Читать книгу A Town Like Alice онлайн

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I glanced at the figures on the slip before me. "Invested in trustee stocks, as at present--about £1,550 a year, gross income. Then income tax has to be deducted. You would have about nine hundred a year to spend, Miss Paget."

"Oh..." There was a long silence; she sat staring at the desk in front of her. Then she looked up at me, and smiled. "It takes a bit of getting used to," she remarked. "I mean, I've always worked for my living, Mr. Strachan. I've never thought that I'd do anything else unless I married, and that's only a different sort of work. But this means that I need never work again--unless I want to."

She had hit the nail on the head with her last sentence. "That's exactly it," I replied. "Unless you want to."

"I don't know what I'd do if I didn't have to go to the office," she said. "I haven't got any other life..."

"Then I should go on going to the office," I observed.

She laughed. "I suppose that's the only thing to do."

I leaned back in my chair. "I'm an old man now, Miss Paget. I've made plenty of mistakes in my time and I've learned one thing from them, that it's never very wise to do anything in a great hurry. I take it that this legacy will mean a considerable change in your circumstances. If I may offer my advice, I should continue in your present employment for the time, at any rate, and I should refrain from talking about your legacy in the office just yet. For one thing, it will be some months before you get possession even of the income from the estate. First we have to obtain legal proof of the death of your brother, and then we have to obtain the confirmation of the executors in Scotland and realise a portion of the securities to meet estate and succession duties. Tell me, what are you doing with this firm Pack and Levy?"