He finished reading and folded up the pages, to find her regarding him still with that air of careful attention with which she had listened to his monotonous flow of words. He found her interest surprising. It did not occur to him to invest it with any personal element.
“The agreement upon the whole,” he remarked, “is, I believe, a fair one. You are perhaps thinking that those clauses——”
“If the agreement is satisfactory to you,” she interrupted, “I will confirm it.”
He bowed slightly and glanced through the pile of papers upon the table.
“I do not think that there is anything else with which I need trouble you, madam,” he remarked.
She nodded imperiously.
“Sit down for a moment, Mr. Hurd,” she said.
If he felt any surprise, he did not show it. He drew one of the high-backed chairs away from the table, and with that slight air of deliberation which characterized all his movements, seated himself. He was in no way disquieted to find her dark, tired eyes still studying him.
“How old are you, Mr. Hurd?” she asked.
“I am sixty-three, madam,” he answered.