The lawyer bowed.
“I want to see Miss Gertrude Bellwood,” said the visitor.
“I am her nearest friend, sir; and, I may say, I am deputed to hear your business. You come from Mr George Harrington, I presume?”
“Well, no, sir. I only reached Liverpool yesterday, London this afternoon. I am George Harrington.”
“What?”
“You seem surprised. I received letters from my grandfather, asking me, urgently, to return to England. I had made my preparations for returning, when I met with—an accident, and I have been dangerously ill. When I recovered and reached San Francisco, I found another letter announcing my grandfather’s death, and I came on at once.”
The old man looked at his visitor curiously.
“May I ask to whom I am speaking?” continued the young man.
“My name is Hampton, sir. I was the late Mr Harrington’s confidential legal adviser and executor.”
“Oh, indeed. Then that makes matters easy for me. You know everything, then?”