"
"But he has turned me out of his house. He has severed every link
between us."
"Then it must be our business to establish a secret chain of
communication with his household," answered Victor. "He has some
confidential servant, I suppose?"
"Yes; he has a valet, called Millard, whom he trusts as far as he
trusts any dependent; but he is not a man who talks to his servants."
"Perhaps not; but servants have a way of their own of getting at
information, and depend upon it, Mr. Millard knows more of your uncle's
business than Sir Oswald would wish him to know. We must get hold of
this faithful Millard."
"But he is a very faithful fellow--honesty itself--the pink of
fidelity."
"Humph!" muttered the young surgeon; "did you ever try the effect of a
bribe on this pink of fidelity?"
"Never."
"Then you know nothing about him. Remember what Sir Robert Walpole
said, 'Every man has his price.' We must find out the price of Mr.
Millard."
"You are a wonderful fellow, Carrington."
"You think so? Bah, I keep my eyes open, that's all; other men go
through the world with their eyes half-shut. I graduated in a good
school, and I may, perhaps, have been a tolerably apt pupil?"
"What school?"
"The school of poverty. That's the sort of education that sharpens a
man's intellect. My father was a reprobate and a gamester, and I knew
at an early age that I had nothing to hope for from him.
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