"Why not, sir?" rejoined Brendon, calmly. "We want him out of our lives. He knows too much. Better send him abroad, so that he may not make any remark about this unpleasant family history."
Lord Derrington winced. George certainly had rather an unpleasant way of putting things. However, the old man silently acknowledged the justice of the speech. "You are right," he said. "But Bawdsey ought to do something for his money."
"You mean that he ought to discover the assassin?"
"Yes, I do. Whosoever killed that woman should be brought to justice, George."