'
'Very likely not. It's ages since I saw him. But there's much
magnanimity in my character, as I have often told you. It
delights me to be generous, whenever I can afford it.'
Dusk was gathering about them. As they sat talking, there came a
tap at the door, and the summons to enter was obeyed by Mr
Whelpdale.
'I was passing,' he said in his respectful voice, 'and couldn't
resist the temptation.'
Jasper struck a match and lit the lamp. In this clearer light
Whelpdale was exhibited as a young man of greatly improved
exterior; he wore a cream-coloured waistcoat, a necktie of subtle
hue, and delicate gloves; prosperity breathed from his whole
person. It was, in fact, only a moderate prosperity to which he
had as yet attained, but the future beckoned to him flatteringly.
Early in this year, his enterprise as 'literary adviser' had
brought him in contact with a man of some pecuniary resources,
who proposed to establish an agency for the convenience of
authors who were not skilled in disposing of their productions to
the best advantage. Under the name of Fleet & Co.
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