tails of her father's end, which occurred in
a very characteristic fashion.

"You see, dear," she said, "as he grew older his passion for
money-making increased more and more; why, I am sure I cannot say,
seeing that Heaven knows he had enough."

"Yes," said Godfrey, "I suppose you are a very rich woman."

She nodded, saying: "So rich that I don't know how rich, for really I
haven't troubled even to read all the figures, and as yet they are not
complete. Moreover, I believe that soon I shall be much richer. I'll
tell you why presently. The odd thing is, too, that my father died
intestate, so I get every farthing. I believe he meant to make a will
with some rather peculiar provisions that perhaps you can guess. But
this will was never made."

"Why not?" asked Godfrey.

"Because he died first, that's all. It was this way. He, or rather his
firm, which is only another name for him, for he owned three-fourths of
the capital, got some tremendous shipping contract with the Government
arising out of the war, that secures an enormous profit to them; how
much I can't tell you, but hundreds and hundreds of thousands of
pounds. He had been very anxious about this contract, for his terms
were so stiff that the officials who manage such affairs hesitated
about signing them. At last one day after a long and I gather, stormy
interview with I don't know whom, in the course of which some rather
strong language seems to have been used, the contract was signed and
delivered to the firm. My father came home to this house with a copy of
it in his pocket. He was very triumphant, for he looked at the matter
solely from a business point of view, not at all from that of the
country. Also he was very tired, for he had aged much during the last
few years, and suffered occasionally from heart attacks. To keep
himself up he drank a great deal of wine at dinner, first champagne and
then the best part of a bottle of port. This made him talkative, and he
kept me sitting there to listen to him while he boasted, poor man, of
how he had 'walked round' the officials who thought themselves so
clever, but never saw some trap which he had set for them."

"And what did you do?" asked Godfrey.

"You know very well what I did. I grew angry, I could not help it, and
told him I thought it was shameful to make money wrongfully out of the
country at such a time, especially when he did not want it at all. Then
he was furious and answered that he did want it,