need?

"Is everything as bad as you say?" he asks, presently, in a subdued
tone.

"Quite as bad; neither worse nor better. There are no gradations about
utter ruin. You heard about Sawyer, of course? Harden has been with
me all last night and to-day, and between us we have been able to make
out that he has muddled away almost all the property,--which, you
know, is small. As yet we hardly know how we stand. But there is one
claim of fifteen thousand pounds that must be paid without delay, and
I have not one penny to meet it, so am literally driven to the wall."

"You speak as if----"

"No, I am speaking quite rationally. I know what you would say; but if
I was starving I would not accept one shilling from Lord Sartoris.
That would be impossible. You can understand why, without my going
into that infamous scandal. I suppose I can sell Sartoris, and pay
my--that is, Sawyer's--debts; but that will leave me a beggar." Then,
in a low tone, "I should hardly care, but for her. That is almost more
than I can bear."

"You say this debt of fifteen thousand pounds is the one that presses
hardest?"

"Yes. But for that, I might, by going in for strict economy, manage to
retrieve my present position in a year or two."

"I wish you would explain more fully," says Sir James; whereupon
Dorian enters into an elaborate explanation that leaves all things
clear.

"It seems absurd," says Scrope, impatiently, "that you, the heir to an
earldom and unlimited wealth, should be made so uncomfortable for the
sake of a paltry fifteen thousand pounds."

"I hardly think my wealth unlimited," says Branscombe; "there is a
good deal of property not entailed, and the ready money is at my
uncle's own disposal. You know, perhaps, that he has altered his will
in favor of Horace,--has, in fact, left him everything that it is
possible to leave?"

"This is all new to me," says Sir James, indignantly. "If it is true,
it is the most iniquitous thing I ever heard in my life."

"It is true," says Branscombe, slowly. "Altogether, in many ways, I
have been a good deal wrong; and the money part of it has not hurt me
the most."

"If seven thousand pounds would be of any use to you," says Scrope,
gently, delicately, "I have it lying idle. It will, indeed, be a
great convenience if you will take it at a reasonable----"

"That is rather unkind of you," says Dorian, interrupting him hastily.
"Don't say another word on that subject. I shall sink or swim wi