The Salamanca Corpus: Yeoman Fleetwood (1900 ... - Gredos

The Salamanca Corpus: Yeoman Fleetwood (1900)
“Twenty-six thousand pounds!" repeated Simon. "I only lent fifteen."
“There's the interest, my friend, don't forget that. It would not, truly, amount to very
much; but the remainder, I believe, is to be handed over to that estimable young
gentleman, Mr. Humphrey Charnock, who requires compensation for consenting to cut
off the entail." Here Mr. Renshaw paused, sniffed, took his spectacles from his pocket,
adjusted them firmly on his nose, and gazed through them severely at Simon.
“The long and the short of it is, young Fleetwood, that there is to be an end of the
Charnocks of
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Charnleigh. The Squire is an infant about money matters, a perfect infant. He imagines
that twenty-six thousand pounds is to be had by die sale of a field or two. 'Renshaw,’
says he, in his grandiloquent way, 'I must have twenty-six thousand pounds immediately
— you must sell, there f ore, as much of the property as will realise that sum.' Now you
know as well as I do, Simon, that such a property as Charnleigh has really a kind of
fictitious value, and that only to its possessor.
If you come to cut it up and sell it—“ here he took snuff aggressively, finishing his
argument with a shrug of die shoulders. After a pause, however, he continued:—
“Moreover, when such men as the Squire and young Mr. Humphrey begin to turn
landed property into cash, there's no knowing where they will stop. I don't wish to
reproach you, Fleetwood, but I think it my duty to point out the fact to you in case you
feel inclined to run away with any more young ladies — this escapade of yours means
ruin to the Charnocks, and the destruction of their fine old estate. ‘Tis a pity, upon my
word, that you didn't succeed in marrying Miss Rachel, for in these days penniless
young women don't find it easy to get husbands. Her fortune was charged on the
property, and if the property goes, where will the fortune be? But we're wasting time in
discussing all this; you had something to say to me, had you not? Let's hear it."
Simon, who had been pondering deeply, roused himself with a little start, and proceeded
to lay before his old friend certain arrangements which he begged him to see carried out
at the Charnleigh Home Farm in order to avoid great loss. Then, after hesitating for a
moment, he fixed his eyes earnestly on Mr. Renshaw, and continued:—