Page:Robert Barr - Lord Stranleigh Philanthropist.djvu/260

 "You ought to know. You recommended him to me."

"Oh, you mean Dressley & Sons? That's all right. I'll telegraph them to send on a few summer and country outfits by the five o'clock train from London. They've got your measure, and I'm taking it now. Never did I see such a ludicrous misfit as Peter Mackeller attempting to imitate a Pall Mall swell out here in Nature's green and simple country. To think, Peter, that I am responsible for this! I recommended the tailor! Great heavens; do you remember the time on the yacht when I had such trouble inducing you to wear evening clothes, and to think it should come to this. Oh, what a fall is here, my countrymen! Well, never mind, I'll soon have you rigged out sanely. You're merely dreaming about the 4.20 train. You look haggard and careworn, Peter, despite the fact that Solomon in all his glory never wore a topper like that, so you'll stop with me a few days and recuperate."

"Thank you, Stranleigh, but it's impossible. I'm here on business."

"Oh, I can see that all right enough. To transact business with me just now would be difficult in any case, but it is utterly out of the question