“Ninety-seven thousand,” he whispered to himself. “God! If anything were to come out!”
He sat looking at the figures, tapping softly with his pencil, something like despair shining in his eyes.
“Suppose Adrian’s fine scheme goes awry? Or suppose Joy refuses to sign?”
He rose from his chair and began to walk to and fro, in the manner of a man whom nervousness has made restless. Once he stopped and glanced at the ledger, then nodded his head.
“The others will be all right, if——”
The whirr of the telephone bell on his desk interrupted his thoughts. Frowningly he picked up the receiver, and gave the stereotyped “Hallo!”
“Is that really you, Adrian? I didn’t know you had arrived.... Last night you say.... I didn’t get your telegram. I was dining with the Chancellor, and went on to the theatre afterwards.... Yes, you are in time, though I have been praying for your arrival for days. Things are very tight, and that banker is getting nervous.... Yes, the sooner the better. In half an hour? That will do very nicely. I shall expect you both without fail. How goes your matrimonial scheme?... Um! Hangs fire a little does it, but you’re certain of the end. Well the earlier it is arranged, the better I shall be pleased. My nerves are not what they were. But we can talk the whole business over later. Thank heaven, I’m her guardian, and there’s only my consent to be obtained. What sort of a savage has she become in these three years?”
As he listened to the reply to his last question a cynical smile came on his face. “Sounds as if you had fallen in love!... You have, hey? Well, well (he laughed a little), love is as good a qualification for matrimony as anything I know, except a thundering big bank account.... Yes, yes, I know.... I shall be waiting. That’s all, I think.”
Putting down the receiver, he began to gather up the scattered papers on his desk, and after tying them together with tape, he placed them in a large envelope and sealed them with his private seal. Then he locked the books and placed both the book and the envelope in the safe. Care appeared to have fallen from him like a garment. He even hummed a little catch from the halls as he took from the safe a new set of papers. Any one looking at him would not have known him for the care-ridden man of ten minutes before. Once more he was the Sir Joseph Rayner, whom the city knew, smiling, cheerful, and exceeding prosperous.
“That will do, I think,” he said as he arranged the papers on the desk. “Fortunately the girl has no business experience.”