He walked across and leant his elbows on the mantelpiece, looking up at the painting above his head.
“Do you admire my relative?” beamed Mr. Longvale.
“I don’t know that I admire him. He was certainly a wonderfully handsome old gentleman.”
Mr. Longvale inclined his head.
“You have read his memoirs?”
Michael nodded, and the old man did not seem in any way surprised.
“Yes, I have read what purport to be his memoirs,” said Michael quietly, “but latter-day opinion is that they are not authentic.”
Mr. Longvale shrugged his shoulders.
“Personally, I believe every word of them,” he said. “My uncle was a man of considerable education.”
It would have amazed Jack Knebworth to know that the man who had rushed hotfoot from the tower in search of a possible murderer, was at that moment calmly discussing biography; yet such was the incongruous, unbelievable fact.