"
"That's natural enough, Johnson. But, you see, we could perhaps more
than make up to her for that risk."
"Well, I don't know, sir," the man said after another pause. "It isn't
only the place; but, you see, a young woman wouldn't like to risk
getting into a row like and being turned away in disgrace, or perhaps
even worse. I don't know what you want, you see, sir?"
Mr. Tallboys looked at Mrs. Conway, and his eyes expressed the
question, How far shall we go? She replied by taking the matter in her
own hands.
"We can trust you, can't we, whether you agree to help us or not?"
"Yes, ma'am," he said more decidedly than he had hitherto spoken. "You
can trust me. If you tell me what you want, I will tell you straight
whether I can do anything. If I don't like it, the matter shan't go
beyond me."
"Very well, then, I will tell you exactly what we want. We believe
that the will is still there, and we believe that if some one in the
house were to make a thorough search it might be found. It is right
that it should be found, and that the property should go to those to
whom Mr. Penfold left it, and who are now being kept out of it by the
Miss Penfolds. I am very much interested in the matter, because it is
my son who is being cheated out of his rights; and I have made up my
mind to find the will. Now, what I want to know is, do you think that
one of the housemaids would be willing to give up her place and
introduce me as her successor, if I gave her twenty-five pounds? That
would be a nice little sum, you know, to begin housekeeping with.
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