“Gerald knows all, and he is the only one to hear. But to resume: I saved you from disgrace and disinheritance. I did so against my wishes, because your need was so great, and you solemnly promised to provide handsomely for me and mine when you came into your fortune.”
“I was ready to promise anything in my extremity. You took advantage of my position.”
“The bargain I made was a fair one. It touches but one-sixteenth of the fortune which you inherited. Bradley Wentworth, it was and is a debt of honor!”
“To talk of my giving you such a sum is perfect nonsense!” said Wentworth roughly.
“You did not regard it in that light fifteen years since,” returned the sick man reproachfully.
“Of course I admit that you did me a service, and I am ready to pay for it. Give me the papers and I will give you a thousand dollars.”
“A thousand dollars in repayment of my great sacrifice! Have riches made you narrow and mean?”
“Riches have not made me a fool!” retorted Wentworth. “Let me tell you that a thousand dollars is no small sum. It will give that boy of yours a great start in life. It is more than you and I had at his age.”
“You have a son, have you not?”
“Yes.”