A painful rumour had reached him the day before, which had been communicated to him in a very quiet way by a very old friend,--by a member of a private firm of bankers whom he was accustomed to regard as the wisest and most eminent man of his acquaintance,--that Pickering had been already mortgaged to its full value by its new owner. 
A painful rumour had reached him the day before, quietly communicated by a very old friend, a member of a private firm of bankers - that Pickering had been already mortgaged to its full value by its new owner. 