The Man Who Bought London by Edgar Wallace Page B

class than that of the man who examined him so superciliously.
    ‘I gather you’re one of the people my sister is distributing prizes to,’ said Hermann rudely.
    ‘Not exactly,’ said the other quietly. ‘Miss Zeberlieff is very kindly giving the gold medal for drawing, but the Countess of Danbery is actually making the award.’
    ‘It doesn’t matter much who makes it so long as you get it,’ answered Hermann, summarizing his philosophy of life in one pregnant sentence.
    ‘As a matter of fact I am not even getting it,’ said the other. ‘I took this medal last year – it represents an intermediate stage of tuition.’ Hermann walked up and down the room impatiently. Suddenly he turned to the visitor.
    ‘What do you think of my sister?’ he asked.
    Gordon went red: the directness of the question flung at him at that moment caught him unawares. ‘I think she is very charming,’ he said frankly, ‘and very generous. As you know, she interests herself in education and particularly in the schools.’
    Zeberlieff sniffed. He had never set himself the task of keeping track of his sister’s amusements except in so far as they affected his own future. His own future! He frowned at the thought. He had had heavy losses lately. His judgement had been at fault to an extraordinary degree. He had been caught in a recent financial flurry, and had been in some danger of going farther under than he had any desire to go. He had plenty of schemes – big schemes with millions at their end, but millions require millions. He had put a proposition to the girl, which she had instantly rejected, that on the day of the inheritance they should pool their interests, and that he should control the united fortunes.
    If the truth be told, there was little to come to him. He had anticipated his share of the fortune, which was already half mortgaged. In twelve days’ time Vera would be free to leave him – free to will her property wherever she wished. Much might happen in twelve days – the young man might also be very useful.
    His manner suddenly changed. He was perfectly learned in the amenities of his class, and there were people who vowed that he was the ideal of what a gentleman should be. His sister was not amongst these.
    ‘Why don’t you sit down?’ he asked, and took up the thread of technical education with the convincing touch of the dilettante who has all the jargon of science with little backing of knowledge. He kept the young man pleasantly engaged till Vera returned.
    Her car was waiting at the door, and he assisted her to enter. ‘My brother was very entertaining, I gather?’ she said.
    ‘Very.’
    She glanced at him, reading his face.
    ‘You are very enthusiastic,’ she said mockingly.
    He smiled. ‘I don’t think he knows much about architecture,’ he said. He had the habit of wholesome frankness, appreciated here, however, by one who lived in an atmosphere which was neither candid nor wholesome.
    He thought he had offended her, for she did not speak again till the car was running over Westminster Bridge. Then – ‘You will meet my brother again,’ she said. ‘He will discover your address and invite you to lunch. Let me think.’ She knitted her forehead. ‘I am trying to remember what happened before – Oh, yes! he will invite you to lunch at his club, and encourage you to speak about me; and he will tell you that I am awfully fond of chocolates, and a couple of days afterwards you will receive a box of the most beautiful chocolates from an unknown benefactor, and, naturally, when you have recovered from your astonishment at the gift, you will send it along to me with a little note.’
    Whatever astonishment such a happening might have had upon him, it could not exceed that which he now felt. ‘What an extraordinary thing you should have said that!’ he remarked.
    ‘Why extraordinary?’ she asked.
    ‘Well,’ he hesitated. ‘As a matter of fact, he has already asked me my address, and he did