"A letter, sir?" he said, vaguely, as if consulting his recollections.
"From Miss Brandon? I have never seen or heard of such a thing. If I
had, of course I should have given it to Mr. Livingstone. What else
could I have done with it?"
"I will give a thousand francs for it," Mohun went on, without noticing
the denial, "or for a written acknowledgment of how you disposed of it,
and at whose orders." He laid the bank-note on the table.
The flats changed; the look of bewilderment gave place to one of injured
innocence--an appeal against manifest injustice. It was really
artistically done.
"I am sorry, sir, that you should think I want a bribe to serve you or
Mr. Livingstone. It is quite out of my power now. I don't know what you
refer to."
"I have no time to bargain," Ralph growled, and his eyes began to
glisten ominously. "Name your price, and have done with it."
Finale and Grand Tableau--virtuous indignation--the faithful servant
asserting his dignity as a man. There was a hitch here somewhere; the
scene-shifter was hardly up to his work, so that it was rather a
failure.
"I have told you twice, sir, that I do not know any thing about it. I
beg you will not insult me with more questions.
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