But I saw my way
before we got up. If I could only lay hold of a copy of the
picture I might ask leave to go and compare it with the original.
So down I went to Esher to find out if there was a copy in
existence, and was at Broom Hall for one hour and a half
yesterday afternoon. There was no copy there, but they must
exist, for Sir Bernard himself (there's 'copy' THERE!) has
allowed a couple to be made since the picture has been in his
possession. He hunted up the painters' addresses, and the rest of
the evening I spent in hunting up the painters themselves; but
their work had been done on commission; one copy had gone out of
the country, and I'm still on the track of the other."
"Then you haven't seen Craggs yet?"
"Seen him and made friends with him, and if possible he's the
funnier old cuss of the two; but you should study 'em both. I
took the bull by the horns this morning, went in and lied like
Ananias, and it was just as well I did--the old ruffian sails for
Australia by to-morrow's boat. I told him a man wanted to sell
me a copy of the celebrated Infanta Maria Teresa of Velasquez,
that I'd been down to the supposed owner of the picture, only to
find that he had just sold it to him. You should have seen his
face when I told him that! He grinned all round his wicked old
head. 'Did OLD Debenham admit the sale?' says he; and when I
said he had he chuckled to himself for about five minutes.
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