“Well, my dear child, no man can perform impossible feats; Brian had nothing to leave you, and therefore was helpless in the matter. Oh, I don’t think you should blame Brian for that. Having nothing, he could leave nothing; there’s the whole thing in a nutshell.”
She looked at him with a puzzled expression; the greater sorrow had slipped away for a moment, while these commonplace things were forced upon her. “But Brian told me we were very rich, or at least that we had a good income; he told me he made a lot of money with his books.”
“Ah, my child, when a man’s in love he’ll say or do anything. After all, Brian’s desire was a laudable one; his wish was to keep you from sorrow or want. His own income was small, decidedly small; the—remainder came from another source.”
“Another source,” she echoed. “I seem indeed to have been living in some world from which I am rudely awakened. What was this mysterious income which has gone on so long and seemed inexhaustible, and yet has suddenly ceased? What was it?”
“Well, I suppose, now that the thing is ended, you may as well know everything; it can not matter very much. My nephew, whom I believe you know—of course you know him—has been generous enough, having a large private income of his own far beyond his wants, to provide Brian with—well, with considerable sums—really, I believe, out of an admiration he possessed for Brian’s work. That’s the whole matter.”
“Oh, my God!” She had risen suddenly to her feet and was covering her face with her hands; the man stood still, somewhat amazed, watching her. Presently she took her hands away, and he saw with more amazement that her face was wet. She came toward him quickly, and had a difficulty at first in getting out her words; some of the phrases were broken into by little hysterical laughs. “Of course, all this comes—comes as something of a surprise—almost a shock—to me. You’ve told it all—all so suddenly that I haven’t been able to think of it—to get it clearly. Tell me one thing: how long has this robbery been going on?”
“Robbery! Really, my dear child, you use the wrong term. There has been no question of robbery; all the payments that have been made have been made freely and willingly.”
“Yes, I can believe that,” she said softly, and covered her face again. “But how long has it been going on?”
“Well, I believe we were in temporary difficulties soon after my young nephew left school. My eccentric sister—generous soul—had placed large sums of money in the boy’s hands, while we were actually on the verge of starvation. Comethup came to our rescue; he has been coming to our rescue periodically ever since.”