He questioned me closely as to my motive in seeking information on the subject of the departed Haygarth, and I had some compunction in diplomatising with him as I had diplomatised with Mr.Goodge.

To hoodwink the wary Jonah was a triumph--to deceive the confiding linen draper was a shame.

However, as I have before set down, I suppose at the falsest I am not much farther from the truth than a barrister or a diplomatist.

Mr.Judson accepted my account of myself in all simplicity, and seemed quite pleased to have an opportunity of talking about the deceased Haygarths.
"You are not concerned in the endeavour to assert Theodore Judson's claim to the late John Haygarth's property, eh ?" the old man asked me presently, as if struck by a sudden misgiving.
I assured him that Mr.Theodore Judson's interests and mine were in no respect identical.
"I am glad of that," answered the draper; "not that I owe Theodore Judson a grudge, you must understand, though his principles and mine differ very widely.

I have been told that he and his son hope to establish a claim to that Haygarth property; but they will never succeed, sir--they will never succeed.