done for one who was near to me, but--

RICHARD

That's all very well, uncle, and I have no criticism to make. What's over
is over. But when you speak of my duty to you, I think of how mother died
so young, and how I found out afterward her affairs were so difficult. I
had no idea--she sacrificed herself for me so long that I took it for
granted. But I think that you, as a business man, must have known.

UNCLE RICHARD

You found that everything was mortgaged? Well, Richard, it pains me to
recall these things. Your father, unfortunately, was a poor business man.
As for the mortgage, Richard, I held that myself.

RICHARD

You did!

UNCLE RICHARD

Yes. Even your mother did not know. I acted through an agent, and the
interest was two per cent.

RICHARD

But--

UNCLE RICHARD