On this stipulation Obenreizer politely but
positively insisted. The one concession he made was to give Vendale his
choice of who the third person should be. Confiding in past experience,
his choice fell unhesitatingly upon the excellent woman who mended
Obenreizer's stockings. On hearing of the responsibility entrusted to
her, Madame Dor's intellectual nature burst suddenly into a new stage of
development. She waited till Obenreizer's eye was off her--and then she
looked at Vendale, and dimly winked.
The time passed--the happy evenings with Marguerite came and went. It
was the tenth morning since Vendale had written to the Swiss firm, when
the answer appeared, on his desk, with the other letters of the day:
"Dear Sirs. We beg to offer our excuses for the little mistake which
has happened. At the same time, we regret to add that the statement
of our error, with which you have favoured us, has led to a very
unexpected discovery. The affair is a most serious one for you and
for us. The particulars are as follows:
"Having no more champagne of the vintage last sent to you, we made
arrangements to credit your firm to the value of six cases, as
suggested by yourself. On taking this step, certain forms observed in
our mode of doing business necessitated a reference to our bankers'
book, as well as to our ledger. The result is a moral certainty that
no such remittance as you mention can have reached our house, and a
literal certainty that no such remittance has been paid to our account
at the bank.
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