"Certainly; it astonished me beyond measure that he should have done such a thing. I wrote to Brander at once hoping for some sort of explanation. I was at the time satisfied with that that he gave me, but it was, as you know, because the matter, on reflection, has since seemed so extraordinary that I came to you to try and get some further information about it."
"You saw your father after this supposed transaction, Mr. Hartington?"
"Yes, I was down there for a fortnight."
"And he did not mention it to you?"
"Not a word!"
"Was it his habit to talk on business matters with you?"
"He never had any business matters except about the estate, and he generally told me if he had any difficulty about his rents, and discussed any improvements he thought of making, but beyond that there was never any question of money. Sometimes he would say 'My balance at the bank is rather larger than usual, Cuthbert, and if you like an extra hundred you can have it,' which I never did."
"Well, of course it is only negative evidence that he made no allusion to his having purchased those shares, still, as he was in the habit of speaking to you about things, he might very naturally have said 'I have been investing some spare cash in the shares of the bank here.'"
"Yes, I should have thought he would have done so!"
"You don't think he would have abstained from telling you, because he might have thought you would have considered it a rash speculation."