“Pooh! It’s easy enough to grumble at me . Say what is to be done⁠—that’s a little harder.”

“Is it? Bah! This is what is to be done: You give up all direction in the business from tonight⁠—you leave it for the future in my hands only. I am talking to a Practical British man⁠—ha? Well, Practical, will that do for you?”

“What do you propose if I leave it all to you?”

“Answer me first. Is it to be in my hands or not?”

“Say it is in your hands⁠—what then?”

“A few questions, Percival, to begin with. I must wait a little yet, to let circumstances guide me, and I must know, in every possible way, what those circumstances are likely to be. There is no time to lose. I have told you already that Miss Halcombe has written to the lawyer today for the second time.”

“How did you find it out? What did she say?”