“What! you’ve been down to the bank?”
“No, I have just come from Asherton Hall. What passed there I cannot explain to you at present, but I have written to Vivian, giving him his congé.”
“Do you mean to tell me,” thundered the colonel, rising and thumping the table with his clenched fist, “that you’re going to throw over the richest bachelor in the country for a blackguard, a forger, a man who couldn’t play the straight game?”
“Did you play the straight game, father, when you concealed the fact that Dick lived? You meant to trick me into a speedy marriage with your friend.”
“I—I won’t be talked to like this. There comes a time when a father must assert his authority, and I say—” 264
“Father, you’ll be ill, if you excite yourself like this.”
“Don’t talk about playing the straight game to me. I suppose you’ve been to Asherton Hall to see the rascal. He’s hiding there, no doubt.”
“No, he’s not. It is you who know where he is. You’ve seen him, and you must tell me where to find him. I won’t rest till I’ve heard the true story of the forgery from his own lips.”
“If I knew where he was at the present moment,” exclaimed the colonel, thumping the table again, “I’d give information to the police. As for Ormsby, when he gets your letter—if you’ve written it—he’ll search the wide world for him. He will be saving me the trouble. Swinton must pay the penalty—and the sooner the better.”
“I’ve seen Mr. Herresford, who said it was only a question of money.”