Mr. St. John lifted his eyebrows. "Not guilty of extravagance?"
"Isaac, I said not so guilty as you may deem me; not so guilty as appears on the surface. I fell into that dangerous practice of drawing bills. When I bought pictures and could not pay for them, I would give a bill for the amount. When the bill was due, if I could not meet it, I borrowed money upon another, and so patched up the deficiency in that way. It is that that has ruined me. If I owed a hundred pounds I had to pay two for it, sometimes three. Let a man once enter upon this system, and he won't be long above water."
"Did you never think of the ending?"
"Yes, often. But I could not pull up. There it is! Fairly enter on the downhill path, and there's no getting back again. I can redeem myself in time, Isaac. If I choose to give up all sources of expense, and live upon a shilling a day, as the saying runs, things will right themselves."
"How long do you think you would be doing it?"
"Four or five years, I suppose."
"Just so. The best years of your life. I should not like to see it, Frederick."
"It might do me good."
"It would scarcely be a position for the heir of Castle Wafer."
"Isaac, believe me, I have never presumed upon that idea; have never acted upon it. There have not been wanting insidious advisers urging me to forestall my possible right to its revenues, but I never listened to them. Though I squandered my own property, I have not trenched on yours."