“Then, I must arrange for you to meet me at my town office. If I am satisfied, you will not grumble about the pay.”
“Thank you,” said Ledward. “In the meantime, would you sooner I did not talk about it?”
“I think we will not yet announce our agreement,” Jasper replied. “For one thing, I don’t know if you have the qualities I want; and then you may not like your job.”
CHAPTER XXII
MRS. HAIGH REVIEWS HER PLANS
Ledward went to the London office and for a time was at the bookkeeper’s desk. At the beginning the bookkeeper, who did not need much help, speculated about his employer’s object, but he soon admitted that Ledward had qualities he had not thought to find in a fashionable loafer. Jasper Carson, however, did not want a clerk. All he really wanted only he himself knew. In the meantime, he meant Harry to be useful.
Ledward was something of a Hedonist. He took the pleasures he could get without much risk and effort, and when he did make an effort he wanted a reward. He was not remarkably scrupulous, but he observed conventional rules and went soberly because he knew one must pay for indulgence.
For all that, he was interested and Jasper’s business transactions fired his imagination. Ledward frankly acknowledged the old fellow’s cleverness. Jasper was not as rich as his relations thought; for the most part, he used others’ money and all he earned was re-invested in fresh ventures. His finance, however, was sound and honest, and his shares were worth a considerable sum.
Ledward began to think himself fortunate. Engineering was not his line, but he had a talent for calculation. He knew his help was worth something and Jasper had indicated that his reward might be generous. He wanted money; for one thing he wanted to marry Evelyn.
Ledward was not romantic, and he knew Evelyn. Then he knew Mrs. Haigh, and Evelyn was her daughter. In a sense, she was not fastidious, and he knew her shallow; shallow was perhaps the proper word, because her cleverness, so to speak, was surface cleverness and selfish. For all that, she attracted him and he was moved by her beauty. When he could support a wife he meant to marry Evelyn, and her having engaged to marry Kit was not an obstacle. After a time, Jasper one morning came to the office.
“My relations have not heard you have joined me, and since you are going to stay, perhaps they ought to know,” he said. “On Wednesday my sister-in-law and her party will arrive. She and Alan go to Hampshire, and Mrs. Haigh visits with some friends in Surrey. They will be in town for a day or two and will dine with me on Wednesday evening. I thought we might announce our agreement. You perhaps are not engaged?”