“Then I thought I’d better make his acquaintance. You know Charles
Lamancha’s taste for freak parties? Well, I got him to give a dinner at the
club -- himself, Christopher Stannix, an
Under-Secretary, a couple of bankers, and Ned Leithen, and I
had myself placed next to Barralty. Of
course by this time he knew all about me, for the Laverlaw party had begun, and
his friends had discovered the way we have tied up Harraldsen’s fortune, so
naturally I was considered the villain of the piece. He made no mistakes that night. He was very polite to me, and talked
intelligently about my Far East Commission and foreign affairs
generally, and even condescended to be enthusiastic about this Border
country in which he said he often motored. He did not attempt to pump me, but
behaved as if I were an ordinary guest of whom he had heard and whom he was
quite glad to meet. There was some
pretty good talk, for Stannix always manages to put life into a dinner table,
and Barralty kept his end up. He had a
wrangle with one of the bankers over some financial point, and I thought he put
his case uncommonly well. So did the
others, for he was listened to with respect. There’s no doubt that he has a pretty solid
footing in the world, and there’s no mistake about his brains. He’s as quick as lightning on a point, and I
can see him spinning an immense web and keeping
an eye on every thread in it.”
“I told you that
several weeks ago,” said Lombard. “Barralty is as clever as the devil. But what about the
rest of him – besides his mind?”
“I’m coming to that.”
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