"Something? What?"
"I don't know, but there's something: something that Papa has known for sixty years, ever since he was a child of thirteen. Uncle Daan has only known it a little while and apparently has come to Holland to consult Papa."
"How do you know?"
"I know: take it from me that I know. And I know more besides."
"What is that?"
"That Aunt Floor does not know and that Uncle Daan does not mean to tell her. That Grandmamma's old baboe was called Ma-Boeten and that she's dead. That her son is a mantri at Tegal and that Uncle Daan has given him money. That's all I know."
They looked at each other. Both of them were very pale.
"What an incoherent story!" said Leopold d'Herbourg, barrister and solicitor, with a consequential shrug of the shoulders.
Ina, well-bred as usual, cast up her eyes wearily:
"It's very important. I don't know what it is, but it's important and I want to know. Could it have to do with a legacy?"