“Well, sir, I will; and, as everything is known to Miss Bellwood, here, and my wife, I will speak out at once.”
“Then for heaven’s sake do, sir; and pray don’t dole out your words as if they were those of a letter, at a shilling a line.”
The old lawyer took no notice of the last words, but said quietly:
“There has been a suggestion, sir, that the missing man had collected together a large sum, and has gone off with no intention of returning.”
“For the present,” said Saul, with a quick glance at Gertrude.
“At all, sir.”
“Oh, rubbish. Who has dared to insinuate that? Bah! preposterous. Collect a few hundreds, and leave behind this fine estate. My dear Mr Hampton, are you serious?”
“Ideas, these, sir, which sound strange; but to which colour is given by the assertion now made that the person in question is not the true George Harrington, but an impostor.”
Saul Harrington leaped from his seat with a horrified and startled look in his eyes, and then sank back, grasping the arms and staring wildly at the old man, his jaw dropping, but no words coming from his lips.
“Yes, I surprise you, of course,” continued the old lawyer, in his calm, unruffled, legal manner.