Mr. Wilkes looked as if he would have said a good deal; but Mr. Elmore had already begun to write a letter--there was an air of complete indifference about him which apparently brought him to the conclusion that it might perhaps be as well to say nothing. He took his hat off the table and went out in silence. Presently Rodney, ringing the bell, said to the lad who answered:
"Take that letter to the address which is on the envelope at once, and bring me an answer; also tell Mr. Andrews that I wish to speak to him."
Shortly the managing man appeared in the doorway. One felt that he had hesitated whether or not to come, and that he was oppressed by something like a sense of shame at the thought of having yielded. The young gentleman, leaning back, regarded him with the pleasant little smile which, so far, had not left him--it was odd of what a number of subtle inflections his manner was capable without once disturbing the smile.
The other did as he was told, sitting on the extreme edge, leaning slightly forward, his long legs crooked in front of him, his hands resting on his knees.
Instead of replying to the question, the managing man started off on a line of his own.
"Mr. Elmore, you must excuse my remarking that, so far as I am concerned, I don't understand the position at all."
"You will, Andrews, shortly. I always have felt that your mental processes were perhaps a trifle slow."
"I have been in this office, boy and man, practically my whole life long; I'm older than your uncle was, and I was here before he came. He was with Harding and Fletcher before he took this business over, and, so to speak, he took me with it. It was a solid business then, and it's a solid business still--indeed, it's even better than it was. I'm almost--if not quite--as well known in the City as he was; he would have been the first to tell you that with the continued success I have had something to do. He was, in some ways, a difficult man to deal with; but no man had a better head for business--if he gave his confidence, you might be sure it was deserved, and he had entire confidence in me."
"When he said a thing he meant it. It's always been a joke among those who knew him that Graham Patterson's word was as good as a bank-note. He has told me more than once that when he was gone----"