Tavernake drew a little away from her but seated himself on the sofa which she had indicated. He took up as much room as possible, and to his relief she did not persist in her first intention, which was obviously to seat herself beside him.
“Your sister has told me nothing about you whatsoever,” he said deliberately. “At the same time, she asked me not to give you her address.”
“We will talk about that presently,” she interrupted. “In the first place, tell me why you have left your place.”
“Mr. Dowling discovered,” he told her, in a matter-of-fact tone, “that I had been doing some business on my own account. He was quite right to disapprove. I have not been back to the office since he found it out.”
“What sort of business?” she asked.
“The business of the firm is to buy property in undeveloped districts and sell it for building estate,” he explained. “I have been very successful hitherto in finding sites for their operations. A short time ago, I discovered one so good that I invested all my own savings in buying certain lots, and have an option upon the whole. Mr. Dowling found it out and dismissed me.”
“But it seems most unfair,” she declared.
“Not at all,” he answered. “In Mr. Dowling's place I should have done the same thing. Every one with his way in life to make must look out for himself. Strictly speaking, what I did was wrong. I wish, however, that I had done it before. One must think of one's self first.”
“And now?” she inquired. “What are you going to do now?”
“I am going to find a capitalist or float a company to buy the rest of the site,” he announced. “After that, we must see about building. There is no hurry about that, though. The first thing is to secure the site.”