Flomerfelt shook his head.
"I should say that it cost much less."
"What!" she gasped. "Why, everybody says it did. The papers...."
Flomerfelt thought a moment.
"I should think four million was an outside figure," he declared. "I know Peter V. doesn't consider it worth more than that."
"Well, four million is something, at any rate," she returned, mollified. "I can live on that."
Flomerfelt began to pace the room.
"The difficulty with it, Mrs. Peter V., is that it is mortgaged. The trust companies hold mortgages on it to the extent of five million dollars, at least."
Mrs. Wilkinson reached forth and drew him back into his seat.
"Do sit down, Flomerfelt!" she cried; "and don't be a fool! What do you mean by telling me that the property isn't worth more than four million, and that, notwithstanding that, the trust companies have loaned five million on it—more than its value? What trust company would do a thing like that?"