"To whom have I the pleasure of speaking?"
"I'm Mr. Oldfield's most intimate friend; I know more about his affairs than any man living."
"May I ask your name?"
"Morgan; Stephen Morgan."
"Are you also a solicitor?"
"Not yet, exactly; I think I may describe myself as Mr. Oldfield's confidential agent. Come in, Nash; don't stop out there; then we can have the door closed--it'll be snugger."
Mr. Nash had stayed in the hall, as if unwilling to associate himself with Morgan's reception of the new-comer; indeed from his bearing one might almost have suspected him of an inclination to march out of the flat, and leave Morgan to deal with Mr. Clifford; possibly he was deterred by the prosaic accident that his hat was in the sitting-room. When Morgan bade him go in he went in, and Morgan closed the door behind him. Clifford looked from one to the other, as if there was something in the attitude of the two men which he could not make out.
"May I ask what you gentlemen are doing here?"
"You may ask; but, so far as I can see, it's no business of yours."
"Quite so; still--at the same time----"