At
length, very much against his inclination, he put up a card in his
window that no new members could be accepted until further notice,
pending the acquisition of larger offices and other arrangements. For
the shrewd, it was a confession of failure, and he knew it.
Then the rumour began to form, and to thicken, and to spread, that
Denry's famous Universal Thrift Club was unsound at the core, and that
the teeth of those who had bitten the apple would be set on edge.
And Denry saw that something great, something decisive, must be done and
done with rapidity.
II
His thoughts turned to the Countess of Chell. The original attempt to
engage her moral support in aid of the Thrift Club had ended in a
dangerous fiasco. Denry had been beaten by circumstances. And though he
had emerged from the defeat with credit, he had no taste for defeat. He
disliked defeat even when it was served with jam. And his indomitable
thoughts turned to the Countess again. He put it to himself in this way,
scratching his head:
"I've got to get hold of that woman, and that's all about it!"
The Countess at this period was busying herself with the policemen of
the Five Towns.
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