“I shan’t pay him a bally penny.”
“Of course not. If he makes any objection refer him to me.”
His lordship’s relief was extreme. The more overpowering effects of the elixir had passed away, and he saw now what he had not seen in his more exuberant frame of mind—the cloud of suspicion which must hang over him when the loss of the bank-notes was discovered.
He wiped his forehead.
“By Jove!” he said. “That’s something off my mind! By George, I feel like a two year old! I say, you’re a dashed good sort, Pitt.”
“You flatter me,” said Jimmy. “I strive to please.”
“I say, Pitt, that yarn you told us just now—the bet and all that—honestly, you don’t mean to say that was true, was it? I mean—— By Jove! I’ve got an idea.”
“We live in stirring times!”
“Did you say your actor pal’s name was Mifflin?” He broke off suddenly before Jimmy could answer. “Great Scot!” he whispered, “what’s that? Good lord! Somebody’s coming!”
He dived behind the curtain like a rabbit. It had only just ceased to shake when the door opened and Sir Thomas Blunt walked in.