Page:The Other House (London, William Heinemann, 1896), Volume 1.djvu/99

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THE OTHER HOUSE
85

approached her again she was ready with her clear contentment. She folded the letter and handed it back to him. "Oh, you'll do!" she proclaimed.

"You're really quite satisfied?"

She hesitated a moment. "For the present—perfectly." Her eyes were on the precious document as he fingered it, and something in his way of doing so made her break into incongruous gaiety. He had opened it delicately and been caught again by a passage. "You handle it as if it were a thousand-pound note!"

He looked up at her quickly. "It's much more than that. Capitalise his figure."

"'Capitalise' it?"

"Find the invested sum."

Rose thought a moment. "Oh, I'll do everything for you but cipher! But it's millions." Then as he returned the letter to his pocket she added: "You should have that thing mounted in double glass—with a little handle like a handscreen."

"There's certainly nothing too good for the charter of our liberties—for that's what it really