"I paid a thumping big cheque for it. Never paid so much before for a single bit."
Pressland murmured pensively:
"I thought you knew your furniture."
"Ain't it all right? There's no secret about what I paid. It's been paragraphed—nine hundred pounds."
A soft whistle escaped from Pressland's thin lips. He said depressingly:
"I dare say you know more about those panels than I do."
Quinney protested vigorously:
"Don't play that on me, Mr. Pressland. If I knew one quarter of what you know about pictures I'd be a proud man."
"A pedigree bit? What do you mean by that?"
"Owner said it had been in his family for more than a hundred years. He said that the panels were painted by Angelica Kauffman."