I'm not going to give you the money. I shall deduct it from the settlement I am going to make, the amount of which I have already determined on. Only I shall give you that at once, and ask you to pay them at once.'
' You are most generous,' said Bertie. ' I can't thank you.'
' Don't, then. Are you sure thirteen thousand will cover them? Mind, it doesn't matter to me; it is all deducted.'
' I am sure it will.'
Mr. Palmer did not answer, but drew a chair to the table and wrote the cheque.
' Pay them at once, then,' he said. ' Now, you looked worried at lunch. Anything wrong?'
' It was,' said Bertie. ' It isn't now.'
Mr. Palmer looked at him a moment with strong approval.
' I like you,' he said. ' Now go away. The mill has to commence again.'
The relief was as profound as the oppression had been, and now that the strain was over Bertie was conscious of a luxurious relaxation; the tension and strain on his nerves had passed, and a feeling of happy weariness, as when a dreaded operation is well over, set in. He could scarcely yet find it in his mind to be bitter or angry even with Mrs. Emsworth; she had done a vile thing, but he would not any longer be in her power, and being free from it, he scarcely resented it, so strong was his relief. Mr. Palmer, he knew, had designed to make some settlement of money on him; what it was to be he did not yet know, but the fact that this had been deducted from it prevented his feeling that he had come by the money in any crooked fashion. As it was, a certain payment to be made to him had been partly anticipated, and he looked forward to paying his blackmail almost with eagerness.
He made an appointment by telegraph with Bilton for the next morning, and at the hour waited on him at his
