At this Twiddel began to take heart again.
“I am very sorry, sir, for——” he began, when the Baron interrupted excitedly.
“Zen vat is your name, Bonker?”
“I am Mr Mandell-Essington, Baron.”
The Baron looked at the other two in turn with wide-open eyes.
Then he turned indignantly upon Welsh.
“You were impostor zen, sare? You gom to my house and call yourself a gentleman, and impose upon me, and tell of your family and your estates. You, a low—er—er—vat you say?—a low cad! Bonker, I cannot sit at ze same table viz zese persons!”
He rose as he spoke.
“One moment, Baron! Before we send these gentlemen back to their really promising career of fraud, I want to ask one or two more questions.” He turned to Twiddel. “What were you to be paid for this?”
“£500.”