"Yes, my dear friend, why not, though Barbara does not want money, for
she has plenty of her own, in first-class securities that I could never
persuade her to vary, for she is shrewd in that way and steadily refuses
to sign anything. Also she will probably be my heiress--and, Aylward,"
here a sickly look of alarm spread itself over his face, "I don't know
how long I have to live. That infernal doctor examined my heart this
morning and told me that it was weak. Weak was his word, but from the
tone in which he said it, I believe that he meant more. Aylward, I
gather that I may die any day."

"Nonsense, Haswell, so may we all," he replied, with an affectation of
cheerfulness which failed to carry conviction.

Presently Mr. Haswell, who had hidden his face in his hand, looked up
with a sigh and said:

"Oh! yes, of course you have my support, for after all she is my only
relation and I should be glad to see her safely married. Also, as it
happens, she can't marry anyone without my consent, at any rate until
she is five and twenty, for if she does, under her father's will all her
property goes away, most of it to charities, except a beggarly £200 a
year. You see my brother John had a great horror of imprudent marriages
and a still greater belief in me, which as it chances, is a good thing
for you."

"Had he?" said Sir Robert. "And pray why is it a good thing for me?"

"Because, my dear Aylward, unless my observation is at fault, there is
another Richard in the field, our late partner, Vernon, of whom, by