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that he may be ready with his explanation, in case it comes out?

TWISDEN. [Pouring some tea into the saucer] Without knowing, I canā€™t tell you.

WINSOR and MARGARET exchange looks, and TWISDEN drinks from the saucer. MARGARET. Tell him, Charles.

WINSOR. Well! It rained that evening at Meldon. The General happened to put his hand on Dancyā€™s shoulder, and it was damp.

TWISDEN puts the saucer down and replaces the cup in it. They both look intently at him.

TWISDEN. I take it that General Canynge wonā€™t say anything heā€™s not compelled to say.

MARGARET. No, of course; but, Mr Jacob, they might ask; they know it rained. And he is such a George Washington.

TWISDEN. [Toying with a pair of tortoise-shell glasses] They didnā€™t ask either of you. Still-no harm in your telling Dancy.

WINSOR. Iā€™d rather you did it, Margaret.

MARGARET. I daresay. [She mechanically takes out her cigarette-case, catches the lift of TWISDENā€™S eyebrows, and puts it back].

WINSOR. Well, weā€™ll go together. I donā€™t want Mrs Dancy to hear.

MARGARET. Do tell me, Mr Jacob; is he going to win?

TWISDEN. I think so, Margaret; I think so.

MARGARET. Itā€™ll be tooā€”frightful if he doesnā€™t get a verdict, after all this. But I donā€™t know what we shall do when itā€™s over. Iā€™ve been sitting in that Court all these three days, watching, and itā€™s made me feel thereā€™s nothing we like better than seeing people skinned. Well, bye-bye, bless you!

TWISDEN rises and pats her hand.

WINSOR. Half a second, Margaret. Wait for me. She nods and goes out. Mr Twisden, what do you really think?

TWISDEN. I am Dancyā€™s lawyer, my dear Charles, as well as yours.

WINSOR. Well, can I go and see Canynge?

TWISDEN. Better not.

WINSOR. If they get that out of him, and recall me, am I to say he told me of it at the time?

TWISDEN. You didnā€™t feel the coat yourself? And Dancy wasnā€™t present? Then what Canynge told you is not evidenceā€”heā€™ll stop your being asked.

WINSOR. Thank goodness. Good-bye!

WINSOR goes out.

TWISDEN, behind his table, motionless, taps his teeth with the eyeglasses in his narrow, well-kept hand. After a long shake of his head and a shrug of his rather high shoulders he snips, goes to the window and opens it. Then crossing to the door, Left Back, he throws it open and says

TWISDEN. At your service, sir.

GILMAN comes forth, nursing his pot hat.

Be seated.

TWISDEN closes the window behind him, and takes his seat.

GILMAN. [Taking the clientā€™s chair, to the left of the table] Mr Twisden, I believe? My nameā€™s Gilman, head of Gilmanā€™s Department Stores. You have my card.

TWISDEN. [Looking at the card] Yes. What can we do for you?

GILMAN. Well, Iā€™ve come to you from a sense of duty, sir, and also a feelinā€™ of embarrassment. [He takes from his breast pocket an evening paper] You see, Iā€™ve been followinā€™ this Dancy caseā€”itā€™s a good deal talked of in Putneyā€”and I read this at half-past two this afternoon. To be precise, at 2.25. [He rises and hands the paper to TWISDEN, and with a thick gloved forefinger indicates a passage] When I read these numbers, I ā€˜appened to remember givinā€™ change for a fifty-pound noteā€”donā€™t often ā€˜ave one in, you knowā€”so I went to the cash-box out of curiosity, to see that I ā€˜adnā€™t got it. Well, I ā€˜ad; and here it is. [He draws out from his breast pocket and lays before TWISDEN a fifty-pound banknote] It was brought in to change by a customer of mine three days ago, and he got value for it. Now, thatā€™s a stolen note, it seems, and youā€™d like to know what I did. Mind you, that customer of mine Iā€™ve known ā€˜imā€”wellā€” eight or nine years; an Italian he isā€”wine salesman, and so farā€™s I know, a respectable man-foreign-lookinā€™, but nothinā€™ more. Now, this was at ā€˜alf-past two, and I was at my head branch at Putney, where I live. I want you to mark the time, so as youā€™ll see I ā€˜avenā€™t wasted a minute. I took a cab and I drove straight to my customerā€™s private residence in Putney, where he lives with his daughterā€”Ricardos his name is, Paolio Ricardos. They tell me there that heā€™s at his business shop in the City. So off I go in the cab again, and there I find him. Well, sir, I showed this paper to him and I produced the note. ā€œHere,ā€ I said, ā€œyou brought this to me and you got value for it.ā€ Well, that man was taken aback. If Iā€™m a judge, Mr Twisden, he was taken aback, not to speak in a guilty way, but he was, as you might say, flummoxed. ā€œNow,ā€ I said to him, ā€œwhere did you get itā€”thatā€™s the point?ā€ He took his time to answer, and then he said: ā€œWell, Mr Gilman,ā€ he said, ā€œyou know me; I am an honourable man. I canā€™t tell you offhand, but I am above the board.ā€ Heā€™s foreign, you know, in his expressions. ā€œYes,ā€ I said, ā€œthatā€™s all very well,ā€ I said, ā€œbut here Iā€™ve got a stolen note and youā€™ve got the value for it. Now I tell you,ā€ I said, ā€œwhat Iā€™m going to do; Iā€™m going straight with this note to Mr Jacob Twisden, whoā€™s got this Dancy-De Levis case in ā€˜and. Heā€™s a well-known Society lawyer,ā€ I said, ā€œof great experience.ā€ ā€œOh!ā€ he said, ā€œthat is what you do?ā€ā€”funny the way he speaks! ā€œThen I come with you!ā€ā€”And Iā€™ve got him in the cab below. I want to tell you everything before he comes up. On the way I tried to get something out of him, but I couldnā€™tā€”I could not. ā€œThis is very awkward,ā€ I said at last. ā€œIt is, Mr Gilman,ā€ was his reply; and he began to talk about his Sicilian claretā€”a very good wine, mind you; but under the circumstances it seemed to me uncalled for. Have I made it clear to you?

TWISDEN. [Who has listened with extreme attention] Perfectly, Mr Gilman. Iā€™ll send down for him. [He touches a hand-bell].

The YOUNG CLERK appears at the door, Left Forward.

A gentleman in a taxi-waiting. Ask him to be so good as to step up. Oh! and send Mr Graviter here again.

The YOUNG CLERK goes out.

GILMAN. As I told you, sir, Iā€™ve been followinā€™ this case. Itā€™s what you might call piquant. And I should be very glad if it came about that this helped Captain Dancy. I take an interest, because, to tell you the truth, [Confidentially] I donā€™t likeā€”well, not to put too fine a point upon it ā€˜Ebrews. They work harder; theyā€™re more sober; theyā€™re honest; and theyā€™re everywhere. Iā€™ve nothing against them, but the fact isā€”they get on so.

TWISDEN. [Cocking an eye] A thorn in the flesh, Mr Gilman.

GILMAN. Well, I prefer my own countrymen, and thatā€™s the truth of it.

As he speaks, GRAVITER comes in by the door Left Forward.

TWISDEN. [Pointing to the newspaper and the note] Mr Gilman has brought this, of which he is holder for value. His customer, who changed it three days ago, is coming up.

GRAVITER. The fifty-pounder. I see. [His face is long and reflective].

YOUNG CLERK. [Entering] Mr Ricardos, sir.

He goes out. RICARDOS is a personable, Italian-looking man in a frock coat, with a dark moustachioed face and dark hair a little grizzled. He looks anxious, and bows.

TWISDEN. Mr Ricardos? My name is Jacob Twisden. My partner. [Holding up a finger, as RICARDOS would speak] Mr Gilman has told us about this note. You took it to him, he says, three days ago; that is, on Monday, and received cash for it?

RICARDOS. Yes, sare.

TWISDEN. You were not aware that it was stolen?

RICARDOS. [With his hand to his breast] Oh! no, sare.

TWISDEN. You received it fromā€”?

RICARDOS. A minute, sare; I would weesh to explainā€”[With an expressive shrug] in private.

TWISDEN. [Nodding] Mr Gilman, your conduct has been most prompt. You may safely leave the matter in our hands, now. Kindly let us retain this note; and ask for my cashier as you go out and give him [He writes] this. He will reimburse you. We will take any necessary steps ourselves.

GILMAN. [In slight surprise, with modest pride] Well, sir, Iā€™m in your ā€˜ands. I must be guided by you, with your experience. Iā€™m glad you think I acted rightly.

TWISDEN. Very rightly, Mr Gilmanā€”very rightly. [Rising] Good afternoon!

GILMAN. Good afternoon, sir. Good afternoon, gentlemen! [To TWISDEN] Iā€™m sure Iā€™m very ā€˜appy to have made your acquaintance, sir. Itā€™s a well-known name.

TWISDEN. Thank you.

GILMAN retreats, glances at RICARDOS, and turns again.

GILMAN. I suppose thereā€™s nothing else I ought to do, in the interests of the law? Iā€™m a careful man.

TWISDEN. If there is, Mr Gilman, we will let you know. We have your address. You may make your mind easy; but donā€™t speak of this. It might interfere with Justice.

GILMAN. Oh! I shouldnā€™t dream of it. Iā€™ve no wish to be mixed up in anything conspicuous. Thatā€™s not my principle at all. Good-day, gentlemen.

He goes.

TWISDEN. [Seating himself] Now, sir, will you sit down.

But RICARDOS does not sit; he stands looking uneasily across the table at GRAVITER.

You may speak out.

RICARDOS. Well, Mr Tweesden and sare, this matter is very serious for me, and very delicateā€”it concairns my honour. I am in a great difficulty.

TWISDEN. When in difficultyā€”complete frankness, sir.

RICARDOS. It is a family matter, sare, Iā€”

TWISDEN. Let me be frank with you. [Telling his points off on his fingers] We have your admission that you changed this stopped note for value. It will be our duty to inform the Bank of England that it has been traced to you. You will have to account to them for your possession of it. I suggest to you that it will be far better to account frankly to us.

RICARDOS. [Taking out a handkerchief and quite openly wiping his hands and forehead] I received this note, sare, with others, from a gentleman, sare, in settlement of a debt of honour, and I know nothing of where he got them.

TWISDEN. Hā€™m! that is very vague. If that is all you can tell us, Iā€™m afraidā€”

RICARDOS. Gentlemen, this is very painful for me. It is my daughterā€™s good nameā€”[He again wipes his brow].

TWISDEN. Come, sir, speak out!

RICARDOS. [Desperately] The notes were a settlement to her from this gentleman, of whom she was a great friend.

TWISDEN. [Suddenly] I am afraid we must press you for the name of the gentleman.

RICARDOS. Sare, if I give it to you, and it does ā€˜im ā€˜arm, what will my daughter say? This is a bad matter for me. He behaved well to her; and she is attached to him still; sometimes she is crying yet because she lost him. And now we betray him, perhaps, who knows? This is very unpleasant for me. [Taking up the paper] Here it gives the number of another noteā€”a ā€˜undred-pound note. I ā€˜ave that too. [He takes a note from his breast pocket].

GRAVITER. How much did he give you in all?

RICARDOS. For my daughterā€™s settlement one thousand pounds. I understand he did not wish to give a cheque because of his marriage. So I did not think anything about it being in notes, you see.

TWISDEN. When did he give you this money?

RICARDOS. The middle of Octobare last.

TWISDEN. [Suddenly looking up] Mr Ricardos, was it Captain Dancy?

RICARDOS. [Again wiping his forehead] Gentlemen, I am so fond of my daughter. I have only the one, and no wife.

TWISDEN. [With an effort] Yes, yes; but I must know.

RICARDOS. Sare, if I tell you, will you give me your good word that my daughter shall not hear

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