“Thank you, sir; but you said young women?”
“Precisely. Young women often accept, and very efficiently fill, such posts.”
“Indeed? I don’t know how my sister——”
“Of course not. But suppose we look for a moment at the other side of your difficulty.”
“Very well, sir; the other trouble is that I find it hard to decide what answers to send to a good many of the letters. They are mostly applications for money; and it’s not easy to tell whether they are genuine. Then there are a great many appeals on behalf of all sorts of good objects. May I venture to hope, sir, that you will give me your advice in these matters?”
“With pleasure!” replied Mr. Durnford, with sparkling eyes.
“Thank you, sir; thank you very much indeed,” said “Cobbler” Horn, greatly relieved. “And will it be too much if I ask you to advise me, in due course, as to the best way of making this money of my uncle’s do as much good as possible, in a general way?”
“By no means,” protested Mr. Durnford, “I am entirely at your service, my dear sir. But now,” he added, after a pause, “I’ve been considering, and I think I can find you a secretary.”
“Ah! who is he, sir?”
“It is she, not he.”