those who happen to live under the same roof, and are liable to be
intruded upon as we have been to-night every hour of their existence.'

'Well, certainly it is not pleasant, especially for ladies,' admitted the
Town Clerk.

'No, not pleasant--and I've quite made up my mind it sha'n't go on. It is
too absurd, really, that such a monstrous thing should be enforced; I'll
get a private Act, next Session, and regulate those absurd conditions in
the will. The old fellow ought to be under restraint; and I rather think
it would be better for himself that he were.'

'Who is he?' I asked, speaking for the first time.

'I thought you had seen him before now,' said Lake.

'So I have, but quite alone, and without ever learning who he was,' I
answered.

'Oh! He is the gentleman, Julius, for whom in the will, under which we
take, those very odd provisions are made--such as I believe no one but a
Wylder or a Brandon would have dreamed of. It is an odd state of things
to hold one's estate under condition of letting a madman wander about
your house and place, making everybody in it uncomfortable and insecure
and exposing him to the imminent risk of making away with himself, either
by accident or design. I happen to know what Mark Wylder would have
done--for he spoke very fiercely on the subject--perhaps he consulted
you?'

'No.'