'That question is, pardon me, worse than fruitless; it's irrelevant.'
'She can't pay that money and what she owes besides unless she has time given her. And, even if she has, she'll worry herself to death, waiting and watching for the--for the----'
'Calls,' he suggested. 'That's the legal term.'
'I am not the company; I am not her creditors. I can't give Mrs. Trevalla time.'
'You wouldn't if you could!' Peggy blazed out.
'Irrelevant again,' he murmured, gently shaking his head.
'I didn't come here to beg,' Peggy explained. 'But I've a sort of idea that, if you had the shares instead of Trix, you could get out of it cheaper somehow. I mean, you could make some arrangement with the company, or get rid of the shares, or something. Anyhow I believe you could manage to pay less than she'll have to.'
'It's possible you're flattering me there.'
'You may, I think, give me the credit of supposing I should try,' said Fricker, smiling again.
'She'll have to pay, or--or try to pay----'
'Yes, liable to pay three thousand pounds altogether?' He nodded. 'What are the shares worth?'
'Three thousand pounds less than nothing, Miss Ryle.'
His terrible coolness appalled Peggy. She could not resist a glance of horror, but she held herself in hand.
'Then, if you took them, the most you'd lose would be three thousand pounds, and you'd have a very good chance of losing less?'
'I don't know about a good chance. Some chance, shall we say?' He was more than tolerant; he was interested in Peggy's development of her idea.
Peggy leant her elbows on the writing-table between them.
'I want her to be rid of the whole thing--to think it never happened. I want you to take those shares from her: tell her that they've become of value, or that you made a mistake, or anything you like of that sort, and that you'll relieve her of them. If you did that, how much money should you want?'
'You wish this done out of kindness? To take a weight off Mrs. Trevalla's mind?'
'Yes, to take a weight off her mind. It's funny, but she frets more over having bungled her money affairs and having been made--having been silly, you know--than over anything else. She's very proud, you see.'
Fricker's smile broadened. 'I can quite believe she's proud,' he remarked.