Sheldon answered, thoughtfully; "I will bring the documentary
evidence. To-morrow at twelve, then."
Very little more was said. Mr. Sheldon left the will and the policy in
the bill-discounter's possession, and departed. Things had gone as
smoothly as he could fairly expect them to go. From Mr. Kaye's office he
went to the Unitas Bank, where he had a very friendly, but not altogether
satisfactory, interview with the secretary. He wanted the Unitas people
to advance him money on the strength of the second policy of assurance;
but his balance had been very low of late, and the secretary could not
promise compliance with his desires. Those Unitas shares valued at five
thousand pounds, which he had transferred to his beloved stepdaughter,
had been retransferred by the young lady some months before, with a view
to the more profitable investment of the money.
This money, as well as all else that Philip Sheldon could command, had
gone to the same bottomless pit of unlucky speculation. From the bank the
stockbroker went to his office, where he saw Frederick Orcott, to whom he
announced his stepdaughter's death with all due appearance of sorrow. He
sat for an hour in his office, arranging his affairs for the following
day, then sent for another cab, and drove back to Bayswater. The noonday
press and noise of the City seemed strange to him, almost as they might
have seemed to a man newly returned from lonely wanderings in distant
wildernesses.
Pages:
454
455
456
457
458
459
460
461
462
463
464
465
466
467
468
469
470
471
472
473
474
475
476
477
478