"In the first place he tries to evade the death duties as far as possible; and these fall upon him rather heavily, as he was related to the deceased only by marriage. Mr. Drake would naturally prefer to receive one thousand pounds for the vases rather than nine hundred. In the second place, he is anxious to discover how much we know about these vases. It is true they belong to him, but he is by no means certain of their value. If we make a fuss about the vases he will guess they are genuine; whereas, if we make no inquiry, he will evade the duty and at the same time be satisfied that you are not scheming to get hold of them."
"I never thought of such a thing!" exclaimed Percy.
"The best thing we can do is to send down an expert in china. I shall first write to Mr. Drake, informing him that he must produce the vases."
"Send Crampy! You needn't write; I'll go and see him," cried Percy eagerly.
"We could not get a better man than Mr. Crampy; but I'm afraid his fee will be rather high."
"He'll do it for a guinea if I ask him. Crampy is a great friend of mine. He told me to keep an eye upon the vases."
Mr. Hunter being perfectly agreeable, Percy snatched his hat and made off, muttering as he reached the street, "For poor old George's sake I must tell him not to value them too high."
George in the meantime had nothing much to worry about, although somewhat disgusted at the low figure placed upon the furniture. He and Mr. Hunter wrote to each other every day like a couple of lovers; George always hoping that the lawyer enjoyed a continuance of perfect health; while Mr. Hunter trusted himself to anticipate a complete cure from the backache which had blighted Mr. Drake's existence for so long. Kezia and Bessie were moderately happy while taking stock of the goods which appeared to belong to them under the joint tenancy created by the scraps of paper; but there was obviously a certain amount of coldness arising between them at the prospect of a day of settlement. George was not much accounted of by either, although the interference of the valuer was bitterly resented, and George had much difficulty in making them understand that, whenever a person of quality departed this life, the Government required a perfect stranger from one of the State Departments to set a price upon the furniture, in order that statistics as to the national wealth might be obtained.
Although they were both prepared to fight for the possession of the Egyptian mummy, which Robert was especially anxious to see set up against the wall of his parlour, and Kezia had long regarded as the joy and inspiration of her spiritual existence, neither of them showed the slightest interest in the Chinese vases which they regarded as vulgar. Vases to Kezia and Bessie were—vases; that is to say, conspicuous objects set upon either end of mantelpiece or dresser, to be replaced by others when broken. Any little village shop, or travelling Cheap-Jack, sold artistic vases, such as those Mr. George had lately purchased to delight his eyes, of a beautiful bright green painted with lovely roses. As Kezia and Bessie were quite prepared to make George a free gift of all the rubbish in the house, they assured him, in the kindest possible fashion, that the vases with hideous dragons on them were his, together with the tortoise and cats, and any other little thing he might like to have as a remembrance of his aunt. George did not thank them much, but then he had never been demonstrative.
Letters from the lawyer and expert reached George by the same post; the one informing him the vases must be produced; the other announcing the day upon which the valuation would be made. When Mr. Crampy arrived he was received at the door by Bessie, who spent most of the day regarding her own home from the windows of Windward House and, as no visitor was expected by any one except George, who as usual had kept his own counsel, she said, "Not today, thankye," and would have shut him out; but, perceiving that the gentleman appeared somewhat agitated, she added with less severity, "Have ye come vor anything?"