‘No, not about that. Since then a very unexpected thing has happened to me.’
The story was once more related, vastly to Mr. Westlake’s satisfaction. Cheerful news concerning his friends always put him in the best of spirits.
He shook his head, laughing.
‘Come, come, Mutimer, this’ll never do! I’m not sure that we shall not have to consider your expulsion from the Union.’
Richard went on to mention the matters of legal routine in which he hoped Mr. Westlake would serve him. These having been settled—
‘I wish to speak of something more important,’ he said. ‘You take it for granted, I hope, that I’m not going to make the ordinary use of this fortune. As yet I’ve only been able to hit on a few general ideas; I’m clear as to the objects I shall keep before me, but how best to serve them wants more reflection. I thought if I talked it over with you in the first place—’
The door opened, and a lady half entered the room.
‘Oh, I thought you were alone,’ she remarked to Mr. Westlake. ‘Forgive me!’
‘Come in! Here’s our friend Mutimer. You know Mrs. Westlake?’
A few words had passed between this lady and Richard in the lecture-room a few weeks before. She was not frequently present at such meetings, but had chanced, on the occasion referred to, to hear Mutimer deliver an harangue.