Partners and a secret gift

Bassett shows Uncle Oscar the fifteen hundred pounds, in notes, that he is keeping for Paul. He says, very seriously, that Paul's tips seem to come 'from heaven'.

Paul explains that they bet heavily only when he is sure of the winner. When he is not sure, they mostly lose.

For the Leger, he is sure about Lively Spark. It wins, at ten to one, and Paul makes ten thousand pounds.

Then Paul tells his uncle why he started betting. It was for his mother: so that the house might stop whispering. People keep sending her writs (legal demands to pay her debts), and that makes her unhappy.

Paul gives his uncle five thousand pounds. They arrange that the family lawyer will pay his mother a thousand pounds on each birthday, for five years. Paul does not want her to know the money comes from him.

Paul gambles out of love, to quiet the house and make his mother happy.