"Mr. Herbert Calvert has put all his property into my hands, and he has given me strict instructions that no rent is to be allowed to remain in arrear."
No answer from Ruth. Mr. Calvert was a little fellow of fifty who had made money in the mysterious calling of a "commission agent." By reputation he was, really, very much harder than Denry could even pretend to be; and indeed Denry had been considerably startled by the advent of such a client. Surely if any man in Bursley were capable of unmercifully collecting rents on his own account, Herbert Calvert must be that man!
"Let me see," said Denry further, pulling a book from his pocket and peering into it, "you owe five quarters' rent, £30."
He knew without the book precisely what Ruth owed, but the book kept him in countenance, supplied him with needed moral support.
Ruth Earp, without the least warning, exploded into a long peal of gay laughter. Her laugh was far prettier than her face. She laughed well. She might, with advantage to Bursley, have given lessons in laughing as well as in dancing; for Bursley laughs without grace. Her laughter was a proof that she had not a care in the world, and that the world for her was naught but a source of light amusement.
Denry smiled guardedly.
"Of course with me it's purely a matter of business," said he.
"So that's what Mr. Herbert Calvert has done!" she exclaimed, amid the embers of her mirth. "I wondered what he would do! I presume you know all about Mr. Herbert Calvert," she added.
"No," said Denry. "I don't know anything about him, except that he owns some property and I 'm in charge of it. Stay," he corrected himself, "I think I do remember crossing his name off your programme once."
And he said to himself: "That's one for her. If she likes to be so desperately funny about postage stamps, I don't see why I should n't have my turn." The recollection that it was precisely Herbert Calvert whom he had supplanted in the supper-dance at the Countess of Chell's historic ball, somehow increased his confidence in his ability to manage the interview with brilliance.