He was now engaged in the
enterprise of foisting a bogus article, Maggie, upon this woman who
was offering him her complete confidence--an enterprise of most
questionable ethics and very dubious issue. If he accepted her offer,
and the result of this enterprise were disaster, what would Miss
Sherwood then think of him?
He took refuge in evasion. "I'm not going to try to tell you how much
I appreciate your proposition, Miss Sherwood. But do you mind if I
hold back my answer for the present and think it over? Anyhow, to do
all that is required I must be able to work in the open--and I can't
do that until I get free of my entanglements with the police and my
old acquaintances."
Thus it was agreed upon. Miss Sherwood turned to another subject. The
pre-public show of Hunt's pictures had opened the previous day.
"When you were in the city yesterday, did you get in to see Mr. Hunt's
exhibition?"
"No," he answered. "Although I wanted to. But you know I've already
seen all of Mr. Hunt's pictures that Mr. Graham has in his gallery.
How was the opening?"
"Crowded with guests. And since they had been told that the pictures
were unusual and good, of course the people were enthusiastic."
"What kind of prices was Mr. Graham quoting?"
"He wasn't quoting any.
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