J. S. Fletcher

“ That brown paper parcel immediately attracted Benjamin’s attention. For when the odd-job man of the Marquis’s Arms came running out of the stable-yard to carry in the luggage, the stranger laid hands on his parcel with a gesture which showed plainly that he was not going to entrust it to anybody’s handling but his own. It was a very tidy parcel, a square affair, about two feet wide by as many deep, and from the fact that it was only a few inches in breadth the landlord came to the conclusion that it contained a picture. ”

“ For the next few days Benjamin blessed the hour which brought the Rembrandt to the calm shelter of the Marquis’s Arms. It seemed to him that however things went, money must come to him in consequence of its presence. Supposing the Marquis bought it, Mr. Faroni must needs give him something handsome for harboring and taking care of such a truly valuable object of art. But Benjamin hoped that the Marquis, who had the local reputation of being hard at a bargain, would not buy it: it would pay him better if the Marquis refused it, and Sir Henry Wildacre came into the running. ”

“ But he said nothing to her about what was in the parcel, nor did he mention it to Benjamin Gosling, when, having dined in solitary state in the coffee room, he turned into the bar-parlor to smoke an after-dinner pipe. A very quiet, well-mannered young gentleman, this, decided Benjamin; one who knew how to keep himself to himself; all the same, he wondered what the young gentleman’s business might be. ”

“ He wished it was his, so that he could sell it for seven, or even for six thousand guineas. He wondered if Mr. Albert Faroni would sell it to him so that he, Benjamin, could sell it again, at a profit. He began to speculate on the chances of Mr. Faroni’s being or not being a young gentleman who would be tempted by ready money, cash down on the nail. Would there be any chance of doing a deal with Mr. Faroni when he came down again—a deal that would, of course, be advantageous and profitable to Benjamin Gosling? ”

“ Benjamin Gosling, host of the Marquis’s Arms, stood in the doorway of his old-established hostelry one summer evening about seven o’clock, looking out on the market place. He was an elderly man, good-looking, fond of smart clothes of a sporting cut, with a habit of wearing a white billycock hat on one side of his close cropped head and carrying a bit of straw on the opposite corner of his lips. ”

“ It gave him a warm feeling in the region of his epigastrium when he looked at the wall above his bureau and reflected that what hung on it represented six or seven thousand guineas.
It was about a fortnight after the receipt of Mr. Faroni’s letter that a very smart car drove up to the door of the Marquis’s Arms one fine morning just before the luncheon hour. It contained a handsome gentleman and a pretty lady, both of aristocratic appearance and, if the style of their equipage and quality of their apparel were anything to go by, of means and position. They were evidently very great people. ”

“ Now, did he leave any notes about that, ma’am—any memorandum about a price?’
“Well, yes, there was a figure attached to his note about the whereabouts of the picture,” said Mrs. Faroni. “Just a figure and no more. Nine hundred pounds. Are you thinking of buying, Mr. Gosling?”
“That’s rather more than I had calculated on your poor husband asking, ma’am,” replied Benjamin, who was already secretly overjoyed. “Nine hundred pounds is a stiff amount, ma’am. Certainly, I think well of the picture—a very nice specimen of Mr. Rembrandt's talents. ”

“ Picked it up in a back street in Paris. Art expert he called himself—high art.”
“Pay his bill?” asked the doctor.
“Oh, yes!—quite the gentleman—very superior young fellow,” replied Benjamin, “known all over the world, he said he was. Gave me his card—name of Faroni, Mr. Albert Faroni.”
“Oh, I know that name,” said Dr. Pepperdeane, “famous house of that name—art dealers, London and Paris. Um!—wants to sell it to his Lordship, eh?”
“So he said—it was what he came for,” responded Benjamin. “Gave me to understand it was an uncommonly fine specimen of this Rembrandt’s work. ”

“ To be sure, he’s a great collector. But I fancy I’ve heard he’s already got a very fine collection of Rembrandts.”
“Just so, sir,” agreed Benjamin. “But, as you’re aware, sir, none of us can ever have too much of a really good thing. I understand his Lordship has six and thirty examples—that’s the term, I believe—of this Mr. Rembrandt’s performances, and I am sure he’ll have no objection to making the number up to thirty-seven. Anyhow, no business can be done about that picture until his Lordship’s seen it. And his Lordship is at present from home—he’s salmon-fishing in Norway.” ”

“ But Benjamin wasn’t going to tell his Lordship that: his Lordship was well known as an inveterate gossip, and the story would have been all over the neighborhood in a week. He managed to control himself, and put the question aside. He was thankful, however, when the Marquis, after sampling Benjamin’s old brown sherry, bustled off again; it left Benjamin free to hurry to the post-office close by. There he despatched a telegram to Sir Henry Wildacre: Sir Henry, at any rate, did not think the picture a fake, and his money was as good as the Marquis’s. ”

“ Albert Faroni,” he said. “Thought you was a foreign gentleman, sir—said so last night. Complexion, sir!”
“I’m not,” replied Mr. Faroni. “I’m a Londoner, born and bred. Grandfather was Italian, though. But I was telling you why I came here, Mr. Gosling. When I was in Paris a week or two ago I bought a Rembrandt—you’ve heard of him, of course?”
“The gentleman’s name sounds familiar, sir,” answered Benjamin. “I’ve no doubt heard it up at the castle. I believe his Lordship has pictures by that gentleman.”
“He has!” said Mr. Faroni. “He’s a very fine collection of Rembrandts. ”

“ You see, Mr. Gosling, Albert has left pretty nearly everything he had to me, and I am sole executor of his will as well as sole residuary legatee. Of course, I have had to examine all his books and papers. Among them I found a list of pictures and objects of art left by Albert at various places, on approval and so on. ”

“ And it would pay him best of all, far better than getting a commission on the proceeds, if he could get the picture into his own hands. He determined that when Mr. Faroni came down he would not mention Sir Henry and would throw cold water on Faroni’s attempt to see the Marquis; what he would do was to feel his way to tempting the young man with ready cash, on the ground that he himself had conceived a violent fancy for the Rembrandt. Ready money, in Benjamin’s opinion, was a powerful provocation to a hasty conclusion in the matter of bargains, and according to his reading of human nature, Mr. ”

“ The longest-living author of this work died in 1935, so this work is in the public domain in countries and areas where the copyright term is the author's life plus 87 years or less. This work may be in the public domain in countries and areas with longer native copyright terms that apply the rule of the shorter term to foreign works. ”