And, when all was done, I had to take the document back to one of the old go-betweens that I hoped I had worn out, the Attorney-general.

He signed, and bled me out of some more money.

From him to the other go-betweens at Whitehall.

From them to the Stamp Office, if I remember right, and oh Lord, didn't I fall among leeches there?
They drafted, they copied, they engrossed, they juggled me out of time and money without end.

The first leech was called the Lord Keeper of the Seal; the second leech was called the Lord Chancellor; it was some go-between that acted in his name; the third leech was the Clerk of the Patents.