She pouted angrily and turned her shoulder to him.

“Still,” he continued reflectively, “I admit that for the smart lot we are, we do seem rather to have bungled the affair.”

Lavinia swept round upon him.

“Oh, do you care no more than that? How can you be so casual! Does it affect you not at all?”

He wrinkled his thin nose expressively.

“I shall not weep over it, Lavinia, but ’tis a plaguey nuisance. But we must see what can be done. And that brings me back to the original subject. Despite these upsetting revelations, I still require that money.”

“Oh, dear! How much must you have, Tracy?”

“Five hundred might suffice.”