I intend inviting my landlord--a very superior person for his
station--to discuss a bottle of wine with me after my chop this evening,
and hope to obtain some information from him. In the meantime I shall
keep myself close. It is of vital consequence that I should remain unseen
by Hawkehurst. I do not believe he saw me on the platform last night,
though we were as close to each other as we well could be.
Let me know what you think of the letters, and believe me to be, my
dear sir, very faithfully yours,
H. N. C. PAGET. PHILIP SHELDON, Esq.,
&c. &c. &c.
* * * * *
_Philip Sheldon to Horatio Paget_.
Bayswater, Oct. 8,186-.
DEAR PAGET,--The letters are mysterious, and I don't see my way to
getting much good out of them, but heartily approve your management of
matters, and give you _carte blanche_ to proceed, according to your own
lights.
Yours truly, P.S.
* * * * *
_Horatio Paget to Philip Sheldon_.
Royal Hotel, Oct. 9, 186-.
MY DEAR SIR,--The cultivation of my landlord has been very profitable.
The house is the oldest in the town, and the business has descended in a
direct line from father to son since the time of George the Second. This
man's grandfather entertained the officers of William Duke of Cumberland,
honoured by his contemporaries with the soubriquet of Billy the Butcher,
during the "forty-five.
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