'But I must be careful,' he muttered--'I must be careful.'

A clerk entered with his personal letters. It was scarcely seven
o'clock, but these fifteen or twenty envelopes had already been sorted
from the three thousand missives that constituted his first post; he had
his own arrangement with the Post-Office.

'So it's coming at last,' he said to himself, as he opened an envelope
marked 'Private and Confidential' in red ink. The autograph note within
was from Senior Polycarp, principal partner in Polycarps, the famous
firm of company-promoting solicitors, and it heralded a personal visit
from the august lawyer at 11.30 that day.

In the midst of dictating instructions to the clerk, Mr. Hugo stopped
and rang for Shawn.

'Take that back,' he commanded, indicating the hat. 'I've done with it.'

'Yes, sir.'

The hat went.

'I may just as well be discreet,' his thought ran.

But her image, the image of the artist in hats, illumined more brightly
than ever his soul.