expense of civility with this cursed secret of theirs called law they think every body s frightened at them my lord seems to have his insolence as ready as his soft he s as sleek as a rat and has as vicious a tooth i know the sort of well enough i ve helped to one or two in this mood of conscious contemptuous penetration christian was shown by the footman into s private room where the attorney sat surrounded with massive and other furniture to correspond from the legged library table to the frame and card rack it was the sort of room a man for himself when he feels sure of a long and future he was leaning back in his leather chair against the broad window the radical opening on the lawn and had just taken off his spectacles and let the newspaper fall on his knees in despair of reading by the fading light when the footman opened the door and said mr christian said good evening mr christian be seated pointing to a chair opposite himself and the window light the candles on the shelf john bat leave the blinds alone he did not speak again till the man was gone out but appeared to be referring to a document which lay on the before him when the door was closed he drew himself up again be an to rub his hands and turned toward his visitor who seemed perfectly indifferent to the fact that the attorney was in the shadow and that the light fell on himself a � your name � a � is there was a start through christian s frame which he was quick enough almost simultaneously to try and disguise as a change of position he his legs and his coat but before he had time to say any thing went on with slow emphasis you were born on the th of december at your father was a cloth merchant in london he died when you were barely of age leaving an extensive business before you were five and twenty you had run through the greater part of the property and had your safety by an attempt to your subsequently you a check on your father s elder brother who had intended to make you his heir here paused a moment and referred to the document christian was silent in you found it expedient to leave this country in a military disguise and were taken prisoner by the french on the occasion of an exchange of prisoners you had the opportunity of returning to your own country and to the bosom of your own family you were generous enough to sacrifice that prospect in of a fellow prisoner of about your own age and figure who had more pressing reasons than yourself for wishing to be on this side of the water you exchanged dress luggage and names with him and he passed to england instead of you as henry almost immediately afterward you escaped from your imprisonment after an which prevented your exchange of names from being discovered and it was reported that yon � that is you r the name of your fellow prisoner � were drowned in an open boat trying to reach a vessel bound for nevertheless i have to congratulate you on the falsehood of that report and on the certainty that you are now after th lapse of more than twenty years seated here in perfect safety paused so long that he was evidently awaiting some answer at last christian replied in a dogged tone well sir heard much longer stories than that told quite as solemnly when there was not a word of truth in them suppose i deny the very you hang your statement on suppose i say i am not henry a � in that case � a said with wooden indifference you would lose the advantage which � a � may attach to your possession of henry s knowledge and at the same time if it were in the least � a � inconvenient to you that you should be recognized as henry your denial would not prevent me from holding the knowledge and evidence which i possess on that point it would only prevent us from pursuing the present conversation well ir suppose we admit for the sake of the conversation that your account of the mat ter is the true one what advantage have you to offer the man named henry the advantage � a � is but it may be considerable it might in fact release you from the necessity of acting as or � a � or whatever other office you may occupy which prevents you from being your own master on the other hand my acquaintance with your secret is not necessarily a disadvantage to you to put the matter in a i am not inclined � a � � to do you any harm and i may be able to do you a considerable service which yon want me to earn somehow said christian you offer me a turn in a precisely the matter in question is of no earthly interest to you except � a � as it may yield you a prize we lawyers have to do with complicated questions and � a � legal which are never � a � fully known even to the parties immediately interested still less to the witnesses shall we agree then that you continue to retain two thirds of the name which you gained by exchange and that you oblige me by answering certain questions as to the experience of henry very good go on what articles of property once belonging to your fellow prisoner christian do you still retain this ring said christian round the fine seal ring on his finger his watch and the little matters that hung with it and a case of papers i got rid of a gold snuff box 