The lawyer opened his eyes unusually wide and screwed up his mouth into the form of a puckered O.
“She is his mother,” he said after a pause. “But why—why should he bother about such a piece of business as this? Why should he be interested in upsetting the deed when it was obviously the intention of your aunt to present you with the property? You have not quarrelled with her, have you?”
“Oh no, there was no quarrel. She came to us with her story, of course, and we at once offered to do something for her,” replied the niece.
“Of course. That was the sensible thing to do. But this only makes the matter seem more mysterious. She accepted your offer, I suppose, and why, then, she should——”
“She didn't accept it.”
“What! Did she make a demand on you to return the whole property?”
“Never. But she suggested that we should make good the three hundred a year of her annuity.”
“But isn't that what you say you promised her?”
“We told her we couldn't afford that; but we offered her fifty-two pounds a year.”
“A pound a week—one pound a week? Oh, my dear lady! A pound a week! Surely you are joking.”