'I suppose you are fairly well off?' said Racksole, in that easy
familiar style of his, as though the idea had just occurred to him.

'Besides what I shall receive from you, I have half a million
invested.'

'Then you will be nearly a millionaire?'

Felix Babylon nodded.

'I congratulate you, my dear sir,' said Racksole, in the tone of a
judge addressing a newly-admitted barrister. 'Nine hundred
thousand pounds, expressed in francs, will sound very nice - in
Switzerland.'

'Of course to you, Mr Racksole, such a sum would be poverty.
Now if one might guess at your own wealth?' Felix Babylon was
imitating the other's freedom.

'I do not know, to five millions or so, what I am worth,' said
Racksole, with sincerity, his tone indicating that he would have
been glad to give the information if it were in his power.

'You have had anxieties, Mr Racksole?'

'Still have them. I am now holiday-making in London with my
daughter in order to get rid of them for a time.'

'Is the purchase of hotels your notion of relaxation, then?'