“Then Hastings is to go on with the thing?”
“Hastings,” Winifred assured him, “will fail—just as you would. This is a matter which requires to be handled delicately—and effectively.”
“Then who is going to undertake it?”
Winifred laughed. “Oh,” she answered, “a woman, naturally. I’m going back by and by to have a word or two with Mrs. Hastings.”
CHAPTER XXVI
THE RESCUE
Winifred’s suspicions soon were proved correct, for Hastings, who drove over to the Range a day or two after her visit, returned home rather disturbed in temper after what he described as a very unsatisfactory interview with Hawtrey.
“I couldn’t make the man hear reason,” he informed Mrs. Hastings. “In fact, he practically told me that the matter was no concern of mine. I assured him that it concerned me directly as one of the executors of Harry’s will, and I’m afraid I afterwards indulged in a few personalities. I expect that blamed mortgage-broker has got a very strong hold on him.”