“We will talk about that presently,” she interrupted.  “In the first place, tell me why you have left your place.”

“Mr. Dowling discovered,” he told her, in a matter-of-fact tone, “that I had been doing some business on my own account.  He was quite right to disapprove.  I have not been back to the office since he found it out.”

“What sort of business?” she asked.

“The business of the firm is to buy property in undeveloped districts and sell it for building estate,” he explained.  “I have been very successful hitherto in finding sites for their operations.  A short time ago, I discovered one so good that I invested all my own savings in buying certain lots, and have an option upon the whole.  Mr. Dowling found it out and dismissed me.”

“But it seems most unfair,” she declared.

“Not at all,” he answered.  “In Mr. Dowling’s place I should have done the same thing.  Every one with his way in life to make must look out for himself.  Strictly speaking, what I did was wrong.  I wish, however, that I had done it before.  One must think of one’s self first.”

“And now?” she inquired.  “What are you going to do now?”

“I am going to find a capitalist or float a company to buy the rest of the site,” he announced.  “After that, we must see about building.  There is no hurry about that, though.  The first thing is to secure the site.”

“How much money does it require?”

“About twelve thousand pounds,” he told her.

“It seems very little,” she murmured.

“The need for money comes afterwards,” he explained.  “We want to drain and plan and build without mortgages.  As soon as we are sure of the site, one can think of that.  My option only extends for a week or so.”

“Do you really think that it is a good speculation?” she asked.

“I do not think about such matters,” he answered, drily.  “I know.”

She leaned back in her chair, watching him for several seconds — admiring him, as a matter of fact.  The profound conviction of his words was almost inspiring.  In her presence, and she knew that she was a very beautiful woman, he appeared, notwithstanding his absence of any knowledge of her sex and his lack of social status, unmoved, wholly undisturbed.  He sat there in perfect naturalness.  It did not seem to him even unaccountable that she should be interested in his concerns.  He was not conceited or aggressive in any way.  His complete self-confidence lacked any militant impulse.  He was—­ himself, impervious to surroundings, however unusual.

“Why should I not be your capitalist?” she inquired slowly.

“Have you as much as twelve thousand pounds that you want to invest?” he asked, incredulously.

She rose to her feet and moved across to her desk.  He sat quite still, watching her without any apparent curiosity.  She unlocked a drawer and returned to him with a bankbook in her hand.