"Precisely; Lovell wrote me a letter to that effect. My father kept two accounts here, I believe—a deposit and a drawing account?"
"He did."
"And those two accounts have gone on since my return in the same manner as during his lifetime?"
"Precisely. The income which Mr. Percival Dunbar set aside for his own use was seven thousand a year. He rarely spent as much as that; sometimes he spent less than half. The balance of this income, and his double share in the profits of the business, went to the credit of his deposit account, and various sums have been withdrawn from time to time, and duly invested under his order."
"Perhaps you can let me see the ledgers containing those two accounts?"
"Most certainly."
Mr. Balderby touched the spring of a handbell upon his table.
"Ask Mr. Austin to bring the daily balance and deposit accounts ledgers," he said to the person who answered his summons.
Clement Austin appeared five minutes afterwards, carrying two ponderous morocco-bound volumes.
Mr. Balderby opened both ledgers, and placed them before his senior partner. Henry Dunbar looked at the deposit account. His eyes ran eagerly down the long row of figures before him until they came to the sum total. Then his chest heaved, and he drew a long breath, like a man who feels almost stifled by some internal oppression.