'Well, Mrs Ferris,' he said, 'to what do I owe the honour of this visit?' He sat back in his armchair and bit his penholder. A smile elongated his thin lips. This was his undoing, for he looked less formidable and Victoria decided on a line of action. She had come disturbed, now she was on her mettle. 'Mr Bastable,' she said, plunging at once into the subject, 'you ask me to surrender my furniture. I'm not going to.' 'Oh?' The solicitor raised his eyebrows. 'But, my dear madame, surely you must see . . .' 'I do. But I'm not going to.' 'Well,' he said, 'I hardly see . . . My duty will compel me to take steps . . .' 'Of course,' said Victoria smiling, 'but if you refuse to let me alone I shall go out of this office, have the furniture moved to-day and put up at auction to-morrow.' A smile came over the solicitor's face. By Jove, she was a fine woman, and she had some spirit. 'Besides,' she added, 'all this would cause me a great deal of annoyance. Major Cairns's affairs are still very interesting to the public. I shall be compelled, if you make me sell, to write a serial, say _My Life with an Irish Martyr_ for a Sunday paper.' Mr Bastable laughed frankly. 'You want to be nasty, I see. But you know, we can stop your sale by an application to a judge in chambers this afternoon. And as for your serial, well, Major Cairns is dead, he won't mind.' 'No, but his aunts will. Their name is Cairns. As regards the sale, perhaps you and the other lawyers can stop it. Very well, either you promise or I go home and . . . perhaps there'll be a fire to-night and perhaps there won't. I'm fully insured.' 'By Jove!' Bastable looked at her critically. Cairns had been a lucky man. 'Well, Mrs Ferris,' he added, 'we're not used to troublesome customers like you. I don't suppose the furniture is valuable, is it?' 'Oh, a couple of hundred,' said Victoria dishonestly. 'M'm. Do you absolutely want me to pledge myself?' 'Absolutely.' 'Well, Mrs Ferris, I can honestly promise you that you won't hear anything more about it. I . . . I don't think it would pay us.' Victoria laughed. A great joy of triumph was upon her. She liked Bastable rather, now she had brought him to heel. 'All right,' she said, 'it's a bargain.' Then she saw that his mouth was smiling still and his eyes fixed on her face. 'There's no quarrel between us, is there?' 'No, of course not. All in the way of business, you know.' He bent across the table; she heard him breathe in her perfume. 'Then,' she said slowly, getting up and pulling on her gloves, 'I'm not doing anything to-night. You know my address. Seven o'clock. You may take me out to dinner.' CHAPTER IX