"Will you take a chair, sir?" said the merchant.
Both the gentlemen sat down. About L—— there was an air of expectancy, which the doctor did not fail to remark.
"My name is Doctor Grimes," said he, repeating his first introduction.
"I am happy to see you, doctor," returned L——, bowing again.
"I received a letter from your house, this morning," said the victim, for such he really was, "desiring me to call, as you had some communication to make that would be to my advantage."
"There's some mistake," replied the merchant. "No letter of the kind has emanated from us."
"Are you certain?" asked the disappointed man, in a voice greatly changed; and he drew forth the letter he had received.
L—— looked at the communication, and shook his head.
"There is no truth in this, sir. I regret to say that you have, most probably, been made the victim of an idle and reprehensible jest. To-day, you are aware, is the First of April."
"Can it be possible!" exclaimed the doctor, clasping his hands together, while his face became pale and overcast with disappointment. "Who could have been so unkind, so cruel!"