'I'm proposing nothing of the kind. I'm proposing to keep that bill; that's all. So soon as it comes to my ears that you've given any one--it doesn't matter who--the least cause to suspect that it isn't you who've been Marquis of Twickenham all the way along you'll hear I've got it--not till.'
'But, Carruthers, or Babbacombe, or Merrett, or whatever your name is----'
'My name, sir, is James Merrett; and don't you ever let on that you knew me as Carruthers at San Francisco, or anywhere else.'
'It seems to me that between us we've got a good many things we don't want people to know of.'
'You've hit it. That's the point to which I've been trying to bring you. Let's sit on them together.'
'Merrett, I quite recognise that you're the stronger man.'
'Recognition's something.'
'But, whether you choose to admit it or not, you've got me in a hole. While it is quite possible, and even probable, that in starting to be Marquis on your own account you've cleared the ground for me in some directions, in asking me to continue on your lines undiscovered, you are setting me a task which is beyond my powers.'
'I see that you are trying to get somewhere. Get.'
'It is quite possible that I may become a monk.'