"You may lock the door," said Sir William, taking an easy-chair, and relapsing into his dreamy manner. The banker walked slowly to the door, locked it deliberately, and then came back to the window at which the young man was sitting. Then he sat down on a chair opposite Sir William, having placed his bag on a small table that stood between them. The day was bright and clear. Past the wall of the hotel through which that window looked ran the Weeslade. It was ebb tide, and now and then down the river shot a small boat or glided a barge, while from the upper wharves came the sound of chains and tackles, and the hoarse hoot of the steamboat blowing off steam. For a few seconds Grey sat silent, resting his head upon his hand. At last he spoke: "You have been asked to come back from Egypt to give advice to Miss Midharst on some subject of importance. You are by your relationship with her, and by her own agreement with you, the guardian of her person. I am by the will of her father the guardian of her fortune. _Yours_ is a precious trust." Grey paused here to give the young man an opportunity of saying something. Sir William merely said: "That is so." "What I have further to say to you," continued Grey, "is in the nature, Sir William, of a confession. A confession so degrading and humiliating, that I have debated a thousand times whether I should make it or put an end to my life." "I am sincerely glad you adopted the alternative of confiding in me." "Sir William, what do you consider the greatest calamity which could befall Miss Midharst?" "Really I have not thought of such a question, and could not answer it off-hand." "What would you do to the man who behaved in an unscrupulous manner to Miss Midharst?" Suddenly the young man lost his languid manner, sat bolt upright in his chair, looked with a strong present interest in his eyes at the banker, and demanded sharply: "What do you mean?" Grey raised his head, and for the first time the eyes of the two men met. "A terrible injury, an irreparable injury; who had inflicted upon her an injury so great that the sacrifice of his life could not atone for it, not the devotion of a lifetime undo it?" "Shoot him. Where is he?" Grey opened the black bag, took out the revolver, and holding the muzzle pointed at his own breast, handed it to the baronet, saying: "I am he. Fire." The young man sprang to his feet, seized the revolver, and keeping the banker covered with it, said thickly through his clenched teeth: "A moment. Wait a moment." For some seconds there was neither motion nor word. The one man stood over the other, the revolver in his hand, his finger on the trigger. "I have thought of Maud until I am ready to shoot you here. Now speak. What was it?" "She is a beggar." "How?" "I have stolen all her fortune. I sold out the Consols and used the money. The money is all gone." "Have you confessed all?" "Yes; all." "And are you ready to die for that?" "I am."