One of the arguments which Sybil had advanced in the brief discussion
which had followed the putting down of Bailey's foot had been that Ruth
had been invited and accepted, so why should not she? Bailey had not
replied to this--it was at this point of the proceedings that the
Tiffany motive had been introduced, but he had not forgotten it. He
thought it over, and decided to call upon Ruth. He did so.
It was unfortunate that the nervous strain of being the Napoleon of
Wall Street had had the effect of increasing to a marked extent the
portentousness of Bailey's always portentous manner. Ruth rebelled
against it. There was an insufferable suggestion of ripe old age and
fatherliness in his attitude which she found irritating in the extreme.
All her life she had chafed at authority, and now, when Bailey set
himself up as one possessing it, she showed the worst side of herself
to him.
He struck this unfortunate note from the very beginning.
"Ruth," he said, "I wish to speak seriously to you."
Ruth looked at him with hostile eyes, but did not speak. He did not
know it, poor man, but he had selected an exceedingly bad moment for
his lecture. It so happened that, only half an hour before, she and
Kirk had come nearer to open warfare than they had ever come.
It had come about in this way. Kirk had slept badly the night before,
and, as he lay awake in the small hours, his conscience had troubled
him.
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