"Perhaps he has called here while
you were away."
Lord Polperro rang the bell, only to find that no one had asked for
him. He was in a state of pitiable agitation, kept shuffling about
the room with coughs and gasps, demanding ceaselessly why Greenacre
left the hour of his appearance uncertain. Gammon, scarcely less
excited in his own way, shouted assurances that the fellow might
turn up at any moment. It was not yet ten o'clock. Why not sit down
and wait quietly?
"I will," said the other. "I will thank you, Gammon. I will sit down
and wait. But I cannot conceive why he didn't come straight here
from Euston. I may as well tell you he has been to Ireland for me on
business of the gravest importance. I am not impatient without
cause. I trust Greenacre implicitly. He had a gentleman's education.
I am convinced he could not deceive me."
More brandy helped him to surmount this crisis, then he was silent
for a few minutes. Gammon thought he had begun to doze again, but of
a sudden he spoke distinctly and earnestly.
"I am forgetting.
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