“I need an extension to this house badly,” he said pointedly to Jessica. “You might remind me to-morrow to see about it.”
But Levi did not, or pretended that he did not note the point of that observation.
“And to what do I owe the honor of this visit?” Stapleton asked as he pushed an arm-chair towards Schomberg. “Is it business this time, or pleasure? And why have you come here instead of to my flat?”
“Some of each, and a little of both,” the little man answered with a grin. “You guess what I come about, no doubt?”
“Not being mentally incapacitated as yet, I do,” Stapleton answered, biting his lip. “I think you might have waited until after the ball on Thursday night,” he added in a tone of annoyance.
“Several thought that when I approached them to-day,” the Jew said slyly. “But, as I ask them, why after the ball instead of now? What is the matter with now? Isn’t now good enough?”
“Well, out with it. How much do you want this time?”
“Eight thousand. Only eight thousand—this time.”
Stapleton glared at him, and had anybody caught sight of Jessica at that moment he would have had difficulty in believing her to be the same woman, so distorted with fury had her face become.
“Eight thousand!” Stapleton exclaimed. “It’s preposterous—I haven’t the money.”