d seen his chance of buying them for a mere song.

So what does he do? He carefully conceals his knowledge from the
persons most concerned; obviously, that he and his father may keep the
market to themselves. Then at the last moment he comes and pretends to
give Miss Harden a chance of forestalling the purchase, knowing well
that before she can take a single step the purchase will be concluded.
Then he hurries up to town; and the next thing you hear is that he's
very sorry, but arrangements have unfortunately already been made with
Mr. Pilkington. No doubt, as agent of the sale, that young man would
pocket a very substantial commission. Clearly in the face of the
evidence, it was impossible to acquit him of dishonesty; but no
action could be brought against him, because the matter lay entirely
between him and Mr. Pilkington.

Lucia and Kitty had listened attentively to the masterly analysis of
Mr. Rickman's motives; and at the end Kitty admitted that appearances
were certainly against him; while Lucia protested that he was a poet
and therefore constitutionally incapable of the peculiar sort of
cleverness imputed to him. The man of law submitted that because he
was a poet it did not follow that he was not an uncommonly knowing
young man too. Whereupon Kitty pointed out one or two flaws in the
legal argument. In the first place, urged Kitty, the one thing that
this knowing young man did not know was the amount of security the
library represented.

Mr. Schofield smiled in genial forbearance with a lady's ignorance. He
_must_ have known, for such information is always published for the
benefit of all whom it may concern.

But Kitty went on triumphantly. There was nothing to prove it, nothing
to show that this knowing young man knew all the facts when he first
undertook to work for Miss Harden. So far from concealing the facts
later on, he had, to her certain knowledge, written at once to Mr.
Jewdwine advising him to buy in the library, literally over old
Rickman's head. That old Rickman's action had not followed on young
Rickman's visit to town was sufficiently proved by the dates. The
letter to Mr. Pilkington enclosing the cheque for twelve hundred had
been written and posted at least twelve hours before his arrival. What
the evidence did prove was that he had moved heaven and earth to make
his father withdraw from his bargain.

Mr. Schofield coldly replied that the better half of Miss Palliser's
arguments rested on