“And I can assure you, Leonard, I know almost as little as you do; my sister appears equally ignorant. When I have talked about the subject, about which there should be no mystery, there is an obvious attempt to sheer off it. So far as I can gather from random statements, he might be described as a financier. He gets concessions from foreign countries; he negotiates big loans for all sorts of things, does a bit of company promoting, etc. But he avoids details and gives no names. Of course, some men are very reticent about their private affairs, but reticence so pronounced savours greatly of mystery.” There was a long pause and then the banker waved his hand round the room, decorated and furnished in such a costly fashion, with a gesture that was contemptuous. “But one thing I am certain of, I have often been told that I possess second sight in matters like these. This cannot go on for long, in the light that has been thrown upon it by his borrowing from you what was, after all, a trifling sum for a man in a good way of business to find. A year or two of bad trade will bring him to the ground. Perhaps another year’s reprieve in which he will be struggling to tide over. You and I will then, I expect, be invited to put money into the sinking ship. If so, take my advice and sternly refuse. With a man of my brother’s headstrong nature and extravagant proclivities, you might as well throw it in the sea.” Lydon thanked his future father-in-law for his advice, thinking, as he did so, that Howard Stormont would never get another loan out of him. Did this honourable, straightforward man of business only know what he knew, he would be overwhelmed with grief and shame at possessing such a brother. “You can see it is a subject on which I have necessarily to hold my tongue,” exclaimed Jasper Stormont. “For all I ought to know to the contrary, he may be conducting his affairs with the greatest prudence, is making enough to enable him to run this place and accumulate a fair fortune besides. What I know about the true state of affairs comes from Gloria, from whom I have drawn it with the greatest reluctance. My lips are sealed; she would hate him to find that she has been telling tales out of school; for whatever faults he may have, he has taken the place of a second father to her, and she cannot but appreciate him for that.” Yes, scoundrel as he might be, Howard Stormont no doubt had his good points, and his kindness to his niece was not the least amongst them. “I forgot to tell you one thing, not that I am very greatly impressed by it,” said the banker as they parted for the evening. “The other day, in a fit of confidence, he imparted to me that he was on a very big thing which he expected to mature shortly, something out of which he would make enough to secure a handsome competence for life. If this came off, he said he would retire from business, and lead this life of a country gentleman which appears to have such great fascinations for him.”