The man’s face became suddenly foxy. He leaned forward and dropped his voice to a whisper. Leonard was on his guard instinctively. “If it has to do with the Campaigne estates, I have nothing whatever to say. Would it not be well to go to the lawyers who manage the estate?” “No. They would not tell me anything. What I want to know is this. He has, I believe, a large estate?” “He has, I believe. But he has no power to part with any portion of it.” “The estate produces rents, I suppose?” “That is no doubt the case.” “Well, for seventy years the old man has spent nothing. There must be accumulations. In case of no will, these accumulations would be divided equally between your grandfather’s heirs and my grandmother. Do you know of any will, if I may be so bold as to ask?” “I know nothing of any will.” “It is most unlikely that there should be any will. A man who has been off his head for nearly seventy years can hardly leave a will. If he did, one could easily set it aside. Mr. Campaigne, it is on the cards that there may be enormous accumulations.” “There may be, as you say, accumulations.” “In that case, it is possible--I say possible--that my sister and I may become rich, very rich--I hardly dare to put the possibility upon myself--but there must be--there must be--accumulations, and the question which I would put to you, sir, is this: Where are those accumulations invested? And can a man find out what they amount to--what they are worth--who draws the dividends--how are they applied--and is there a will? Was it made before or after the old man went off his chump? And if the money is left out of the family, would you, sir, as the head of the family, be ready to take steps to set aside that will? Those are my questions, Mr. Campaigne.” He threw himself back again in the chair, and stuck his thumbs in his waistcoat armholes. “These are very important questions,” said Leonard. “As a lawyer, you must be aware that I cannot give you any answer. As to the administration of the property, I believe I have no right to ask the lawyers and agents any questions. We must assume that the owner of the estate is in his right mind. As for disputing a will, we must wait till a will is produced.” “Sir”--the cousin leaned over his knees and whispered hoarsely--“sir, the accumulations must be a million and a half. I worked it all out myself with an arithmetic book. I learned the rule on purpose. For I never got so far in the book as compound interest. It meant hundreds of sums; I did ’em all, one after the other. I thought I should never get to the end. Mary Anne helped. Hundreds of sums at compound interest, and it tots up to a million and a half--a million and a half! Think of that! A million and a half!” He got up and put on his overcoat slowly.