‘Do so,’ said my lord curtly, for he felt offended at the flippant tone in which the other spoke. ‘I don’t mean to say that I’d send the writer of that letter yonder to Yucatan or Costa Rica.’
‘Who may the gifted writer be, my lord?’
‘Atlee, Joe Atlee; the fellow you sent over here.’
‘Indeed!’ was all that Walpole could utter.
‘Just take it to your room and read it over. You will be astonished at the thing. The fellow has got to know the bearings of a whole set of new questions, and how he understands the men he has got to deal with!’
‘With your leave I will do so,’ said he, as he took the letter and left the room.
CHAPTER LX
A DEFEAT
Cecil Walpole’s Italian experiences had supplied him with an Italian proverb which says, ‘Tutto il mal non vien per nuocere,’ or, in other words, that no evil comes unmixed with good; and there is a marvellous amount of wisdom in the adage.