For Keith was heir, not only to his father’s estate, but to that very considerable debt of honour which Isaac had left unpaid.  It seemed as if the Harden library, the symbol of a superb intellectual vanity, was doomed to be in eternal necessity of redemption.  Until yesterday it had not occurred to Keith that it could be his destiny to redeem it.  Yesterday he had refused to let his mind dally with that possibility; to-day it had become the most fitting subject of his contemplation.

The thing was more easily conceived than done.  His literary income amounted, all told, to about three hundred and fifty a year, but its sources were not absolutely secure. Metropolis or The Planet might conceivably at any moment cease to be.  And there was his marriage.  It was put off; but only for a matter of weeks.  He had only a hundred and fifty pounds in ready money; the rest had been swallowed up by the little house at Ealing.  It was impossible to redeem the Harden library unless he parted with his patrimony; which was, after all, his only safe and imperishable source of income.  Still, he had not the smallest hesitation on this head.  Neither he nor Flossie had taken it into their calculations when they agreed to marry, and he was not going to consider it now.

The first step proved simple.  Mrs. Rickman had no objection to buying him out.  On the contrary, she was thankful to get rid of a most reckless and uncomfortable partner.  But in the present state of the trade it was impossible to estimate his share at more than four thousand.  That covered the principal; but Isaac had paid no interest for more than two years; and that interest Keith would have to pay.  Though the four thousand was secure, and Pilkington had given him three years to raise the seven hundred and fifty in, it was not so easily done on an income of three hundred and fifty.  Not easy in three years; and impossible in any number of years if he married.  Possible only, yes, just possible, if his marriage were postponed until such time as he could have collected the money.  Some brilliant stroke of luck might unexpectedly reduce the term; but three years must be allowed. Metropolis and The Planet were surely good for another three years.  The other alternative, that of repudiating the obligation, never entered his head for an instant.  He could not have touched a shilling of his father’s money till this debt was cleared.

There could be no doubt as to what honour demanded of him.  But how would Flossie take it?  The worst of it was that he was bound (in honour again) to give her the option of breaking off their engagement, if she didn’t care to wait.  And after all that had passed between them it might not be so easy to persuade her that he was not glad of the excuse; for he himself was so lacking in conviction.  Still she was very intelligent; and she would see that it wasn’t his fault if their marriage had to be put off.  The situation was inevitable and impersonal,