As far as he could judge on a first inspection, the papers concerned a long series of risky transactions,--financial gambling of the most pronounced sort,--whereof the few gains had been long since buried deep in scandalous losses. The outrageous folly of some of the ventures and the magnitude of the sums involved made him curse inwardly. It was the first escapade of the kind he could remember in his mother's history, and, given her character, he could only regard it as adding a new and real danger to his life and Letty's. Then another consideration struck him. "How on earth did you come to know so much about the ins and outs of Stock Exchange business," he asked her suddenly, with surprise, in the midst of his reading. "You never confided in me. I never supposed you took an interest in such things." In truth, he would have supposed her mentally incapable of the kind of gambling finance these papers bore witness of. She had never been known to do a sum or present an account correctly in her life; and he had often, in his own mind, accepted her density in these directions as a certain excuse for her debts. Yet this correspondence showed here and there a degree of financial legerdemain of which any City swindler might have been proud--so far, at least, as he could judge from his hasty survey. Lady Tressady drew herself up sharply in answer to his remark, though not without a flutter of the eyelids which caught his attention. "Of course, my dear George, I always knew you thought your mother a fool. As a matter of fact, all my friends tell me that I have a _very_ clear head." George could not restrain, himself from laughing aloud. "In face of this?" he said, holding up the final batch of letters, which contained Mr. Shapetsky's last formidable account; various imperious missives from a "sharp-practice" solicitor, whose name happened to be disreputably known to George Tressady; together with repeated and most explicit assurances on the part both of agent and lawyer, that if arrangements were not made at once by Lady Tressady for meeting at least half Mr. Shapetsky's bill--which had now been running some eighteen months--and securing the other half, legal steps would be taken immediately. Lady Tressady at first met her son's sarcasm in angry silence, then broke into shrill denunciation of Shapetsky's "villanies." How could decent people, people in society, protect themselves against such creatures! George walked to the window, and stood looking out into the April garden. Presently he turned, and interrupted his mother.