Maddox laughed, and he tilted his head back a little as he laughed, and on the moment that appeared to David the only possible way to laugh.
“Thank you, very much,” he said. “We should all three like it awfully then, so why shouldn’t we do it? But may I just look through this box? I love looking through old book-trays. You never know what you mayn’t find, though personally I never find anything but volumes of antique sermons printed by request of a few friends. Have you been buying something?”
“Yes, but only an old Keats,” said David, holding it out to him.
Maddox looked at the title-page, which was intact, and his eyes grew round.
“My goodness, you lucky beggar!” he said. “And you bought it just this minute?”
“Yes, why?”
“Only because it’s a book that a book-lover would give a lot for. Second edition of Keats, that’s all. O Lord, if I hadn’t sat down doing nothing after lunch, instead of coming here!”
“Oh, I say, please take it then,” said David. “I didn’t know anything about it. I just thought I would like a Keats. Any other one would be all the same to me.”
Maddox looked at him gravely a moment, and then began to smile.
“Thanks very much,” he said, “and I will then sell it you, if you like, for ten pounds.”