Mr. Plumley took up his pipe, blew through it, put it down again, and said nothing.
“You’d heard of Gardener’s aunt’s little bequest to him of fifty pounds, duty free, eh?” asked the lawyer.
“No,” said Mr. Plumley.
“O!” said the lawyer. “He bid fifty pounds for that picture of yours this afternoon, and got it. On whose instructions?”
“Ask him, sir. He acts for many.”
“It wasn’t on yours, then?”
“Is that reasonable, Mr. Bittern, when to my knowledge the man wasn’t worth a brass farden?”
“What do you say about holding him to his bargain?”
“I say, if he’s bought the picture, he must pay for it.”
“And who bid against him? You don’t know that either, I suppose?”