It was taken for granted in all our
talk that your making money meant also my making money.
That was the complete understanding--here in London,
and while you were at my house. You know it as well as I do.
And I refuse to suppose that you seriously intend to sit
there and pretend that you meant to give me nothing
but an armful of waste paper. It would be too monstrous!"
Thorpe rapped with his nails on the desk, to point the
force of his rejoinder: "How do you account for the fact,
my Lord"--he gave his words a chillingly scornful precision
of utterance--"that I distinctly mentioned 400,000 vendor's
shares of mine, 100,000 of which I promised to turn
over to you? Those were the specific terms, were they
not? You don't deny it? Then what are you talking about?"
"I account for it in this way"--said Plowden, after a moment's
baffled reflection: "at that time you yourself hadn't
grasped the difference between the two classes of shares.
You thought the vendor's shares would play a part in
the game. Ah! I see I've hit the mark! That was the way
of it!--And now here, Thorpe! Let all that's been said
be bye-gones! I don't want any verbal triumph over you.
You don't want to wrong me--and yourself too--by sticking
to this quibble about vendor's shares. You intended
to be deuced good to me--and what have I done that you
should round on me now? I haven't bothered you before.
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