Chapter Twenty Seven.
Several Revelations.
Alverton Hall, a noble old mansion, had been purchased by the Sheffield steel magnate Sir Mark Edwards some ten years before. In addition, I heard that he owned a beautiful place in Glamorganshire and rented a great deer-forest in Scotland. He was one of England’s manufacturing princes, whose generosity to charitable institutes and to the city of Sheffield was well known, and whose daughter had, only a year ago, married into the peerage.
A short, bluff, bald-headed old fellow, he spoke quickly, almost snappishly, when I was ushered into his presence in a small, cosily-furnished room that looked out upon a fine old-world terrace, with a Jacobean garden beyond.
“It is true that I’m expecting Professor Greer on a visit here,” he said, with a broad Hallamshire accent, in reply to my question. “Who, may I ask, are you?”
I explained that I was an intimate friend who desired to see him immediately upon very important business, and that I had come down from London for that purpose.
“Well,” replied the short, active little man, “I expected him yesterday, and cannot think why he has not arrived.”
“You have had some important business dealings with him, Sir Mark, I see from yesterday’s paper?”
“Yes, very important. He made a statement in Birmingham explaining his discovery.”
“I suppose it is a most important one?”