“Really, Gurdon, I think you ought to measure your words a little more carefully,” he said stiffly. “We are friends of these people, Buckland and I, and we can’t allow such things to be said uncontradicted, can we?” Gerard shook his head. “You see, Sir William, it’s impossible for you to be quite sure on such a point. It would need some confirmation--” “Confirmation! Do you doubt my word?” “Of course not. What I do doubt is whether we ought to be sure without proof stronger than the eyes of one person. No, no, don’t get angry again. I mean that, supposing I had seen what you saw, and believed what you believed, I should have thought twice about bringing such a grave--such an awful accusation--in a room full of ladies--and should have waited to discuss quietly with some other fellows what was the best thing to be done.” Sir William reddened. He himself had by this time begun to feel considerable regret that he had been so rashly outspoken. “It’s all very well,” he grumbled, “to give advice like that; but I tell you, when you suddenly make a discovery like that--when you’re absolutely sure, mind you, as I was and am--you forget all rules of prudence, even perhaps of propriety, and you go for the swindler there and then.” “Sh--sh,” said Gerard. Arthur reddened. “Come, I say, Gurdon, you shouldn’t say things like that without a lot more proof than you’ve got, that things are not on the square,” said he, with excitement. “By Jove! What better proof can a man have than the evidence of his own eyes?” asked Sir William. “I’m convinced, as I tell you, that I’ve been deliberately robbed. And the only reason why I’m allowing myself to be persuaded to sit here quietly and to let things simmer down, instead of leaving the house at once, is that the thing is too flagrant to be passed over, and that I intend to give information about it to the police.” Both his hearers protested at once, incoherently, in a low voice. “Nonsense,” said Arthur. “How on earth can you bring disgrace upon the ladies by doing such a thing as that? How can you, after being hospitably received by Mrs. Van Santen, give information against one of her sons? It’s impossible.” “I’m going to do it, though,” said Sir William, with ominous tranquillity. “If I were not absolutely certain of what I saw, I need not tell you I would never do such a thing. As it is, I’m convinced I was only what you call hospitably received for the purpose of being plundered; and, as I say, I’m not going to put up with it quietly. I’m going to give information to the police. If there’s nothing in my charge, it will be all right, of course. They will listen to me quietly, and no more will be heard of it. But if, on the other hand, the information I give chimes in with anything they know, or may know in the future, about these people, then my evidence may prove useful, and I shouldn’t hesitate to give it.”