human
I did manage, began the old man, flicking off his ash with an admirable effect of calm,
gpt
he said, without the flicker of an eye-lash,
human
Thank you. I appreciate your telling me this. Queed leaned over the table, and began speaking in a quiet, brisk voice.
gpt
Now, then, here is the situation. You have a certain sum of money put away somewhere, estimated to be not less than a hundred thousand dollars--
human
Nothing of the sort! Far less than that! A few beggarly thousands, which--
gpt
Very well--a few thousands. Of course your books will readily show the exact figures. This money was withheld at the time your affairs were settled, and therefore was not applied to reducing the--the loss on the trustee account. Of course, if its existence had been known, it would have been so applied. In other words, the Weyland estate has been deprived to the exact extent of the sum withheld. Fortunately, it is never too late to correct an error of this sort. My idea is that we should make the restitution without the loss of an unnecessary day.
human
Restitution! My dear boy, I owe no restitution to any one.
gpt
You hardly take the position that you have acquired a title to the Weyland trustee funds?
human
Ah, there it is! purred Surface, making a melancholy gesture.
gpt
You see why I did not wish to open up this complicated subject. Your ignorance, if you will pardon me, of modern business procedure, makes it very difficult for you to grasp the matter in its proper bearings. Without going into too much detail, let me try to explain it to you. This settlement of my affairs that you speak of was forcibly done by the courts, in the interest of others, and to my great injury. The rascals set out to cut my throat--was it required of me to whet the knife for them? They set out to strip me of the last penny I had, and they had every advantage, despotic powers, with complete access to all my private papers. If the robbers overlooked something that I had, a bagatelle I needed for the days of my adversity, was it my business to pluck them by the sleeve and turn traitor to myself? Why, the law itself gave me what they passed over. I was declared a bankrupt. Don't you know what that means? It means that the courts assumed responsibility for my affairs, paid off my creditors, and, as a small compensation for having robbed me, wiped the slate clean and declared me free of all claims. And this was twenty-five years ago. My dear boy! Read the Bankruptcy Act. Ask a lawyer, any lawyer--
human
Let us not speak of lawyers--now, interrupted Queed, stirring in his chair.
gpt
Let their opinion wait as a last alternative, which, I earnestly hope, need never be used at all. I am not bringing up this point to you now as a legal question, but as a moral one.
human
Ah! You do not find that the morals provided by the law are good enough for you, then?
gpt
If your reading of the law is correct--of which I am not so certain as you are, I fear--it appears that they are not. But--
human
It is my misfortune, interrupted the old man, his hand tightening on the table-edge,
gpt
No, I'm afraid not. You see, when stripped of all unnecessary language, the repulsive fact is just this: we are living here on money that was unlawfully abstracted from the Weyland estate. No matter what the law may say, we know that this money morally belongs to its original owners. Now I ask you--
human
Let me put it another way. I can show you exactly where your misapprehension is--
gpt
My mind is so clear on this point that discussion only wastes our time.
human
Say, if you like that I am unreasonable, ignorant, unfair. Put it all down to besotted prejudice.... Can't you restore this money because I ask it? Won't you do it as a favor to me?
gpt
I believe there is nothing else in the world--that I wouldn't do for you--a thousand times over--but--