"And as to the other--well, you
know, Mr. Lauriston, supposing we put it in this way?--suppose you'd been
me, and I'd been you, half-an-hour ago? What would you have thought if
you'd found me in the situation and under the circumstances in which I
found you? Come, now!"
"Yes," replied Lauriston, after a moment's reflection. "I suppose it's
natural that you should suspect me--finding me there, alone with the old
man. But--"
"It's not so much suspicion in a case of this sort, as a wish to satisfy
one's self," interrupted the detective. "You seem a gentleman-like young
fellow, and you may be all right. I want to know that you are--I'd like to
know that you are! It would be no satisfaction to me to fasten this
business on you, I can assure you. And if you like to tell me about
yourself, and how you came to go to Multenius's--why, it would be as
well."
"There's not much to tell," answered Lauriston. "I came from Scotland to
London, two years ago or thereabouts, to earn my living by writing. I'd a
bit of money when I came--I've lived on it till now. I've just begun to
earn something. I've been expecting a cheque for some work for these last
ten or twelve days, but I was running short last week--so I went to that
place to pawn my watch--I saw the young lady there.
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