We shook hands, and he sat down and plunged at once, without an
instant's hesitation, into the business which had brought him.
Looking back at it, understanding as I do now the delicate nature of
that business, I admire more and more that bluff readiness; though
the more I think of it, the more I am convinced that he had thought
out definitely beforehand precisely what he was going to say. The man
who can carry through a carefully premeditated scene with an air of
complete unpremeditation has an immense advantage.
"Mr. Lester," he began, "I understand that you are the administrator
of the estate of the late Philip Vantine?"
"Our firm is," I corrected.
"But you, personally, have been attending to his business?"
"Yes."
"He was a collector of old furniture, I believe?"
"Yes."
"And on his last trip to Europe, from which he returned only a few
days ago, he purchased of Armand & Son, of Paris, a Boule cabinet?"
I could not repress a start of astonishment.
"Are you acting for Armand & Son?" I queried.
"Not at all. I am acting for a lady whom, for the present, we will
call Madame X."
The thought flashed through my mind that Madame X. and the mysterious
Frenchwoman might be one and the same person.
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