Area of Subsidence

The estate agent, Frau Scharnebeck, was doing her best to sell the house, but she realised she must tread carefully with these particular customers. The gentleman and his wife both had closed faces, though they listened politely enough. If she pushed them, or gushed, she would only drive them away; and God knew she was anxious to get shut of this property; as anxious as if it had been a dead albatross dropped on her desk, and not a court-directed sale.