Page:The Princess Casamassima (London and New York, Macmillan & Co., 1886), Volume 2.djvu/70

 it occurred to him to turn into a public-house in order to convert his gold into convenient silver. When it was a question of entering these establishments he selected in preference the most decent; he never knew what unpleasant people he might find on the other side of the swinging door. Those which glitter, at intervals, amid the residential gloom of Mayfair partake of the general gentility of the neighbourhood, so that Hyacinth was not surprised (he had passed into the compartment marked 'private bar') to see but a single drinker leaning against the counter on which, with his request very civilly enunciated, he put down his sovereign. He was surprised, on the other hand, when, glancing up again, he became aware that this solitary drinker was Captain Godfrey Sholto.

'Why, my dear boy, what a remarkable coincidence!' the Captain exclaimed. 'For once in five years that I come into a place like this!'

'I don't come in often myself. I thought you were in Madagascar,' said Hyacinth.

'Ah, because I have not been at the "Sun and Moon"? Well, I have been constantly out of town, you know. And then—don't you see what I mean?—I want to be tremendously careful. That's the way to get on, isn't it? But I daresay you don't believe in my discretion!' Sholto laughed. 'What shall I do to make you understand? I say, have a brandy and soda,' he continued, as if this might assist Hyacinth's comprehension. He seemed a trifle flurried, and, if it were possible to imagine such a thing of so independent and whimsical a personage, the least bit abashed or uneasy at having been found in such a low place. It was not any lower, after all, than the 'Sun and