“Does he know anything of this matter of your money?” continued Mr Ball.

“Oh yes; he knows it all. He was in Gower Street when I told my sister-in-law.”

“And he came to advise you about it?”

“Yes; he did advise me about it. But his advice I shall not take.”

“And what did he advise?”

Then Margaret told him that Mr Rubb had counselled her to fight it out to the last, in order that a compromise might at any rate be obtained.

“If it has no selfish object in view I am far from saying that he is wrong,” said John Ball. “It is what I should advise a friend to do under similar circumstances.”

“It is not what I shall do, John.”

“No; you are like a lamb that gives itself up to the slaughterer. I have been with one lawyer or the other all day, and the end of it is that there is no use on earth in your going to London to-morrow, nor, as far as I can see, for another week to come. The two lawyers together have referred the case to counsel for opinion,—for an amicable opinion as they call it. From what they all say, Margaret, it seems to me clear that the matter will go against you.”

“I have expected nothing else since Mr Slow spoke to me.”

“But no doubt you can make a fight, as your friend says.”

“I don’t want to fight, John; you know that.”

“Mr Slow won’t let you give it up without a contest. He suggested a compromise,—that you and I should divide it. But I hate compromises.” She looked up into his face but said nothing. “The truth is, I have been so wronged in the matter, the whole thing has been so cruel, it has, all of it together, so completely ruined me and my prospects in life, that were it any one but you, I would sooner have a lawsuit than give up one penny of what is left.” Again she looked at him, but he went on speaking of it without observing her. “Think what it has been, Margaret! The whole of this property was once mine! Not the half of it only that has been called yours, but the whole of it! The income was actually paid for one half-year to a separate banking account on my behalf, before I was of age. Yes, paid to me, and I had it! My uncle Jonathan had no more legal right to take it away from me than you have to take the coat off my back. Think of that, and of what four-and-twenty thousand pounds would have done for me and my family from that time to this. There have been nearly thirty years of this robbery!”

“It was not my fault, John.”

“No; it was not your fault. But if your brothers could pay me back all that they really owe me, all that the money would now be worth, it would come to nearly a hundred thousand pounds. After that, what is a man to say when he is asked to compromise? As far as I can see, there is not a shadow of doubt about it. Mr Slow does not pretend that there is a doubt. How they can fail to see the justice of it is what passes my understanding!”