e
Major was unlawfully detaining his late son-in-law's money.

Dobbin at this lost all patience, and if his accuser had not been so
old and so broken, a quarrel might have ensued between them at the
Slaughters' Coffee-house, in a box of which place of entertainment the
gentlemen had their colloquy. "Come upstairs, sir," lisped out the
Major. "I insist on your coming up the stairs, and I will show which
is the injured party, poor George or I"; and, dragging the old
gentleman up to his bedroom, he produced from his desk Osborne's
accounts, and a bundle of IOU's which the latter had given, who, to do
him justice, was always ready to give an IOU. "He paid his bills in
England," Dobbin added, "but he had not a hundred pounds in the world
when he fell. I and one or two of his brother officers made up the
little sum, which was all that we could spare, and you dare tell us
that we are trying to cheat the widow and the orphan." Sedley was very
contrite and humbled, though the fact is that William Dobbin had told a
great falsehood to the old gentleman; having himself given every
shilling of the money, having buried his friend, and paid all the fees
and charges incident upon the calamity and removal of poor Amelia.

About these expenses old Osborne had never given himself any trouble to
think, nor any other relative of Amelia, nor Amelia herself, indeed.
She trusted to Major Dobbin as an accountant, took his somewhat
confused calculations for granted, and never once suspected how much
she was in his debt.

Twice or thrice in the year, according to her promise, she wrote him
letters to Madras, letters all about little Georgy. How he treasured
these papers! Whenever Amelia wrote he answered, and not until then.
But he sent over endless remembrances of himself to his godson and to
her. He ordered and sent a box of scarfs and a grand ivory set of
chess-men from China. The pawns were little green and white men, with
real swords and shields; the knights were on horseback, the castles
were on the backs of elephants. "Mrs. Mango's own set at the Pineries
was not so fine," Mr. Pestler remarked. These chess-men were the
delight of Georgy's life, who printed his first letter in
acknowledgement of this gift of his godpapa. He sent over preserves
and pickles, which latter the young gentleman tried surreptitiously in
the sideboard and half-killed himself with eating. He thought it was a
judgement upon him for stealing, they were