"I don't know from whom you get your information, but if it is from your uncle you must be perfectly well aware that the whole matter is on a proper footing, and that there can be no reasonable doubt as to my fulfilling my engagements both in the letter and the spirit."
"Still, you have been in the habit of borrowing money from your client, sometimes, I believe, to save yourself from a difficult position. Possibly his will contains a clause relieving you of your indebtedness; possibly, also, a court of law will see its way to relieve Miss Patterson from any obligation to accept your services. I will not detain you any longer, Mr. Wilkes. Good morning. Please don't gossip with the employes as you go out."
Mr. Wilkes looked as if he would have said a good deal; but Mr. Elmore had already begun to write a letter--there was an air of complete indifference about him which apparently brought him to the conclusion that it might perhaps be as well to say nothing. He took his hat off the table and went out in silence. Presently Rodney, ringing the bell, said to the lad who answered:
"Take that letter to the address which is on the envelope at once, and bring me an answer; also tell Mr. Andrews that I wish to speak to him."
Shortly the managing man appeared in the doorway. One felt that he had hesitated whether or not to come, and that he was oppressed by something like a sense of shame at the thought of having yielded. The young gentleman, leaning back, regarded him with the pleasant little smile which, so far, had not left him--it was odd of what a number of subtle inflections his manner was capable without once disturbing the smile.
"Sit down, Andrews; take this chair."
The other did as he was told, sitting on the extreme edge, leaning slightly forward, his long legs crooked in front of him, his hands resting on his knees.
"How old are you, Andrews?"
Instead of replying to the question, the managing man started off on a line of his own.
"Mr. Elmore, you must excuse my remarking that, so far as I am concerned, I don't understand the position at all."
"You will, Andrews, shortly. I always have felt that your mental processes were perhaps a trifle slow."
"I have been in this office, boy and man, practically my whole life long; I'm older than your uncle was, and I was here before he came. He was with Harding and Fletcher before he took this business over, and, so to speak, he took me with it. It was a solid business then, and it's a solid business still--indeed, it's even better than it was. I'm almost--if not quite--as well known in the City as he was; he would have been the first to tell you that with the continued success I have had something to do. He was, in some ways, a difficult man to deal with; but no man had a better head for business--if he gave his confidence, you might be sure it was deserved, and he had entire confidence in me."
"Hear, hear! Go on; I like to hear you."
"When he said a thing he meant it. It's always been a joke among those who knew him that Graham Patterson's word was as good as a bank-note.
He has told me more than once that when he was gone----"
"He anticipated going?"
"Not more than other men; only, he was methodical and liked to have everything in order, and, if he could help it, leave nothing to chance. He has told me, as I have said, more than once, that when he was gone--since he only had a daughter--he had arranged that the whole management of the business should be in my hands, and that he had left me a small share in it. He said, frankly, some time ago that he would give me a share in it then and there; if it weren't that he was the kind of man who never would get on with a partner; and that was the case--often he was difficult. I am sure, from what he told me, that it will be found that he has left the management of the business in my hands, as well as a share. What I don't understand, therefore, is on what grounds you are taking up the position you appear to be doing. I am far from wishing to have any unpleasantness with you, Mr. Elmore, but I do not understand."
"I represent Miss Patterson."
"But I represent the business--which was her father's, not hers."
"But it's hers now, you yourself admit that you only expect to be left a small share."
"But I'm left the management."
"That's--I am far from wishing to have any unpleasantness with you, Mr. Andrews, but--you must know that that's all tuppence."
"Pray, Mr. Elmore, what do you mean by that? A will's a will; its terms are not to be lightly set aside."
"You have not told me how old you are, Mr. Andrews, but you have told me that you are my uncle's senior."
"So far as head for business goes, I am as young as ever I was."
"I will not contradict you. I am inclined to think that you are as you were--thirty, forty years ago--that is, in a commercial sense, a thousand years behind the times."
"You have no right to say that. What do you know about business--a young man like you?"
"I am a man of business, Mr. Andrews."
"I was not aware of it until this moment."
"You will be more clearly aware of it before long. I was prepared to marry my cousin had she been penniless, as only the other day--if she married me--she bade fair to be. In that event I would have made her fortune, and my own, as sure as you are sitting there. As events have turned out, so far from being penniless, she is, shall we say, the three-fourths proprietor of a flourishing business, with, probably, all the capital at her command which is needed for its development.
Under such circumstances, why should I not devote my energies to the aggrandisement of her business? If I do, do you suppose for one instant--will or no will--that the management of affairs will be in your hands? That you will lead, and I shall follow? Absurd, Andrews; the business has reached a stage at which it can branch out advantageously in a dozen different directions."
"I believe there's something in what you say--if it's in the hands of the right man."
"I am the right man! In the case of equipment of the modern man of business, if he has a head upon his shoulders, youth is his strongest card--it assures his being abreast of the procession. I know what can be done with this business, and it shall be done; I'll do it. In ten years it shall rank among the greatest of its kind in the City of London--in the world; if you live till then you'll own it."
"I'm a bachelor. I've saved enough to keep me in comfort. The business has been to me both wife and child, I could not love it better if it were my own. If I were sure that it would grow and flourish, always on a solid basis, I shouldn't care so much about myself; but it would break my heart, if, for any cause whatever, it were to go to pieces."
"It won't; you'll see. We'll talk about it again when the exact conditions of my uncle's will are known. Whatever they turn out to be, I shouldn't be surprised if you and I get on better together than at this moment you may suppose--you'll find that I like to get on with everyone. By the way, there is one disagreeable matter which, if we are to arrive at a perfect understanding, I ought to speak to you about. Are you aware that during the last few years various small acts of dishonesty have taken place in this office?"
"Mr. Elmore! I never heard of it."
"My uncle knew; he was speaking to me on the subject only a day or two ago. I fancy he even knew who the culprit was. He told me that there were proofs of what he more than hinted at locked up in one of his drawers. It was because of what he said that I was so anxious to go through his papers before anyone else could get at them."
"I hope, Mr. Elmore, you are not imputing dishonesty to me?"
"To you, my good Andrews! Do you think I don't know an honest man when I see one? In that respect I am like my uncle. I am as sure as I am sure of anything that you are as honest a man as I am--rest quite easy on that score. I only wished to point out that while you supposed yourself to be keeping a sharp eye on everything, and that nothing which took place in the office escaped your notice, these irregularities were taking place beneath your very nose. However, on that subject also I may have to speak to you again later. Still another point. The inquest on my uncle is to be held to-day at Victoria Station. As you will readily understand, Miss Patterson is not in a condition to appear at such an inquiry, if her presence can be dispensed with; we are advised it can. She wishes me to ask you if you will appear at the inquiry, and give such formal evidence as may be required. I don't know what questions will be asked you. Frankly, can you throw any light on any cause which may have induced his rash act? I take it he had no financial reason?"
"Absolutely none, of that I'm convinced. He had all the money he wanted, and there was nothing wrong with the business. It's a mystery to me."
"I fancy it will remain a mystery. Why some men and women make away with themselves is a mystery which only they themselves could have solved."
"I don't understand why you and he didn't get on better together."
"Nor I; to me it was a great disappointment. As you have said, he was difficult. He may have felt that my ideas on business matters were different from his, and didn't like it."
"Perhaps if he had lived it would have been different."
"We shall never know what, in that case, might have happened. May I take it that, in the matter of the inquest, you will do as Miss Patterson asks?"
"I will--certainly."
"Thank you. You increase the debt which she is conscious she owes you as her father's right-hand man, and which, whatever the terms of his will may be, she will never forget."
The lad entered to whom he had entrusted the letter.
"Mr. Parmiter has come back with me, sir; he's outside."
"Good; show him in. I think, Mr. Andrews, that, as the inquest is timed for noon, you had better be starting."
The old man went out, and a young one came into the room--a young man, with a student's face and fair hair. Although his cheeks were pale, his appearance was not unprepossessing. Elmore greeted him with outstretched hands.