"In Eries! Did he lose in Eries?"
"I am afraid he did, heavily. And then, in spite of that, on the same day, to see his way to a quarter of a million!"
"A quarter of a million! Did he mention that precise amount?"
"I think he did,--I feel sure he did. Charlie, didn't you hear him speak of a quarter of a million?"
Miss Wentworth, who from the depths of her easy chair had been regarding the two almost as if they had been studies of interesting, though contrasting, types of human nature, smiled as she replied--
"I believe that I did hear Mr. Paxton make a passing and, as it seemed to me, a mysterious allusion to that insignificant sum."
"Then he must be acquainted with the movements of the markets." Mr. Franklyn was the speaker. "Though I must tell you candidly, Miss Strong, that at present I am very far from being prepared to advise him to hold until his profits reach what Miss Wentworth, in a truly liberal spirit, calls that insignificant sum. As things stand, he can get out with half of it. If he waits for more, he may get nothing. Indeed, it is an almost vital necessity of the situation that I should see him at once. The shares are in my keeping. Without his direct authority I can do nothing with them. After all, the boom may be but a bubble; it may already have been blown to a bursting-point; in the morning it may have been pricked. Such things are the commonplaces of the Stock Exchange. In any case, it is absolutely necessary that he should be on the spot, ready, if needful, to take prompt, instant advantage of the turn of the market in whatever direction it may be. Or, by the time that he does appear upon the scene, his shares may again be unsaleable at twopence apiece, and all his profits may have gone. Now, tell me, do you know where he stayed last night?"
"At Makell's Hotel. He nearly always does stay there when he is in Brighton."
"It is possible, then, that he is there now; or, at any rate, that they have news of him. I will go at once and inquire."
Miss Strong made a quick movement towards the speaker.