The Squire, who had thrust his hands into his pockets, was striding on at a pace with which his friend found it difficult to keep up. He gave a sort of groan when Mr Pitt finished his deliberate speech, and then stopped and turned suddenly upon him.
“I tell you what, Pitt,” he said, setting his teeth. “If you weren’t who you are, I should like to—to—”
“To kick me,” said the lawyer, coolly finishing the sentence. “I should not wonder. But considering who I am, and considering that I have certainly no personal animus against the young man,—what can you make of the story?”
“Do you want me to say I think my old friend’s lad a villain? Good heavens, sir, and he was so proud of him!”
Mr Pitt’s manner changed a little, losing some of the hard ease with which he had talked, as he began to understand the pain it cost the loyal-hearted Squire to receive his impressions. He said earnestly,—
“You think too harshly of it, Chester, and perhaps I spoke too strongly. There is no villainy in the matter. Few young men would have had strength of moral purpose sufficient to resist such a temptation, and give up half a valuable property.”
“But that is exactly what he has done,” broke in Mr Chester, quickly. “We’re forgetting all that. He has voluntarily disposed of half. It is sheer nonsense, Pitt. How can you account for such an act?”
“Well, it has gone to his sister, which is a different business from losing it altogether. But I own to you that my own convictions point to a certain pressure having been brought to bear. I suspect that the secret was scented, and that this was the price of silence,—in fact, I may say that I put a question or two to young Lee, which proved pretty decidedly that he was acquainted with the contents of the letter. No other theory would explain his manner of receiving the gift, for he absolutely expressed no gratitude whatever.”
It was evident that Mr Pitt’s quiet persistence was producing the effect it usually does produce upon violent people. The Squire looked like a man who has received a blow. He walked on silently for some time, then stopping at a gate, said,—
“I think I’ll go across to Sanders’s farm; there’s a little business I want to speak to him about. You can’t miss Mannering’s house if you go straight forward.” He turned away as he spoke, but had not gone many paces before he strode back. “The boy’s father did not know a word of the matter, sir; of that I’ll stake my existence,” he said positively, and went off again without giving Mr Pitt time to answer.