“Your wine, I’m afraid, has been rather too powerful for this gentleman,” Mr Bunker explained, with a smile.
“Look here,” blustered Welsh, “do you know you’ve got a lunatic in the room?”
“You can perhaps guess it,” smiled Mr Bunker, indicating Welsh with his eyes.
The waiters began to twitter, and Welsh, with an effort, pulled himself together.
“My friend here,” he said, “is Dr Twiddel, a well-known practitioner in London. He can tell you that he certified this man as a lunatic, and that he afterwards escaped from his asylum. That is so, Twiddel?”
“Yes,” assented Twiddel, whose colour was beginning to come back a little.
“Who are you, sare?” asked the proprietor.
“Show him your card, Twiddel,” said Welsh, producing his own and handing it over.
The proprietor looked at both cards, and then turned to Mr Bunker.
“And who are you, sare?”