lders of the bank and annulling the sale of Fairclose, of
regaining my own, and of securing your punishment for the offences you
have committed. The latter part, as I have said, I have no desire to
press. I consider that you have been punished sufficiently already, but
I must insist upon the restoration of the estates of which I have been
wrongfully deprived."

"And you will say nothing of what I have done?"

"Nothing whatever; it will be for you to offer any reason you choose for
resigning Fairclose to me, but there is one other point that I must
insist on, namely, that you leave Abchester. Your illness will be a
valid excuse for retiring altogether from an active share in the
business and of relinquishing the part you have taken in the affairs of
the town. As the senior partner you will doubtless receive a sufficient
income from your business to enable you to live in comfort elsewhere,
and it will be for your own benefit as much as mine for you to leave
the place, for it will be painful for both of us to meet."

"I cannot give up Fairclose altogether unburdened," the lawyer said.
"L15,000 of the purchase money I found myself. The other L20,000 I
raised on mortgages of the estate, and although that mortgage would be
invalidated by the proof that I had no power to give it, the mortgagee
would, of course, fight the question, and the whole matter would be made
public."

Cuthbert was silent for a minute, not from any great doubt or
hesitation, but he did not wish the man to see that he was eager to make
terms, for he would at once think that he was not in the position to
prove the statement he had made.

"It is a large sum," he said, "a very large sum to lose, and then there
are two years' rents that you have received."

"These I could repay, Mr. Harrington," the lawyer said, eagerly. "I have
six thousand pounds invested in securities I could realize at once."

Cuthbert was silent again.

"Mr. Brander," he said at last, "I feel, and I think naturally, very
sore at the cruel wrong that has been inflicted upon me, but I cannot
forget that in my boyhood I was always received with kindness by your
wife, and for her sake, and that of your daughters, I am most anxious
your reputation should remain untarnished. I am willing to believe that
this crime was the result of a sudden impulse, and that in other
respects you have been an honest man. I cannot forget, too, that my
father had a great esteem for you. As to the two ye