"Oh! Ah, yes; a reward by all means! Of course I'll give a reward to stimulate incompetence, eh?"
"What will your lordship make it?" asked the officer, determined this time to show no resentment.
"Two hundred—five hundred—have what you like—so long as you get that brute."
"Five hundred, my lord, would stimulate us all."
"Very well," said Lord Radclyffe briefly. "Good evening."
"Good evening, my lord. And to-morrow morning we'll be ready for the body to be taken away, if you wish it. But the inquest will be the day after, so perhaps it might be best to wait until then. At the coroner's court, Victoria, my lord—South Kensington, you know—everything will be all right. Good evening, my lord."
The two men took their leave, glad enough to have done with the unpleasant interview.
As they walked to the door that gave from the library on the hall it was opened from the outside, and a seedy-looking man, dressed in shabby evening clothes that bore many traces of past libations, walked unceremoniously midway into the room.
"Will you see Mr. Luke de Mountford?" he muttered addressing his master.
"Certainly not," replied his lordship. "It's much too late. Ask Mr. Luke to call again to-morrow. And you and your wife can go to bed."