Then turning she said:

"Do you understand now, Alan?"

"I think so," he answered. "You mean that I have been in bad company."

"Very bad, Alan. One of them is my own uncle, but the truth remains the
truth. Alan, they are no better than thieves; all this wealth is stolen,
and I thank God that you have found it out in time before you became one
of them in heart as well as in name."

"If you refer to the Sahara Syndicate," he said, "the idea is sound
enough; indeed, I am responsible for it. The thing can be done, great
benefits would result, too long to go into."

"Yes, yes, Alan, but you know that they never mean to do it, they only
mean to get the millions from the public. I have lived with my uncle for
ten years, ever since my poor father died, and I know the backstairs
of the business. There have been half a dozen schemes like this, and
although they have had their bad times, very bad times, he and Sir
Robert have grown richer and richer. But what has happened to those who
have invested in them? Oh! let us drop the subject, it is unpleasant.
For myself it doesn't matter, because although it isn't under my
control, I have money of my own. You know we are a plebeian lot on the
male side, my grandfather was a draper in a large way of business, my
father was a coal-merchant who made a great fortune. His brother, my
uncle, in whom my father always believed implicitly, took to what is
called Finance, and when my father died he left me, his only child,
in his guardianship. Until I am five and twenty I cannot even marry or
touch a halfpenny without his consent; in fact if I should marry against