But the circumstances were catastrophic. A torn-open letter lay on his father’s uneaten eggs. His father, dressed for the office in grey vest and tailcoat, was pacing the rug, popping with anger, while the ormolu clock on the sideboard chimed the hour at which he should already have been sitting at his desk.

Collis at least had the diplomacy to keep his head lowered. His father came around to his side of the table from time to time, and bent over him, and raged in his ear, and in the face of that kind of treatment there was very little else he could do.

‘I asked you, on your honour, to keep this unfortunate affair to yourself!’ shouted Makepeace. ‘I asked for your word! So what did you promptly do? You went, without consulting me, to one of the lowest financial rats in the whole of America. You went to the very man whose bubble had burst and left me destitute! You revealed my identity to him, and he went straight away to trumpet my disaster around the breadths of Wall Street! My God, Collis, I thought you were a fool, but I didn’t realise you were an idiot!’

Makepeace wiped his mouth with his napkin. The pause gave Collis the opportunity to say quietly, ‘It was you who lost the money in the first place, Father. And there was no guarantee that you could have found anyone to underwrite you. In fact, there was hardly any chance at all.’

‘Don’t be so damned impertinent!’ shouted Makepeace. ‘Until you stuck your oar in, it was nothing more than a temporary setback, a few days’ financial difficulty! But now, I’m finished! I’m going to have to sell the house, and the farm, and the carriages, and every damned painting and ornament we possess!’

Maude, at that point, burst into tears, her face folding up like a bright-red umbrella. ‘It’s so unfair,’ wept Maude.

‘What’s unfair about it?’ asked Collis. ‘We’re all in the same boat.’

‘That’s what I mean,’ Maude sobbed. ‘Just because you’ve been thoughtless, I don’t see why I should have to suffer. I don’t know anything about money at all. I simply want to live my life in dignity and grace. Now, I shan’t even be able to do that. I’m so ashamed!’

‘Oh, well,’ said Collis, ‘perhaps if you ask the Lord, He will provide for you.’

‘Don’t blaspheme,’ put in Ida. ‘You’ve surpassed yourself this time, you cruel and inconsiderate boy. And I’m not particularly pleased with you, Makepeace, for putting our happiness and security at risk.’