"I trusted you and you cheated me," Osborn resumed with poignant bitterness.
"You lived in false security and refused to think. You knew the reckoning must come, but were satisfied if you could put it off. Now you must bear the consequences, it is not my fault. However, this is not important. Will you sell?"
"No," said Osborn hoarsely. "I will not sell to you."
Hayes smiled. "You must sell to somebody and will not get as good a price."
Osborn got up and went out with a dragging step. The blow had left him numb, but as he drove home in the rain he had a hazy notion that Hayes' statements were to some extent justified. He had lived in false security; seeing how things were going and yet refusing to believe. Somehow, it had looked impossible for him to lose Tarnside. The estate was his by the sacred right of inheritance; for a hundred years there had been an Osborn at the Hall. Yet the estate had gone, and he was to blame. It had, so to speak, melted in his careless hands. He felt old and broken when he told his wife and daughter about the interview.
Mrs. Osborn did not look as much surprised as he had thought and Grace, although sympathetic, was calm. They had known the blow was coming and were ready for the shock. After a time, Osborn left them and Grace looked at her mother.
"I must tell Kit."
"Yes," said Mrs. Osborn. "I think he ought to know, though this is not a matter in which he can help."
"It looks like that," Grace agreed and then paused with a confident smile. "But Kit's rather wonderful; you don't really know him yet. He always finds a way when there is something hard to be done."
"Ah," said Mrs. Osborn, "there is comfort in our troubles since they have given you a man you can trust."