“You seem to have been muddling things nicely in my absence,” observed Trimmer after a moment, with cool audacity.
“Have I? That’s all you know. Who told you what I’ve been doing?” 178
“Your heir is dead, I hear. I hope you had nothing to do with that.”
“What do you mean, sir—what do you mean?”
“I mean that I hope you didn’t send him away to the war to save money and keep him from further debt.”
“My family affairs are nothing to do with you, sir.”
“So you have told me for the last forty years, sir. I liked the young man. There was nothing bad about him. But I hear you drove him to forgery.”
“It’s a lie—a lie!”
“How did he get your checks?”
The miser made no answer. Trimmer came over, and fixed glittering eyes upon him. The old man cowered.