" He applied a taper to the great bowl, and
the smoke bubbled merrily through the rose-water. We sat all
three in a semicircle, with our heads advanced, and our chins
upon our hands, while the strange, jerky little fellow, with his
high, shining head, puffed uneasily in the centre.
"When I first determined to make this communication to you," said
he, "I might have given you my address, but I feared that you
might disregard my request and bring unpleasant people with you.
I took the liberty, therefore, of making an appointment in such a
way that my man Williams might be able to see you first. I have
complete confidence in his discretion, and he had orders, if he
were dissatisfied, to proceed no further in the matter. You will
excuse these precautions, but I am a man of somewhat retiring,
and I might even say refined, tastes, and there is nothing more
unaesthetic than a policeman. I have a natural shrinking from
all forms of rough materialism. I seldom come in contact with the
rough crowd. I live, as you see, with some little atmosphere of
elegance around me. I may call myself a patron of the arts. It
is my weakness. The landscape is a genuine Corot, and, though a
connoisseur might perhaps throw a doubt upon that Salvator Rosa,
there cannot be the least question about the Bouguereau.
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