They had all contended which should receive him when he came out of
hospital; but it was settled that for the present he should remain
with Maddox in his rooms. There Dicky, absolutely prepared to do the
handsome thing, called upon him at an early date. Dicky had promised
himself some exquisite sensations in the moment of magnanimity; but
the moment never came. Rickman remained firm in his determination that
every shilling of the debt should be paid and paid by him; it was more
than covered by the money Maddox advanced for his literary remains.
Dicky had to own that the plucky little fellow had won his game, but
he added, "You couldn't have done it, Razors, if I hadn't given you
points."
The great thing was that he had done it, and that the Harden library
was his, was Lucia's. It only remained to tell her, and to hand it
over to her. He had long ago provided for this difficult affair. He
wrote, as he had planned to write, with a judicious hardness, brevity
and restraint. He told her that he desired to see her on some business
connected with the Harden library, in which he was endeavouring to
carry out as far as possible his father's last wishes. He asked to be
allowed to call on her some afternoon in the following week. He
thanked her for her letter without further reference, and he
remained--"sincerely"? No, "faithfully" hers.
He told Maddox that he thought of going down to Devonshire to recruit.
CHAPTER LXXIV
Lucia was suffering from the disagreeable strain of a divided mind.
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