"
"I do not agree with you," I replied. "However, time will show whether I
have been right or wrong in coming here. I have learned many things of
which I was previously in ignorance, and I think I hold a clue in my
hands which, properly followed, may lead me to the hidden mystery of
River Hall."
"Indeed!" he exclaimed. "May I ask the nature of that clue?"
"It would be premature for me to say more than this, that I am inclined
to doubt whether Mr. Elmsdale committed suicide."
"Do you think his death was the result of accident, then?" he inquired,
his face blanching to a ghastly whiteness.
"No, I do not," I answered, bluntly. "But my thoughts can have little
interest for anyone, at present. What we want to talk about is the sale
and purchase of this place. The offer you made to Mr. Craven, I consider
ridiculous. Let on building lease, the land alone would bring in a
handsome income, and the house ought to sell for about as much as you
offer for the whole property."
"Perhaps it might, if you could find a purchaser," he answered; "and the
land might return an income, if you could let it as you suggest; but, in
the meantime, while the grass grows, the steed starves; and while you
are waiting for your buyer and your speculative builder, Miss Blake and
Miss Elmsdale will have to walk barefoot, waiting for shoes you may
never be able to provide for them.
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