“Of course he’s gone on,” said Titus. “The vast majority are as pleased as Punch. I tell you, business is wonderful. Last week——”
“You must stop at once,” screamed Blanche. “I won’t have another——”
“My dear,” said Titus, “come home. I’ve a full day to-morrow, and I want you——”
“You haven’t. You shan’t have. You—Titus, for Heaven’s sake——”
“The orange,” said Titus firmly, “is not yet sucked. I’m not going to turn down ten thousand quid a week because two or three gents prefer their taste to mine. My conscience is perfectly clear and my hands are clean. There isn’t a letter there that isn’t libellous. If I liked to take ’em to Court, I could get a verdict on every one of them. What authority have I professed? None. It’s all very well to get excited because they don’t like my advice. I never asked them to take it. I never said it was worth having. But as long as they like to seek it——”
Blanche was down on her knees.
“Ti, I implore you to give it up. By all that’s holy, I beg you——”
“Why?”
“Because if you don’t I shall go mad. Because someone else will go mad and try to kill you. Each time you go out to cipher you take your life in your hand. If Blatchbourne had been at home when you went to approve that hall, he’d ’ve broken your back. You’ve not the faintest idea——”
“Ten thousand a week,” said Titus, “is better than any ideas.”