rtunately Mr. Pilkington has an absolute right to sell it, and my
father has an absolute right to buy it."

"Well, somebody's got to buy it, I suppose?"

"Yes, but it seems to me we oughtn't to do anything till we know
whether any of Miss Harden's people will come forward."

"She is the last of her people."

"How about Mr. Jewdwine? He's her cousin."

"On her mother's side."

"Still he's her cousin. I wrote to him ten days ago; and I haven't got
any answer as yet."

"What did you say to him?"

"I invited him to step in and buy the library over our heads."

"And how much would he have had to pay for it?"

"Probably more than one thousand two hundred."

"Well--if you think that Mr. Jewdwine is the man to deal so lightly
with two hundred pounds, let alone the thousand! Really, that's the
quaintest thing you've done yet. May I ask if this is the way you
generally do business?"

"No, I can't say that it is."

"Well, well, you were very safe."

"Safe? I don't want to be safe. Don't you see how horrible it is for
me? I'd give anything if he or anyone else would come in now and walk
over us."

"Still, I don't wonder that you got no answer to your very remarkable
proposal."

"It seemed to me a very simple and obvious proposal."

"I don't know much about business," said Kitty, "but I can think of a
much more simple and obvious one. Why can't your people buy in the
library and sell it again for Miss Harden on commission?"

"Do you suppose I haven't thought of that? It would be very simple and
obvious if it rested with me, but I'm afraid my father mightn't see it
in the same light. You see, the thing doesn't lie between Miss Harden
and me, but between my father and Mr. Pilkington."

"I don't understand."

"It's this way. My father won't be buying the library from Miss
Harden, but from Mr. Pilkington. And--my father is a man of business."

"And you most certainly are not."

"So he isn't likely to give any more for it than he can help."

"Of course not."

"Well, but--do you know what the library was valued at?"

Kitty did, and she would have blurted it out had not an inner voice
told her to be discreet for once. He took her silence for a confession
of ignorance.

"Would you think a thousand pounds an absurdly high valuation?"

"I don't know."

Kitty tried to banish all expression from her face. She really knew
very little about business and was as yet unaware of the necessary
publicity of bills o