“Then I thought I’d better make his acquaintance. You know CharlesLamancha’s taste for freak parties? Well, I got him to give a dinner at theclub -- himself, Christopher Stannix, anUnder-Secretary, a couple of bankers, and Ned Leithen, and Ihad myself placed next to Barralty. Ofcourse by this time he knew all about me, for the Laverlaw party had begun, andhis friends had discovered the way we have tied up Harraldsen’s fortune, sonaturally I was considered the villain of the piece. He made no mistakes that night. He was very polite to me, and talkedintelligently about my Far East Commission and foreign affairsgenerally, and even condescended to be enthusiastic about this Bordercountry in which he said he often motored. He did not attempt to pump me, butbehaved as if I were an ordinary guest of whom he had heard and whom he wasquite glad to meet. There was somepretty good talk, for Stannix always manages to put life into a dinner table,and Barralty kept his end up. He had awrangle with one of the bankers over some financial point, and I thought he puthis case uncommonly well. So did theothers, for he was listened to with respect. There’s no doubt that he has a pretty solidfooting in the world, and there’s no mistake about his brains. He’s as quick as lightning on a point, and Ican see him spinning an immense web and keepingan eye on every thread in it.”
“I told you thatseveral weeks ago,” said Lombard. “Barralty is as clever as the devil. But what about therest of him – besides his mind?”
“I’m coming to that.”
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