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.