Miss MacKelpie. The old soldier will be a good
friend to him, or I am much mistaken. With an old lawyer like me,
and an old soldier like him, and a real old gentlewoman like Miss
MacKelpie, who loves the very ground he walks on, to look after him,
together with all his own fine qualities and his marvellous
experience of the world, and the gigantic wealth that will surely be
his, that young man will go far.

_Letter from Rupert Sent Leger to Miss Janet MacKelpie_, _Croom_.

_January_ 5, 1907.

MY DEAREST AUNT JANET,

It is all over--the first stage of it; and that is as far as I can
get at present. I shall have to wait for a few days--or it may be
weeks--in London for the doing of certain things now necessitated by
my acceptance of Uncle Roger's bequest. But as soon as I can, dear,
I shall come down to Croom and spend with you as many days as
possible. I shall then tell you all I am at liberty to tell, and I
shall thank you personally for your consent to come with me to
Vissarion. Oh, how I wish my dear mother had lived to be with us!
It would have made her happy, I know, to have come; and then we three
who shared together the old dear, hard days would have shared in the
same way the new splendour. I would try to show all my love and
gratitude to you both . . . You must take the whole burden of it now,
dear, for you and I are alone. No, not alone, as we used to be, for
I have now two old friends who are already dear to me. One is so to
you already. Sir Colin is simply splendid, and so, in his own way,
is Mr. Trent. I am lucky, Aunt Janet, to have two such men to think
of affairs for me. Am I not? I shall send you a wire as soon as
ever I can see my way to get through my work; and I want you to think
over all the things you ever wished for in your life, so that I
may--if there is any mortal way of doing so--get them for you. You
will not stand in the way of my having this great pleasure, will you,
dear? Good-bye.

Your loving
RUPERT.

_E. B. Trent's Memoranda_.

_January_ 6, 1907.

The formal meeting of Sir Colin and myself with Rupert Sent Lege