“We shall expect you then,” I said, “about eight to-night, and you will try to bring Mr. Stephen with you?”

“Yes,” replied Marchmont; “I think we can promise that he shall come with us.  I have sent him a telegram asking him to attend.”

With this the two lawyers took their departure, leaving me to meditate upon my colleague’s astonishing statement; which I did, considerably to the prejudice of other employment.  That Thorndyke would be able to justify the opinion that he had given, I had no doubt whatever; but yet there was no denying that his proposition was what Mr. Dick Swiveller would call “a staggerer.”

When Thorndyke returned, I informed him of the visit of our two friends, and acquainted him with the sentiments that they had expressed; whereat he smiled with quiet amusement.

“I thought,” he remarked, “that letter would bring Marchmont to our door before long.  As to Winwood, I have never met him, but I gather that he is one of those people whom you ‘mustn’t mind.’  In a general way, I object to people who tacitly claim exemption from the ordinary rules of conduct that are held to be binding on their fellows.  But, as he promises to give us what the variety artists call ‘an extra turn,’ we will make the best of him and give him a run for his money.”

Here Thorndyke smiled mischievously—­I understood the meaning of that smile later in the evening—­and asked:  “What do you think of the affair yourself?”

“I have given it up,” I answered.  “To my paralysed brain, the Blackmore case is like an endless algebraical problem propounded by an insane mathematician.”

Thorndyke laughed at my comparison, which I flatter myself was a rather apt one.

“Come and dine,” said he, “and let us crack a bottle, that our hearts may not turn to water under the frown of the disdainful Winwood.  I think the old ‘Bell’ in Holborn will meet our present requirements better than the club.  There is something jovial and roystering about an ancient tavern; but we must keep a sharp lookout for Mrs. Schallibaum.”

Thereupon we set forth; and, after a week’s close imprisonment, I once more looked upon the friendly London streets, the cheerfully lighted shop windows and the multitudes of companionable strangers who moved unceasingly along the pavements.

Chapter XV

Thorndyke Explodes the Mine

We had not been back in our chambers more than a few minutes when the little brass knocker on the inner door rattled out its summons.  Thorndyke himself opened the door, and, finding our three expected visitors on the threshold, he admitted them and closed the “oak.”

“We have accepted your invitation, you see,” said Marchmont, whose manner was now a little flurried and uneasy.  “This is my partner, Mr. Winwood; you haven’t met before, I think.  Well, we thought we should like to hear some further particulars from you, as we could not quite understand your letter.”