“She had.”
“Take a chair, won’t you, Ogilvie?”
Ogilvie dropped into one. Acland looked at him and then said, slowly:
“I judged from Mrs. Ogilvie’s note that there was nothing serious the matter. I hope I am not mistaken.”
“You are mistaken,” replied Ogilvie; “but I cannot quite bear to discuss this matter. Shall we enter at once on the real object of my visit?”
“Certainly,” said Acland.
A clerk entered the room. “Leave us,” said Acland to the man, “and say to any inquirers that I am particularly engaged. Now, Ogilvie,” he added as the clerk withdrew, “I am quite at your service.”
“Thank you. There is a little business which has just come to my ears, and which I wish to arrange quickly. My wife tells me that she has borrowed two thousand pounds from you in order to pay a deposit on the place on the Thames called Silverbel.”
“Yes, the place where your wife is now staying.”