Then I saw a man, who was very keen on buying it, examining the brass handles.

He looked up at me.

'Why, the handles are genuine!' he exclaimed.

'They're real old brass, anyway!' Now I knew quite well, Burton, that those handles, though they were extraordinarily near the real thing, were not genuine.
I opened my mouth to tell him so, and then, Burton, do you know that I hesitated ?" "You didn't tell him--that they were genuine!" Burton gasped.
Mr.Waddington shook his head.
"No," he admitted, "I did not go so far as that.

Still, it was almost as great a shock to me.