Lord Ellingham was already there when they arrived--in conference with
his solicitor, Mr. Carless, a plump, rosy, active gentleman who wore
mutton-chop whiskers and--secretly--prided himself on his likeness to the
type of fox-hunting squire. It was very evident to Viner that both
solicitor and client were in a state of expectancy bordering on something
very like excitement; and Mr. Carless, the preliminary greetings being
over, plunged at once into the subject.
"I say, Pawle," he exclaimed, turning at once to his fellow-practitioner,
"this appears to be a most extraordinary business! His lordship has just
been telling me all about the two calls he had yesterday--first from two
men whom he'd never seen before--then from you two, who were also
strangers. He has also told me what both lots of his callers had to say,
and hang me if I ever heard of two such curious unfoldings coming one on
top of the other. Sounds like a first-class mystery!"
"You forget," remarked Mr. Pawle with a glance at Lord Ellingham, "that
we don't know--Mr. Viner and myself--what it was that his lordship's
first couple of callers told him.
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