Mary Compton became almost panic-stricken in her effort to escape from the fascination of that silence. She turned her attention to Mrs. Smithers, who had deserted her tea and gone back to her figures.
"Are you drawing patterns?" she asked hurriedly. Mrs. Smithers shook her head.
"Sums," she explained. "Never could do them even in me board-school days, and that's some time ago. Are you any good?"
"I wrestle with accounts once a week—not successfully. But that's not the fault of my arithmetic. It's Archie's pay. Can I help?"
Mrs. Smithers sat back and folded her hands.
"What I'm trying to find out," she began, "is, what income would one have if one had two thousand pounds?"
"It depends on the rate of interest."
"What rate of interest can one have?"
"Well, three-and-a-half per cent. if you're rich, and five per cent. if you're poor. If one hasn't much, it's a case of sink or swim."
"Let's split the difference—say, four per cent. Here—you can have the pencil——"