“What then?”
“Under the circumstances it seemed to me that the workmen had made a most magnanimous proposal. If a man would paint a picture for me which I could sell for five hundred pounds and he was content to take fifty for it and leave me the other four hundred and fifty, I should think him the most generous of men.”
“Stop talking nonsense, please. Is Sartwell going to receive the men?”
“I suppose so.”
“Then you must instantly go back to the city and tell him he is to do nothing of the sort.”
“But, mater—” protested the young man. He looked uneasily around the room and saw that Lady Mary had slipped away unperceived.
“Don’t talk. You’ve done enough harm already. Try and undo it.”
“But I say! It’s rather rough on me, mater. When you promised me a cheque for three hundred, I didn’t imagine I would have to see old Sartwell a second time and take back all I said. He would think me an ass then.”
“He thinks it already. But it doesn’t matter what he thinks. It is what he does that you have to deal with. You must see him at once and stop this nonsense about a conference.”
Barney shook his head dolefully.