"Yes, Mr. Clifford; at the same time?"
"I wondered."
"There's no harm in your wondering, Mr. Clifford; none at all."
Mr. Clifford turned to Nash, as if he preferred his appearance to Morgan's.
"Can you tell me, Mr. Nash, where Mr. Oldfield is? or how I can place myself in communication with him? As you are possibly aware, he has not been at the office now for some time, and his continued absence--and I may add, silence, because I have heard nothing from him--is occasioning much inconvenience."
"To whom?"
This was Morgan. Clifford seemed to hesitate, then replied--"To me."
"To you? Mr. Oldfield hasn't been in the habit of studying your convenience, has he, Mr. Clifford?"
The new-comer flushed, as if he felt that the other's words were meant unpleasantly. When he answered he looked the speaker straight in the face.
"Mr. Oldfield has been in the habit of studying not only my convenience, but every one's convenience, Mr. Morgan; if you suppose the contrary, I know him better than you do. And, just now, the circumstances are peculiar. I am to be married next week, and I can hardly carry out in their entirety the arrangements I have made unless I know what Mr. Oldfield's movements are likely to be."