"Perhaps it would have been good fortune for both of us for me to have 
been present in the Colonel's house on that day," Dr. X said, returning 
neatly to equilibrium. There was
silence for a few minutes as a new course was brought out, plum wine poured by 
the waiter. Then Dr. X continued, "One aspect of the case on which I would 
have been particularly eager to consult your wisdom would have been the 
disposition of the book."