"No, here in London;
last night as ever was; before myself and Dr. Gray; and about to be
exhibited by the President himself at a meeting of Fellows of the
Royal Society."
Charles drew a long breath. "This nonsense must be stopped," he said
firmly--"it must be nipped in the bud. It won't do, my dear friend;
we can't have such tampering with important Interests."
"How do you mean?" Cordery asked, astonished.
Charles gazed at him steadily. I could see by the furtive gleam in
my brother-in-law's eye he was distinctly frightened. "Where _is_
the fellow?" he asked. "Did he come himself, or send over a deputy?"
"Here in London," Sir Adolphus replied. "He's staying at my house;
and he says he'll be glad to show his experiments to anybody
scientifically interested in diamonds. We propose to have a
demonstration of the process to-night at Lancaster Gate. Will
you drop in and see it?"
Would he "drop in" and see it? "Drop in" at such a function! Could
he possibly stop away? Charles clutched the enemy's arm with a
nervous grip. "Look here, Cordery," he said, quivering; "this is a
question affecting very important Interests. Don't do anything rash.
Don't do anything foolish. Remember that Shares may rise or fall on
this." He said "Shares" in a tone of profound respect that I can
hardly even indicate.
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