This doesn't seem to me very well thought-through. I want the marsh left as it is, secret, covered with mist, and treacherous to all but me and my men! So, my dear sir, you will please name your price to me, instead of to Mr Lenoir, and sign this document, which I have prepared." "No! Your plans, and the results of all your experiments, will be burnt! They will be mine, but I shall not want to use them. "Do you want to drain the marsh, then?" said Uncle Quentin in surprise. But the marsh is not going to be drained-I am going to buy your plans, not Mr Lenoir!" I know, too, that that Mr Lenoir hopes to make a lot of money by selling the land once it is drained.
"I know he is going to drain the marsh by using your very excellent ideas. "I know that Mr Lenoir is going to buy your plans from you," said Mr Barling.
Barling doesn't want this, since it would have a deleterious effect upon his trade, which happens to be smuggling. The reason given in the text is that Quentin came to Smuggler's Top in order to sell to Lenoir a new scientific plan (formula, magic pill, I'm not sure) that would have drained the marshes all around the house. Talking of A Very Puzzling Thing, I remain puzzled as to why Barling kidnapped Quentin in the first place. The violence does seem to have been ramped-up for this book. The butler almost looks like he's crying, in that image.
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