This did produce some slight discomfiture in the younger man.
"I thought," he remarked, "that everything was understood, and that it was a mere matter of arrangement of practical details."
"I thought so, too," said Mr. Manners. "Something else, however, has cropped up, which needs explanation."
"From me?" inquired Mr. Inglefield.
"From you," said Mr. Manners.
All Mark Inglefield's astuteness came instantly into play; no wariness was expressed in his face, for the reason that he had complete control over himself, and, on his mettle, was seldom, if ever, to be taken at a disadvantage.
"I am ready to give any explanation that may be required," he said, in a tone of modest assurance. "Perhaps it was hardly to be expected that an affair of such importance could be settled without some trifling hitch."
It was in his mind to say that the required explanation was nothing that affected his character, but he was prudent enough to arrest the words. No one knew better than himself that this was dangerous ground to approach. If anything was to be said upon the point, it must not come from him.
"I was not prepared for any hitch," said Mr. Manners. "When I visited Mr. Hollingworth this evening, I believed that everything would be arranged as you wished."
"And as you also wished," said Mark Inglefield, quickly.