“Does it really matter?” I asked, with as careless an air as I could muster. “You can see that the piece is genuine, and, as to the value, I am content to take an expert’s valuation.”
“Very mysterious,” said he, with a quick, suspicious flash of his dark eyes. “In dealing with objects of such value, one naturally wishes to know all about the transaction. That the piece is genuine is certain. I have no doubts at all about that. But suppose—I am bound to take every possibility into account—that it should prove afterwards that you had no right to sell?”
“I would guarantee you against any claim of the sort.”
“That, of course, would open up the question as to what your guarantee was worth.”
“My bankers would answer that.”
“Quite so. And yet the whole transaction strikes me as rather unusua
