The door is cased with
iron, within and without, and has a ponderous lock, of which the master
of the room always keeps the key, and never trusts it out of his own
hand.
This small chamber is the private cabinet of Sir Giles Mompesson.
No one is permitted to enter it without him. Though his myrmidons are
fully aware of its existence, and can give a shrewd guess at its
contents, only two of them have set foot within it. The two thus
privileged are Clement Lanyere and Lupo Vulp. Neither the promoter nor
the scrivener are much in the habit of talking over their master's
affairs, even with their comrades, and are almost as habitually reserved
as he is himself; still, from the few words let fall by them from time
to time, the myrmidons have picked up a tolerable notion of the private
cabinet, of its hidden cupboards in the walls, its drawers with secret
springs; its sliding planks with hollows beneath them; its chests full
of treasure, or what is the same thing as treasure, bonds,
mortgage-deeds, and other securities; and its carefully concealed hoards
of plate, jewels, and other valuables. Some of the least scrupulous
among them--such as Staring, Hugh, Cutting Dick, and old Tom
Wootton--have often discussed the possibility of secretly visiting it,
and making a perquisition of its stores; but they have been hitherto
restrained by their fears of their terrible and vindictive master.
Pages:
81
82
83
84
85
86
87
88
89
90
91
92
93
94
95
96
97
98
99
100
101
102
103
104
105