Jarvice was not an impressionable man, but his hands grew cold while he imagined Garratt Skinner watching the development of his little scheme--the tour abroad with the pleasant companion, the things which were to happen on the tour--watching and waiting until the fitting moment had come, when all was over, for him to step in and demand the price of his silence and hold Mr.Jarvice in the hollow of his hand for all his life.

No, that would never do.

Garratt Skinner must be a partner so that also he might be an accessory.
Accordingly, Jarvice wrote his letter to Garratt Skinner, a few lines urging him to come to London on most important business.

Never was there a letter more innocent in its appearance than that which Jarvice wrote in his inner office on that summer afternoon.

Yet even at the last he hesitated whether he should seal it up or no.