“That's it,” said Roger. “Just the word I wanted. Though I must say that now I know what he was worth, I'm not at all surprised he was disliked. Mean, very mean. You'd hardly believe this, but fifty pounds was all I could get out of him, and he only gave me that because he didn't want it to get about that a brother of his was spending the night on the Embankment. He'd picked up a lot of very respectable ideas, I thought. Didn't like me coming to his house at all. If I were one of these sensitive people, which thank God I'm not, I should have been quite offended at the way he took it. You'd hardly believe it, but he only gave me that miserable fifty pounds on condition I didn't come near him again.”
“I'm surprised you were satisfied with fifty pounds, Mr Vereker.”
“I wasn't at all satisfied with it, but I'm a reasonable man, and you can't expect people to carry much more than fifty pounds on them. Besides, I didn't know he'd made such a packet out of the old mine.”
Antonia suddenly elected to take part in the conversation, and said forcefully: “Look here, I don't want to crab your story, but if it's got to be Kenneth or you or me (the murderer, I mean), I'd rather it was you. So don't tell me you were going to fade out of Arnold's life for fifty pounds!”
“Certainly not,” replied her imperturbable half-brother. “As a matter of fact, the story is rather funny. Because I hadn't actually thought how much Arnold was probably good for. The poor fellow was very upset at seeing me; oh, very upset! Well, you can't really blame him, because I've always been the disreputable member of the family, and. I daresay he was afraid I might drag the name in the mud, or something. Naturally, as soon as I saw how green he was looking I realised that this was where I tried my hand at a little polite blackmail. I said I'd come to stay with him. He didn't like that at all. In fact, he got a bit violent at one time. However, he cooled off after a bit and offered me fifty pounds to clear out. So I pocketed that, and said I'd think it over. Then he came out with what he thought was a very good idea, though I wasn't so struck with it myself. He was to give me a ticket to Australia, or any other place I liked at the other side of the world, and pay me two hundred pounds a year for as long as I stopped there.”
“I call that a good offer,” said Antonia.
“Yes, only I don't want to go to Australia,” explained Roger.
“What has become of the money your father left you?” asked Giles.
Roger looked faintly surprised. “I don't know. That was a long time ago. You don't expect money to last for ever. Anyway, it didn't.”
“Good lord!” said Giles. “Well, go on!”