"I hope you will, ma'am," was the frank reply, "for if I may make so free as to give you my opinion about Mr. Rupert, I think, fine young gentleman as he is, he would sell the nearest belonging to him for a ten pound-note." "You have no right to say anything against Mr. Rupert," answered Mrs. Mortomley, "and there is no necessity for you to express any opinion concerning him. He will have nothing to do with our business, and therefore you need not trouble yourself about his character." "I meant no offence, ma'am." "And I have taken none, but I want to talk to you about business, and we are wasting time in speaking of extraneous matters. When shall you come back to England?" "Whenever you want me." "But you have certain work to finish abroad?" "That is true; still, I can take a run over when you are ready to start our work. We shall have a good deal to prepare before we can begin in earnest, and I shall set a man I can depend on to do all that, and have everything ready for me by the time I am clear. You find the place, ma'am, and the money, and we need not delay matters an hour." "Want of money is no obstacle now," she answered. "I can give you enough at any time." "And where do you think of going?" he asked. "Into Hertfordshire if I can find a house cheap enough. I shall look for the house first, and the shed you require afterwards." "Remember, we must have water," he said. "Good water and a continuous supply." "I shall not forget," was the reply. "And you think you can find the memoranda?" "I do not think I can. I think that from time to time I may be able to obtain all particulars from Mr. Mortomley." Lang groaned. "You do not know, ma'am, on what a trifle success hangs in the colour trade. If you could only have got hold of the receipts the governor wrote out when he was at his best--" "I do not believe he ever wrote out any," said Mrs. Mortomley. "He must have done it," was the reply. "No memory, let it be good as might be, could carry things like that." "If there had been a book such as you suppose, it would have gone up to Salisbury House with the rest of my husband's books and papers. If it ever existed Mr. Swanland has it." "I don't think it, ma'am. If Mr. Swanland knows nothing except about accountants' work, he has those in his employ who would have understood the value of such a book as that." "Good heavens!" exclaimed Dolly pettishly. "Do you suppose any one in Mr. Swanland's office ever waded through the mass of papers Meadows sent up to town? Why, there were tons of letters, and books and papers, in the offices at Homewood." "That may well be," agreed Lang; "but Mr. Mortomley never kept his secrets among the office papers. Had he not desks and writing-tables, and the like?" "Yes; but we left everything in them untouched. I should have liked to look over the papers after Meadows came, but I was afraid to meddle with them."