"He has written to me about the money, Mr Rubb."

"Yes; he came to me, and behaved shamefully to me; and he saw
your brother, too, and has been making all manner of ignominious
inquiries. Those lawyers can never understand that there can be
anything of friendly feeling about money. They can't put friendly
feelings into their unconscionable bills. I believe the world would
go on better if there was no such thing as an attorney in it. I
wonder who invented them, and why?"

Miss Mackenzie could give him no information on this point, and
therefore he went on:

"But you must tell me what he has said, and what it is he wants us to
do. For your sake, if you ask us, Miss Mackenzie, we'll do anything.
We'll sell the coats off our backs, if you wish it. You shall never
lose one shilling by Rubb and Mackenzie as long as I have anything to
do with the firm. But I'm sure you will excuse me if I say that we
can do nothing at the bidding of that old cormorant."

"I don't know that there's anything to be done, Mr Rubb."

"Is not there? Well, it's very generous in you to say so; and you
always are generous. I've always told your brother, since I had the
honour of knowing you, that he had a sister to be proud of. And, Miss
Mackenzie, I'll say more than that; I've flattered myself that I've
had a friend to be proud of. But now I must tell you why I've come
down to-day; you know I was to have been here next week. Well, when
Mr Slow came to me and I found what was up, I said to myself at once
that it was right you should know exactly--exactly--how the matter
stands. I was going to explain it next week, but I wouldn't leave you
in suspense when I knew that that lawyer was going to trouble you."

"It hasn't troubled me, Mr Rubb."

"Hasn't it though, really? That's so good of you again! Now the
truth is--but it's pretty nearly just what I told you that day after
dinner, when you agreed, you know, to what we had done."

Here he paused, as though expecting an answer.

"Yes, I did agree."

"Just at present, while certain other parties have a right to hold
the title-deeds, and I can't quite say how long that may be, we
cannot execute a mortgage in your favour. The title-deeds represent
the property. Perhaps you don't know that."

"Oh yes, I know as much as that."

"Well then, as we haven't the title-deeds, we can't execute the
mortgage. Perhaps you'll say you ought to have the title-deeds."

"No, Mr Rubb, I don't want to say anyth