Lockettookdecidedlytoomanythingsforgranted，andtheexplorerofSirDominickFerrand’sirregularitiesrememberedafreshhowclearhehadbeenafterallabouthisindispositiontotrafficinthem。Heaskedhisvisitortowhatendhewishedtoremovetheletters，sinceontheonehandtherewasnoquestionnowofthearticleinthePromiscuouswhichwastorevealtheirexistence，andontheotherhehimself，astheirowner，hadathousandinsurmountablescruplesaboutputtingthemintocirculation。
Mr。Locketlookedoverhisspectaclesasoverthebattlementsofafortress。\"I’mnotthinkingoftheend——I’mthinkingofthebeginning。Afewglanceshaveassuredmethatsuchdocumentsoughttobesubmittedtosomecompetenteye。\"
\"Oh，youmustn’tshowthemtoanyone！\"Baronexclaimed。
\"Youmaythinkmepresumptuous，buttheeyethatIventuretoalludetointhoseterms——\"
\"IstheeyenowfixedsoterriblyonME？\"Peterlaughinglyinterrupted。\"Oh，itwouldbeinteresting，Iconfess，toknowhowtheystrikeamanofyouracuteness！\"Ithadoccurredtohimthatbysuchaconcessionhemightendearhimselftoaliteraryumpirehithertoimplacable。TherewouldbenoquestionofhispublishingSirDominickFerrand，buthemight，indueacknowledgmentofservicesrendered，formthehabitofpublishingPeterBaron。\"Howlongwoulditbeyourideatoretainthem？\"heinquired，inamannerwhich，heimmediatelybecameaware，waswhatincitedMr。Lockettobeginstuffingthepapersintohisbag。Withthisperceptionhecamequicklycloserand，layinghishandonthegapingreceptacle，lightlydrewitstwolipstogether。Inthiswaythetwomenstoodforafewseconds，touching，almostintheattitudeofcombat，lookinghardintoeachother’seyes。