Suddenly Sir Hervey raised his hand. Watkyns, the valet, stood back. "Bring it me!" Coke said.
The man had heard without hearing, as he now understood without explanation. He went softly to the door, received a note, and brought it to his master.
"An answer?"
"No, sir."
"Then finish."
The valet did so. When he had removed the napkin, Sir Hervey broke the seal, and, after reading three or four lines of the letter, raised his eyes to the mirror. He met the servant's prying gaze, and abruptly crumpled the paper in his hand. Then, "Watkyns," he said, in his quietest tone.
"Sir?"
"About the two guineas you--stole this morning. For this time you may keep them; but in the future kindly remember two things."
The razor the man was cleaning fell to the floor. His face was a sickly white; his knees shook under him. He tried to frame words, to deny, to say something, but in vain. He was speechless.