'No,' fearlessly replied Austin, 'I was not thinking of either one or the other. Mr. Henry Hunter has enough to do for himself just now--his contracts for the season were more extensive than ours: and Dr. Bevary is not a business man.' 'Henry _has_ enough to do,' said Mr. Hunter. 'And if a hundred-pound note would save me, I should not ask Dr. Bevary for its loan. I tell you, Clay, there is no help for it: ruin must come. I have thought it over and over, and can see no loophole of escape. It does not much matter: I can hide my head in obscurity for the short time I shall probably live. Mine has been an untoward fate.' 'It matters for your daughter, sir,' rejoined Austin, his face flushing. 'I cannot help myself, even for her sake,' was the answer, and it was spoken in a tone that, to a fanciful listener, might have told of a breaking heart. 'If you would allow me to suggest a plan, sir----' 'No, I will not allow any further discussion upon the topic,' peremptorily interrupted Mr. Hunter. 'The blow must come; and, to talk of it will neither soothe nor avert it. Now to business. Not another word, I say.--Is it to-day or to-morrow that Grafton's bill falls due?' 'To-day,' replied Austin. 'And its precise amount?--I forget it.' 'Five hundred and twenty pounds.' 'Five hundred and twenty! I knew it was somewhere about that. It is that bill that will floor us--at least, be the first step to it. How closely has the account been drawn at the bank?' 'You have the book by you, sir. I think there is little more than thirty pounds lying in it.' 'Just so. Thirty pounds to meet a bill of five hundred and twenty. No other available funds to pay in. And you would talk of staving off the difficulty?' 'I think the bank would pay it, were all circumstances laid before them. They have accommodated us before.' 'The bank will _not_, Austin. I have had a private note from them this morning. These flying rumours have reached their ears, and they will not let me overdraw even by a pound. It had struck me once or twice lately that they were becoming cautious.' There was a commotion, as of sudden talking, outside at that moment, and Mr. Hunter turned pale. He supposed it might be a creditor: and his nerves were so shattered, as was before remarked, that the slightest thing shook him like a woman. 'I would pay them all, if I could,' he said, his tone almost a wail. 'I wish to pay every one.' 'Sir,' said Austin, 'leave me here to-day to meet these matters. You are too ill to stay.' 'If I do not meet them to-day, I must to-morrow. Sooner or later, it is I who must answer.' 'But indeed you are ill, sir. You look worse than you have looked at all.'