Let me
assure them that this little bundle of letters would give more joy
than all the candelabra and butter-dishes in London."
"It is impossible," said Holmes.
"Dear me, dear me, how unfortunate!" cried Milverton, tak-
ing out a bulky pocketbook. "I cannot help thinking that ladies
are ill-advised in not making an effort. Look at this!" He held up
a little note with a coat-of-arms upon the envelope. "That be-
longs to well, perhaps it is hardly fair to tell the name until
to-morrow morning. But at that time it will be in the hands of the
lady's husband. And all because she will not find a beggarly sum
which she could get by turning her diamonds into paste. It is
such a pity! Now, you remember the sudden end of the engage-
ment between the Honourable Miss Miles and Colonel Dorking?
Only two days before the wedding, there was a paragraph in the
Morning Post to say that it was all off. And why? It is almost
incredible, but the absurd sum of twelve hundred pounds would
have settled the whole question. Is it not pitiful? And here I find
you, a man of sense, boggling about terms, when your client's
future and honour are at stake.
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