"And your private means are?"
"Non-existent," I answered frankly.
"Then, my dear sir, excuse such plainness of speech in a man of my
profession; but if you throw it up you will be a perfect fool, sir; a
perfect fool, I assure you."
"But perhaps, Blenkinsopp, the next-of-kin won't step in to claim it!"
"Doesn't matter a bit, my dear fellow. Executors are bound to satisfy
themselves before paying you over your legacy that you have assumed and
will use the name of Aikin before and in addition to your own name of
Payne, in the manner hereinbefore recited. There's no getting over that
in any way."
I sighed aloud. "Twelve hundred a year is certainly very comfortable," I
said. "But it's a confounded bore that one should have a condition
tacked on to it which will make one a laughing-stock for life to all the
buffoons and idiots of one's acquaintance."
Blenkinsopp nodded in modified assent. "After all," he answered, "I
wouldn't mind taking it on the same terms myself."
"Well," said I, "_che sara sara_. If it must be, it must be; and you may
put an advertisement into the _Times_ accordingly. Tell the executors
that I accept the condition."