Do not think that any furtive love-making went on,
sandwiched between shop talk. Their conversation might have
taken place between two men. Indeed, they often were
brutally frank to each other. Fanny had the vision, Fenger
the science to apply it. Sometimes her intuition leaped
ahead of his reasoning. Then he would say, "I'm not sold on
that," which is modern business slang meaning, "You haven't
convinced me." She would go back and start afresh, covering
the ground more slowly.
Usually her suggestions were practical and what might be
termed human. They seemed to be founded on an uncanny
knowledge of people's frailties. It was only when she
touched upon his beloved System that he was adamant.
"None of that socialistic stuff," he would say. "This isn't
a Benevolent Association we're running. It's the biggest
mail order business in the world, and its back-bone is
System. I've been just fifteen years perfecting that
System. It's my job. Hands off."
"A fifteen year old system ought to be scrapped," Fanny
would retort, boldly.
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