Thorndyke had cast a keen and curious glance at the young man, and he
now replied in a much more genial tone--

"I take it that your business is of a kind that will not wait, and as to
inconveniencing us, why, my friend and I are both doctors, and, as you
are aware, no doctor expects to call any part of the twenty-four hours
his own unreservedly."

I had risen on the entrance of the two strangers, and now proposed to
take a walk on the Embankment and return later, but the young man
interrupted me.

"Pray don't go away on my account," he said. "The facts that I am about
to lay before Dr. Thorndyke will be known to all the world by this time
to-morrow, so there is no occasion for any show of secrecy."

"In that case," said Thorndyke, "let us draw our chairs up to the fire
and fall to business forthwith. We had just finished our dinner and were
waiting for the coffee, which I hear my man bringing down at this
moment."

We accordingly drew up our chairs, and when Polton had set the coffee on
the table and retired, the lawyer plunged into the matter without
preamble.




CHAPTER II