"Do you think he would be more or less likely to unbosom himself now than he was then?"
"Less likely."
"You might give me his address."
Malling did so. The professor wrote the address down on a slip of paper, pinned the slip carefully to the yellow lining of his jacket, and then got up to go.
But Malling detained him.
"Professor," he said, speaking with an unusual hesitation, "you know why
I told you all this."
"In the interests of science?"
"No, in the interest of that miserable man, Marcus Harding. I want you to break the link that binds him to Henry Chichester—if there is one. I want you to effect his release."
"I'm afraid you've come to the wrong man," returned Stepton, dryly. "My object in entering into this matter is merely to increase my knowledge, not to destroy my chance of increasing it."
"But surely—"