A moment later the door was opened by a man-servant, who ran hurriedly down the steps. As he confronted me he stopped short, and peering into my face, said—
“Sir, would you have the kindness to step inside for a few minutes. His lordship sent me to look for a gentleman, and it is fortunate I found one so near.”
“A gentleman!” I exclaimed, astonished. “But I——”
“His lordship’s daughter is dying, sir, and he told me to get the first gentleman I could find.”
The man led the way up the steps, and, dumbfounded by the sudden manner in which I had been accosted, I followed.
He ushered me into a small but very elegantly furnished room, and then went to find his master. Just at that moment I heard the footsteps of two other men, who apparently entered from the street and walked down the hall to the room adjoining the one in which I was. I had hardly time to look about me, when the servant returned, accompanied by a strange-looking old man. He was well dressed, but seemed out of place in the clothes he wore. Small and thin, he had snow-white hair, sunken cheeks, and eyes in which shone a peculiar lustre. The manner in which he advanced to greet me was strange, for he seemed to glide noiselessly across the room. His face was colourless, and would have seemed almost devoid of life had it not been for his restless, glittering eyes.
“His lordship,” explained the servant.
I bowed, and the man retired. For a moment the old gentleman’s eyes shifted and roved, then he fixed my gaze with them, and said slowly, in a squeaky voice—
“I have a theory that everything may be purchased; that every man has his price. Do you agree with me?”
I was surprised. I shrank from him, and despised and hated him.