"My uncle, of course."
"Your uncle, was he? I never saw Mr. John Rayner. He had left before my time; but he held only a subordinate place in the firm. I could tell you what it was by looking up records."
"It's of no account! Then, sir, if you were not in the firm at that time you may not be aware of the fact that my father, David Rayner, was a partner."
Mr. Fyson shook his head negatively, and the young man continued in a louder voice:
"Pray, why else does your firm supply me with an allowance?—has done so for years—since I was a child of four, sent at my father's death to England with my aunt, Mrs. John Rayner."
"Your father's death!" repeated Mr. Fyson; and Alfred Rayner felt certain that his voice faltered when he uttered these words.
"Ha, there's some villainy here—the old story I expect of an orphan defrauded of his rights," thought Rayner, but he resolved to be nothing if not practical, and bending forward with a facetious smile, he said in a tone of well-simulated frankness: "Well, I'll be open with you, Mr. Fyson. The fact is I came to see whether the firm can allow me a bigger share of the profits than I've been drawing. I'll even consent to let bygones be bygones if you'll deal straight with me at last. I'm a man now and a lawyer to boot, and you'll not make me believe that the only son of an old partner of the firm has not a right to a bigger slice of the profits of this prosperous house than the paltry sums I've been having."
As he spoke he felt as if he were placing an ultimatum in the hands of a trapped man on whose face he now fixed his eyes, saying to himself: "He's fairly caught now, and if I can get gold enough to pull me through my present involvements I'll defer my claim for a time."
He continued to watch Mr. Fyson, who preserved silence for some moments, his face wearing a perplexed air. Passing his hand across his forehead, his lips parted as if he were going to speak, then he closed them again, appearing still in doubt as to what his answer should be. At length he said very slowly:
"Your plea for a larger allowance is unfortunately flanked by more than one fallacy. I am really at a loss to know where to disentangle these." He cleared his throat and went on: "For the second time I must tell you that no such person as David Rayner ever existed in this firm, either as partner or underling. Second, that the allowance which you receive is not from the profits of this firm but from a private source. In fact, you are not as you suppose the fatherless son of any old partner of Truelove Brothers."