“I could teach either, sir.”
“And of course you are well up in English branches?”
“I think I am.”
“My sister hints that you are poor, and obliged to earn your own living. How, then, have you been able to secure so good an education?”
“I have only been poor for a short time. My father left me fifty thousand dollars, but it was lost by my guardian.”
“Who was your guardian?”
“Mr. Benjamin Fielding.”
“I knew him well. I don’t think he was an unprincipled man, but he was certainly imprudent, and was led into acts that were reprehensible. Did he lose all your money for you?”
“Yes, sir.”
“What did you do?”