“You see the month brings me round,” said Nathan. “Tom’s very well.”
“And you want that money for his board I suppose?”
“Well, I don’t mind telling you that it will be convenient,” answered Nathan, rubbing his hands with the pleased look of a man who is to receive money.
“Sit down, Mr. Middleton,” said the lawyer. “I am glad you have come over; I want to talk to you.”
“I hope he won’t propose to take Tom away from me,” thought Mr. Middleton, a little nervously. It occurred to him that Tom might have written to Mr. Sharp expressing a desire to leave Plympton. Yet that seemed hardly likely, for his young ward had appeared quite contented.
“I wish to speak to you about Tom’s property,” Mr. Sharp begun.
Mr. Middleton pricked up his ears and assumed a look of deep attention. He hoped the lawyer had got tired of his trust and wanted to resign the charge of the property to him, in which case he could charge a nice commission.
“I believe I told you on the occasion of my first visit that Tom’s fortune amounted to forty thousand dollars.”
“And a very nice, ample property,” murmured Mr. Middleton.
“But when it came into my charge it was invested in a way that seemed to me injudicious. For instance, Mr. Temple, Tom’s father, lent ten thousand dollars to a New York merchant, with absolutely no security—a very unbusiness-like proceeding.”