Vetch
when he came home to dinner. The lawyer looked much the same as
when I left him, save that he was certainly neater in his dress. He
was delighted to see me, and when he heard of the good fortune that
had befallen me in gaining the interest of Mr. Benbow he declared
that I had taken a load off his mind, for he had always been
oppressed with the fear that the loss of the will had ruined me.
His business, I was glad to hear, was a trifle better than when I
was with him, though it would never be what it had been.
"Fiddlesticks!" said his wife. "You have no spirit, Mr. Vetch, and
what you would be if I didn't keep you up, the Lord alone knows."
I will not dwell on my visit to Captain Galsworthy. He was looking
older, I thought: but after I had told him my adventures, nothing
would satisfy him but that we should have a bout with the foils. I
was careful to let the good old man get the better of me, and when
we had finished he shook his head and declared that my skill had
declined.
"But we'll get it back, we'll get it back," he said. "You must come
to me for half an hour every day, and we'll soon rub off the rust."
He told me of the six months' lessons he had given Roger Allardyce,
and foretold a creditable career for that young soldier, not so
much for any sign of military aptitude in him (though the captain
owned he had the making of a good swordsman) as because he had
doggedly refused to say anything about me.
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