"What is it?" she cried breathlessly. "Not Cosimo----?"
"How Cosimo?" Amory asked, staring a little.
"I mean, I thought--I thought perhaps he'd proposed----"
Only for a moment or so was Amory a little stiff. "I think Cosimo can be trusted not to do anything quite so obvious," she replied. "You don't seem to understand, Dorothy.... No, it's far more exciting than that----"
Somehow it struck Amory that Dorothy received the news in an unexpectedly critical spirit. She had expected her to jump up with delight, or at least to say that she was glad. But instead of that Dorothy stared at Amory until Amory felt quite uncomfortable, and had to say "Well?" If this was the way Dorothy took it, she was rather sorry she had rung her up.
"Tell me what Mr. Dix said again," said Dorothy, still almost glaring at Amory.
"And he's sending for the pictures to-morrow?"
"Yes, but you don't understand; this isn't the price of the pictures."
"And he doesn't say when the Show will be?"
Amory spoke gently; of course it must be difficult for Dorothy to realize that Picture Exhibitions were not Catalogues.
"It will be as soon as the market is favourable. They wait for a favourable market and then----" She made an upward gesture with her hands. "And you see, Dorothy," she explained kindly, "pictures aren't much good to a dealer either just to shut up in a cellar and keep. They buy them in order to sell them again. That's their business."
"And they've got thirty pictures?" she asked presently.
"And can you exhibit new ones anywhere else?"
"They'll take the new ones too, at the same rate."
"But can you exhibit them anywhere else if you want?"
"Then," said Dorothy slowly, "I don't think I'd sign the contract, Amory."
Amory took a drink of tea; then she leaned back with the air of one who might say, "This is interesting."--"Oh? Why not?" she asked.
"Well, if it's as you say, it seems to me that they just muzzle you for two years."
"Well, I can hardly expect to have dealings with two sets of people at once, can I? I don't want to exhibit anywhere else. That would be to nobody's interest. And my Show would have been next except for----" She checked herself; she had almost forgotten that Herbertson's condition was a secret. "And anyway, Mr. Dix is going to write a number of articles on me at once, and Mr. Dix doesn't write articles for amusement, I can assure you. There are wheels within wheels, Dorothy. I call it a splendid bargain. _I'm_ perfectly satisfied----"