A man should present the whole truth to his doctor, his lawyer, or his
detective. If a doctor is to cure, he must be given the full
confidence of the patient; if a lawyer is to win a case he needs to
know what tells against his client as well as the points in his
favour; if a secret agent is to solve a mystery all the cards should
be put on the table. Those who half trust a professional man need not
be disappointed when results prove unsatisfactory.
A partial confidence reposed in me led to the liberation of a
dangerous criminal, caused me to associate with a robber much against
my own inclination, and brought me within danger of the law. Of
course, I never pretend to possess that absolute confidence in the law
which seems to be the birthright of every Englishman. I have lived too
intimately among the machinery of the law, and have seen too many of
its ghastly mistakes, to hold it in that blind esteem which appears to
be prevalent in the British Isles.
There is a doggerel couplet which typifies this spirit better than
anything I can write, and it runs:--
No rogue e'er felt the halter draw,
With a good opinion of the law.
Those lines exemplify the trend of British thought in this direction.
If you question a verdict of their courts you are a rogue, and that
ends the matter. And yet when an Englishman undertakes to circumvent
the law, there is no other man on earth who will go to greater
lengths. An amazing people! Never understandable by the sane of other
countries.
It was entirely my own fault that I became involved in affairs which
were almost indefensible and wholly illegal.
My client first tried to bribe me into compliance with his wishes,
which bribe I sternly refused. Then he partially broke down and, quite
unconsciously as I take it, made an appeal to the heart--a strange
thing for an Englishman to do. My kind heart has ever been my most
vulnerable point. We French are sentimentalists. France has before now
staked its very existence for an ideal, while other countries fight
for continents, cash, or commerce. You cannot pierce me with a lance
of gold, but wave a wand of sympathy, and I am yours.
There waited upon me in my flat a man who gave his name as Douglas
Sanderson, which may or may not have been his legitimate title. This
was a question into which I never probed, and at the moment of writing
am as ignorant of his true cognomen, if that was not it, as on the
morning he first met me. He was an elderly man of natural dignity and
sobriety, slow in speech, almost sombre in dress. His costume was not
quite that of a professional man, and not quite that of a gentleman. I
at once recognised the order to which he belonged, and a most
difficult class it is to deal with. He was the confidential servant or
steward of some ancient and probably noble family, embodying in
himself all the faults and virtues, each a trifle accentuated, of the
line he served, and to which, in order to produce him and his like,
his father, grandfather, and great-grandfather had doubtless been
attached. It is frequently the case that the honour of the house he
serves is more dear to him than it is to the representative of that
house. Such a man is almost always the repository of family secrets; a
repository whose inviolability gold cannot affect, threats sway, or
cajolery influence.
I knew, when I looked at him, that practically I was looking at his
master, for I have known many cases where even the personal appearance
of the two was almost identical, which may have given rise to the
English phrase, 'Like master, like man.' The servant was a little more
haughty, a little less kind, a little more exclusive, a little less
confidential, a little more condescending, a little less human, a
little more Tory, and altogether a little less pleasant and easy
person to deal with.
'Sir,' he began, when I had waved him to a seat, 'I am a very rich
man, and can afford to pay well for the commission I request you to
undertake. To ask you to name your own terms may seem unbusinesslike,
so I may say at the outset I am not a business man. The service I
shall ask will involve the utmost secrecy, and for that I am willing
to pay. It may expose you to risk of limb or liberty, and for that I
am willing to pay. It will probably necessitate the expenditure of a
large sum of money; that sum is at your disposal.'
Here he paused; he had spoken slowly and impressively, with a touch of
arrogance in his tone which aroused to his prejudice, the
combativeness latent in my nature. However, at this juncture I merely
bowed my head, and replied in accents almost as supercilious as his
own:--
'The task must either be unworthy or unwelcome. In mentioning first
the compensation, you are inverting the natural order of things. You
should state at the outset what you expect me to do, then, if I accept
the commission, it is time to discuss the details of expenditure.'
Either he had not looked for such a reply, or was loath to open his
budget, for he remained a few moments with eyes bent upon the floor,
and lips compressed in silence. At last he went on, without change of
inflection, without any diminution of that air of condescension, which
had so exasperated me in the beginning, and which was preparing a
downfall for himself that would rudely shake the cold dignity which
encompassed him like a cloak:--
'It is difficult for a father to confide in a complete stranger the
vagaries of a beloved son, and before doing so you must pledge your
word that my communication will be regarded as strictly confidential.'
'_Cela va sans dire_.'
'I do not understand French,' said Mr. Sanderson severely, as if the
use of the phrase were an insult to him.