" exclaimed Horace, who had expected about a tenth of
that sum. "Oh, not _more_ than sixty thousand? I see."

"I mean, on the house itself," explained Mr. Wackerbath; "there will be
outbuildings, lodges, cottages, and so forth, and then some of the rooms
I should want specially decorated. Altogether, before we are finished,
it may work out at about a hundred thousand. I take it that, with such a
margin, you could--ah--run me up something that in a modest way would
take the shine out of--I mean to say eclipse--anything in the adjoining
counties?"

"I certainly think," said Horace, "that for such a sum as that I can
undertake that you shall have a home which will satisfy you." And he
proceeded to put the usual questions as to site, soil, available
building materials, the accommodation that would be required, and so on.

"You're young, sir," said Mr. Wackerbath, at the end of the interview,
"but I perceive you are up to all the tricks of the--I _should_ say,
versed in the _minutiae_ of your profession. You would like to run down
and look at the ground, eh? Well, that's only reasonable; and my wife
and daughters will want to have _their_ say in the matter--no getting on
without pleasing the ladies, hey? Now, let me see. To-morrow's Sunday.
Why not come down by the 8.45 a.m. to Lipsfield? I'll have a trap, or a
brougham and pair, or something, waiting for you--take you over the
ground myself, bring you back to lunch with us at Oriel Court, and talk
the whole thing thoroughly over. Then we'll send you up to town in the
evening, and you can start work the first thing on Monday. That suit
you? Very well, then. We'll expect you to-morrow."

With this Mr. Wackerbath departed, leaving Horace, as may be imagined,
absolutely overwhelmed by the suddenness and completeness of his good
fortune. He was no longer one of the unemployed: he had work to do, and,
better still, work that would interest him, give him all the scope and
opportunity he could wish for. With a client who seemed tractable, and
to whom money was clearly no object, he might carry out some of his most
ambitious ideas.

Moreover, he would now be in a position to speak to Sylvia's father
without fear of a repulse. His commission on L60,000 would be L3,000,
and that on the decorations and other work at least as much
again--probably more. In a year he could marry without imprudence; in
two or three years he might be making a handsome income, for he felt
confident that