You want to
pay your debt to him. Good. I can help you do it. I can stop the
strikes on the railways and in the mills. I can stop the row at the
Orange funeral. I can stop the run on his bank and the drop in his
stock. I can fight the gang that's against him--I know how. I'm the
man that can bring things to pass."
He paused with a sly, mean smile of self-approval and conceit, and his
tongue licked the corners of his mouth in a way that drunkards have in
the early morning when the effect of last night's drinking has worn off.
He spread out his hands with the air of a man who had unpacked his soul,
but the chief characteristic of his manner was egregious belief in
himself.
At first, in her desire to find a way to meet the needs of Ingolby, Fleda
had listened to him with fortitude and even without revolt. But as he
began to speak of women, and to refer to herself with a look of gloating
which men of his breed cannot hide, her angry pulses beat hard. She did
not quite know where he was leading, but she was sure he meant to say
something which would vex her beyond bearing. At one moment she meant to
cut short his narrative, but he prevented her, and when at last he ended,
she was almost choking with agitation.
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