"Don' texciteyourself, , " thedetectiveadvised."Iwillputmymenatworkrightnowtorecoverthe—the—WhatisaRubens, anyway? "
"It' sapicture!" ."Apieceofcanvaswithsomepaintonit, anditcostmefiftythousanddollars—don' tyouforgetthat!"
, , ; anintimationfromthereporteroftheobjectofhisvisitcauseddeLessepstoburstintowords.
"MonDieu! itisoutrageous!" heexclaimed."WhatcanIdo? ! ? "
Hatchdidn' thaveanyverydefiniteideaastojustwhathecoulddo, sohelethimgoon."AsIunderstandit, , " heinterruptedatlast, "nooneelsewasintheroom, , allthetimeyouwerethere? "
"Nooneelse."
"; weren' tyou? "
"Yes, aThamesscene, byWhistler, " wasthereply."Thatisit, hangingoverthemantel."
, andshowedthedefttouchofamanwhowashimselfanartistofgreatability.
DeLessepsreadtheadmirationinhisface."Itisnotbad, " hesaidmodestly."IstudiedwithCarolusDuran."
