“I never thought of her having the stones valued,” said Sir Bartholomew. “Of course she had them valued,” said Gorman. “Anyone else in the world would have known that she’d be sure to have them valued. Of all the besotted imbeciles--and they call you a statesman!” Sir Bartholomew, having got safely into the street, began to recover a little, and attempted a defence of himself. “But,” he said, “a pendant like that--emeralds of that size are enormously expensive. The Government would not have sanctioned it. After all, Mr. Gorman, we are bound to be particularly careful about the expenditure of public funds. It is one of the proudest traditions of British statesmanship that it is scrupulously honourable even to the point of being niggardly in sanctioning the expenditure of the tax-payer’s money.” “Good Lord!” said Gorman. “I didn’t think--I really did not think that I could be surprised by anything in politics--But when you talk to me--You oughtn’t to do it, Potterton. You really ought not. Public funds. Tax-payers’ money. Scrupulously honourable, and--niggardly. Good Lord!” XI. SETTLED OUT OF COURT There are many solicitors in London who make larger incomes than Mr. Dane-Latimer, though he does very well and pays a considerable sum every year by way of super-tax. There are certainly solicitors with firmly established family practices, whose position is more secure than Mr. Dane-Latimer’s. And there are some whose reputation stands higher in legal circles. But there is probably no solicitor whose name is better known all over the British Isles than Mr. Dane-Latimer’s. He has been fortunate enough to become a kind of specialist in “Society” cases. No divorce suit can be regarded as really fashionable unless Mr. Dane-Latimer is acting in it for plaintiff, defendant, or co-respondent. A politician who has been libelled goes to Mr. Dane-Latimer for advice. An actress with a hopeful breach of promise case takes the incriminating letters to Mr. Dane-Latimer. He knows the facts of nearly every exciting scandal. He can fill in the gaps which the newspapers necessarily leave even in stories which spread themselves over columns of print. What is still better, he can tell stories which never get into the papers at all, the stories of cases so thrilling that the people concerned settle them out of court. It will easily be understood that Mr. Dane-Latimer is an interesting man to meet and that a good many people welcome the chance of a talk with him.