Here his mind halted a long time. When he resumed at the point where he had left off, he added but one more thought:
"I'll sell the Manor."
He paused much longer, said to himself, as though he were familiarising himself with the whole situation by repeating the words forming the key to it:
"I'll sell the Manor."
After going over the words so often that they began to lose their meaning, he started suddenly:
"No. I cannot sell the Manor. I cannot sell the Manor House. A man in my position must have a house. A man in my position——
"My position! My position! My position!
"Curse it, why can't I keep my head clear? I am not going mad, I should hope. What an amusing maniac I should make just now! The people would gather from all sides to hear honest Wat raving about stealing the property of the baronet. It would be town talk. Never was mad-mad so mad, they would say. But let me get on——
"Of course a man in my position ought to have a house. I must have a place to see my friends in. I must entertain a little and——"
His thoughts paused again a while, and then he abandoned thinking on the line he had been following with the mental exclamation: "No, no! I must not think of that now. I must not think of that—over the open grave of poor Bee!"