The Duke of Datchet paid for the diamonds.
[The Haunted Chair]
CHAPTER I
"Well, that's the most staggering thing I've ever known!"
As Mr. Philpotts entered the smoking-room, these were the words--with additions--which fell upon his, not unnaturally, startled ears. Since Mr. Bloxham was the only person in the room, it seemed only too probable that the extraordinary language had been uttered by him--and, indeed, his demeanour went far to confirm the probability. He was standing in front of his chair, staring about him in a manner which suggested considerable mental perturbation, apparently unconscious of the fact that his cigar had dropped either from his lips or his fingers and was smoking merrily away on the brand-new carpet which the committee had just laid down. He turned to Mr. Philpotts in a state of what seemed really curious agitation.
"I say, Philpotts, did you see him?"
Mr. Philpotts looked at him in silence for a moment, before he drily said, "I heard you."
But Mr. Bloxham was in no mood to be put off in this manner. He seemed, for some cause, to have lost the air of serene indifference for which he was famed--he was in a state of excitement, which, for him, was quite phenomenal.
"No nonsense, Philpotts--did you see him?"