“She just opened the door and walked in.”
“And do you mean to say that you made this accusation in front of Carlotta Goldring?”
“Well, I don’t know just how much I said before she came in, and how much I said afterwards.”
“But, Mrs. Cool, why didn’t you wait until this young woman had left the office. If she was virtually a stranger to you, it seems that reasonable prudence would have caused you to withhold any accusation while she was there. We can’t possibly claim a privileged communication as far as this Carlotta Goldring is concerned.”
Bertha said angrily, “I’ll tell you why I didn’t do it; because I was trying to carry on my business. That’s the trouble with you lawyers. All you think about is lawsuits. If a person tried to carry on business so he’d be within the letter of the law, he’d never get anything done.”
Drumson shook his head chidingly. “I’m sorry, Mrs. Cool, but you’ve been indiscreet. You can’t minimize that indiscretion by abusing the law or blaming the lawyers. This is going to be a very difficult action to defend. I’ll want five hundred dollars as a retainer, then we’ll see what can be done. That retainer will carry the case through the pleadings and up to the time of trial. At that time you can make an additional remuneration in case we haven’t been able to get the case disposed of before—”
“Five hundred dollars!” Bertha all but screamed.
“That’s right, Mrs. Cool.”
“Why, fry me for an oyster! Five — hundred — dollars!”
“ Five hundred dollars, Mrs. Cool.”