“Why--to the committee.--Hold on a bit, please.--Won’t you take another
cigar? Then perhaps I can finish what I’ve got to say.--Why, my dear
fellow, the committee’s under an obligation to you--that’s the way we look
at it. I’ve investigated Mrs. Fontage’s case, and--well, the picture had to
be bought. She’s eating meat now, I believe, for the first time in a year.
And they’d have turned her out into the street that very day, your cousin
tells me. Something had to be done at once, and you’ve simply given a
number of well-to-do and self-indulgent gentlemen the opportunity of
performing, at very small individual expense, a meritorious action in
the nick of time. That’s the first thing I’ve got to thank you for. And
then--you’ll remember, please, that I have the floor--that I’m still
speaking for the committee--and secondly, as a slight recognition of your
services in securing the Bartley Reynolds at a very much lower figure than
we were prepared to pay, we beg you--the committee begs you--to accept the
gift of Mrs. Fontage’s Rembrandt. Now we’ll go in and look at that little
head....”