Poor Margaret shook her head: "I am afraid I should find it very difficult to understand." "Not at all, not at all. Look here, now. What are you anxious to know? I venture to say I'll make it clear to you before you leave this room." Margaret smiled. This man's frankness pleased her. His manner, though a little unpolished, was, she thought, anything but displeasing; then he seemed to understand business thoroughly. Perhaps he would show that, after all, her affairs were not so desperate as they seemed. "I am first anxious to know what you mean by writing to me that one of the mortgages has turned out badly," she said. "Easy to explain," he answered, with a self-satisfied smile. "Only, perhaps, by the bye, I shall have to begin with the A B C, as one may say, and acquaint you with the nature of a mortgage." "If you please, Mr. Robinson; I am afraid I am ignorant even to that extent." "So much the better, Mrs. Grey, so much the better: 'A little knowledge'--you know the proverb. Ladies take up _such_ ideas when they know, as they imagine, something of business! I had far rather deal with total ignorance on these points; but don't be discouraged. We must begin at the very beginning. Forsaking business terms altogether for the moment, I will, if you please, put this to you simply. You take me, Mrs. Grey?" He smiled with a frankness that was charming to behold. "Do at Rome as Rome does. With ladies talk of business as they are able to understand." Mrs. Grey smiled her acquiescence. "Agreed," cried the lawyer effusively. "Well, then, to work. Say now, by way of illustration"--he took a pencil as he spoke and drew a line, writing A at the one end, B at the other and C in the centre--"A represents a person who has a landed estate, houses, what not; B has no landed property, but the value of A's estate in money. B wants to put out his money in some safe way; A, who does not care to sell his property, wants money; steps in C, the intermediate person--a lawyer, we shall say--known to both parties. He negotiates between them, finally arranging for B to lend his money to A on the security of A's property. A deed of mortgage is then drawn up, which makes the agreement binding. A has B's money, pays a half-yearly interest, and if, after a six months' notice, the sum originally lent is not forthcoming, A's property may be sold to make good the default. Do you follow me, Mrs. Grey?" "Perfectly, Mr. Robinson. You have made clear to me what I never understood before; but under these circumstances I cannot see how my money was actually lost. The property would always be there."