DONALD MEGBIE SEES POSSIBILITIES
So Sir William Gouldesbrough passed through the crowds of friends and acquaintances who crowded round him in a welter of curiosity and congratulation, and came into the inner room, where Lord Malvin, Sir Harold Oliver and Mr. Donald Megbie were waiting to receive him.
Tall, suave, and self-contained, he bowed and shook hands. Then there was a moment's pause—they were waiting for him to speak, expectant of what he should say.
"I am sorry, Lord Malvin," he began, "that I have arrived so late at your party. But I was conducting an experiment, and when I was half-way through I found that it was going to lead me much further than I thought. You know how that happens sometimes?"
"Perfectly, Sir William, and the fact is a scientist's greatest pleasure very often. Now, may I ask you—you will excuse an old man's impatience—may I ask you if you have finally succeeded? When I last saw you the composition of the spectrum presented a difficulty."
"That I have now completely overcome, Lord Malvin."
Lord Malvin trembled, actually trembled with excitement. "Then the series of experiments is complete?"
"Quite. And more than that, I have done, not once or twice but many times, exactly what I told you I hoped to do. The thing, my lord, is an accomplished fact, indisputable—certain!"
Lord Malvin turned to Sir Harold Oliver and Megbie.
"Gentlemen," he said in a clear voice but full of a profound emotion. "The history of life is changed. We all must stand in a new relation to each other, to society and to the world."