‘Well, we may go so far as to say that we wish the books had been inspected more often, and that we regret our misplaced confidence in our agent. That should satisfy you, Mrs. Crosse. And now that you admit _some_ liability, that is a great step in advance. We have no desire to be unreasonable, but as long as no liability was admitted, we had no course open to us but litigation. We now come to the crucial point, which is, how much liability should fall upon you. My own idea is, that each should pay their own costs, and that you should, in addition, pay over to the Company—’ ‘Forty pounds,’ said Jack firmly. Maude expected Mr. Wingfield to rise up and leave the room. As he did not do so, nor show any signs of violence, she said, ‘Yes, forty pounds.’ He shook his head. ‘Dear me, Mrs. Crosse, this is a very small sum.’ ‘Forty pounds is our offer,’ said Jack. ‘But on what is this offer based?’ ‘We have worked it out,’ said Jack, ‘and we find that forty pounds is right.’ Mr. Wingfield rose from his chair. ‘Well,’ said he, ‘of course any offer is better than no offer. I cannot say what view the directors may take of this proposal, but they will hold a board meeting this afternoon, and I will lay it before them.’ ‘And when shall we know?’ ‘I could send you round a line by hand to your solicitor.’ ‘No hurry about it! Quite at your own convenience!’ said Jack. When he got outside, in the privacy of their hansom, he was convulsed with the sense of his own achievements. ‘Class A, Number 1, and mentioned at the Agricultural Hall,’ he cried, hugging himself in his delight. His sister hugged him also, so he was a much-embraced young man. ‘Am I not a man of business, Maude? You can’t buy ’em—you must breed ’em. One shilling with the basket. I shook him in the first round, and he never rallied after.’ ‘You are a dear good boy. You did splendidly.’ ‘That’s the way to handle ’em. He saw that I was a real fizzer and full of blood. One business man can tell another at a glance.’ Maude laughed, for Jack, with his cavalry swagger and a white weal all round his sunburned face to show where his chin-strap hung, looked the most unbusiness-like of mortals. ‘Why did you offer forty pounds?’ she asked. ‘Well, you have to begin somewhere.’ ‘But why forty?’ ‘Because it is what we offer when we are buying the hairies—trooper’s chargers, you know. It’s a great thing to have a fixed rule in business. I never go higher than forty—rule one, section one, and no exceptions in the margin.’ They lunched together at the Holborn, and Jack took Maude afterwards to what he called ‘a real instructive show,’ which proved to be a horse-sale at Tattersall’s. They then drove back to the lawyer’s, and there they found a letter waiting addressed to Mrs. Crosse. Maude tore it open.