“Why,” protested his lordship, “we have already spent ten minutes at least.”
“Yes, fooling with cards.”
“Ah, I’m more accustomed to handling cards than listening to a financial conversation; not these kind of cards, either.”
“Will you, for the sake of John Hazel, who tells me he is a friend of yours, give me ten minutes more of your time?”
“What has Jack Hazel to do with this? Are you going to share with him? Is he setting you on to me for loot, and then do you retire into a dark corner, and divide? Jack Hazel’s always short of money.”
“No, we don’t divide, my lord. Mr. Hazel has been speculating in the city, and he stands to win a bit if I can pull off what I’m trying to do. So, if you agree to my proposal, he will prove a winner, so will I, so will you, for you will share in the profits.”
“Oh, but I don’t need the money.”
“Well, we do.”
“So I understand. Why doesn’t Jack confine himself to the comparative honesty of the dice? What does he want to muddle about in the city for?”
“I suppose because he hasn’t got thirty thousand a year.”