“I have just had an idea,” he began with an air of mystery.
“How very interesting!” observed Lady Withers. She neither beamed nor gleamed nor radiated.
“Yes,” he went on, “it suddenly dawned upon me that what you really wanted was that Cecil should have something to do.”
“Really?” said Lady Withers.
“Exactly,” said Carteret. He was making heavy weather, but he kept on. “You see, my first idea was that you were merely interested in bringing American horses to England, as it were, don’t you see, for the humor of the thing—Haw! haw!”—he laughed painfully,—“and so, you see, I took Cecil’s very natural view of the matter, that it would be a great bore, don’t you see, not realizing in the least that you wished it for his own good. Now I think, if you are serious about it, which of course I never fancied, that Cecil would be just the man to manage an agency and see that the horses were broken and schooled and got ready for the dealers to buy; and more than that, I think he ought to have a large share of the profits, don’t you?”
As Mr. Carteret talked on Lady Withers had obviously melted, though she had not yet begun to beam. “I must say,” she said frankly, “that I do think he ought to have a large share of the profits.”
“And I think,” he continued, “that he ought to have a salary besides.”
“It seems only reasonable,” she replied, “when you think of Cecil’s influence and that sort of thing, to say nothing of his experience with horses. I happen to know that Lord Glen Rossmuir got five thousand pounds merely for going upon the board of the United Marmalade and Jam Company, and he gets a salary besides.”
“And Cecil is far abler than Glen Rossmuir,” said Mr. Carteret.
“Far,” said Lady Withers.