I looked into the quiet corners where the cowards lurked,
and I seemed to see my own empty place there.
"Oh! I don't know," I answered calmly. "We are all the slaves of
opportunity. Lord Polloch very courteously, but with little apparent
effort, has made me feel like a fool. Perhaps I am one! Perhaps Lord
Polloch is too much of an Englishman. That remains to be discovered."
"What do you mean by 'too much of an Englishman'?" Gilbert asked.
I shrugged my shoulders.
"Too much self-confidence, too little belief in the possibility of the
unusual," I answered.
"Suppose you appoint me arbitrator," Gilbert suggested.
I shook my head.
"I cannot, Gilbert," I answered. "As I have said, the issue is between
Lord Polloch and myself, and I hope to Heaven that Lord Polloch is in the
right, or there will be trouble."
"You are extraordinarily mysterious," Gilbert remarked.
"I must seem so," I answered, "I cannot help it. Have a drink, Gilbert,
and wish me God speed!"
"Are you off back to Medchestershire to-night?" Gilbert asked.
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