His
references were to his bankers and to me. But neither his bankers nor I
know anything of him, except that he was a very well-to-do man. I can
tell precisely what his bankers know. It is merely this: he transferred
his banking-account from an Australian bank to them on coming to London.
I saw them this morning on first getting the news. They have about two
hundred thousand pounds lying to his credit. That's absolutely all they
know about him--all!"
"The Australian bankers would know more," suggested Viner.
"Precisely!" agreed Mr. Pawle. "We can get news from them, in time. But
now, what do I know? No more than this--Mr. Ashton called on me about six
or seven weeks ago, told me that he was an Australian who had come to
settle in London, that he was pretty well off, and that he wanted to make
a will. We drafted a will on his instructions, and he duly executed it.
Here it is! Miss Wickham has just seen it. Mr. Ashton has left every
penny he had to Miss Wickham. He told me she was the only child of an old
friend of his, who had given her into his care on his death out in
Australia, some years ago, and that as he, Ashton, had no near relations,
he had always intended to leave her all he had.
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