I have got to
tell you what is both painful and unpleasant for me to tell. My husband,
though a very kind father, was a very strict one. When our son went
into the Army, his father made him a certain yearly allowance which he
himself considered a very handsome one. But my husband," continued Mrs.
Lester, with a faint smile, "had been engaged in commercial pursuits all
his life, until a year or two before his death, and he did not know that
the expenses, and the--well, the style of living in a crack cavalry
regiment are--what they are. More than once Guy asked his father to
increase his allowance--considerably. His father always refused--he was
a strict and, in some ways, a very hard man about money. And so--my son
had recourse to a money-lender."

Starmidge, who was sitting close by his fellow-detective, pressed his
elbow against Easleby's sleeve--at last they were getting at something.

"Just so, ma'am," he said encouragingly. "Nothing remarkable in all this
so far--quite an everyday matter, I assure you! Nothing for you to
distress yourself about, either--all that can be kept quiet."

"Well," continued Mrs. Lester, "my son borrowed money from a
money-lender in London, expecting, of course, to pay it back on his
father's death. I must tell you that my husband married very late in
life--he was quite thirty years my senior. No doubt this money-lender
acquainted himself with Mr. Lester's age--and state of health."

"He would, ma'am, he would!" agreed Starmidge.

"He'd take particular good care of that, ma'am," added Easleby. "They
always do--in such cases."

"Yes," said Mrs. Lester, "but, you see, when my husband died, he did not
leave Guy anything at all! He left everything to me. So Guy had nothing
to pay the money-lender with. Then, of course, the money-lender began to
press him, and in the end Guy was obliged to come and tell me all about
it. That was only a few weeks ago. And it was very bad news, because the
man claimed much--very much--more money than he had ever advanced. His
demands were outrageous!"

Starmidge gave Mrs. Lester a keen glance, and realized an idea of her
innocence in financial matters.

"Ah!" he observed, "they are very grasping, ma'am, some of these
money-lenders! How much was this particular one asking of your son,
now?"

"He demanded between fourteen and fifteen thousand pounds," replied Mrs.
Lester. "An abominable demand!--for my son assured me that at the very
outside he had not h