“That, if you will believe me, Mr. Isbister, is one of the problems most constantly before my mind. We happen to be—as a matter of fact, there are no very trustworthy connexions of ours. It is a grotesque and unprecedented position.”
“Rather,” said Isbister.
“It seems to me it’s a case of some public body, some practically undying guardian. If he really is going on living—as the doctors, some of them, think. As a matter of fact, I have gone to one or two public men about it. But, so far, nothing has been done.”
“It wouldn’t be a bad idea to hand him over to some public body—the British Museum Trustees, or the Royal College of Physicians. Sounds a bit odd, of course, but the whole situation is odd.”
“The difficulty is to induce them to take him.”
“Red tape, I suppose?”
“Partly.”
Pause. “It’s a curious business, certainly,” said Isbister. “And compound interest has a way of mounting up.”
“It has,” said Warming. “And now the gold supplies are running short there is a tendency towards ... appreciation.”
“I’ve felt that,” said Isbister with a grimace. “But it makes it better for him.”