“Are you prepared to pay the whole today?”
“Yes, sir.”
This ought to have been gratifying intelligence, but it was not. The squire looked quite crestfallen.
“No, I didn't bring a receipt,” he said, slowly.
“I'll bring writing materials,” said Herbert, promptly.
He left the room, but appeared almost instantly with pen, ink, and paper.
The squire sat down to the table with a disappointed air, and slowly wrote the required document.
“He seems sorry to receive the money,” thought Herbert, who was quick in reading the faces of others. “I wonder why?” and he gazed at the visitor in some perplexity.
The squire received the money, and handed the widow the receipt. Still he did not seem inclined to go. He was thinking how to broach the subject of selling the house.
“Mrs. Carter,” he began, “forty-five dollars a year seems a good deal for you to pay.”