Peter said, Please.

He tried to think of the sort of thing Americans say.

He said, It would mean a lot to me to work with someone who admired Bertrand Russell.

He said, It would really mean a lot to me.

The statement seemed, if not meaningless, then uselessly imprecise.

(The first book had made all this money. Why could he not use the money to buy what he wanted? Was that not the general point of having money in the first place?)

He said, I’d be happy to switch the percentages round if that would help. You’d be very welcome to take an 85% commission.

This was undoubtedly precise but was perhaps not the sort of thing Americans say. Jim said he was happy with the normal 15% commission.

Peter pressed the palms of his hands to his eyes.