As the fiery little man afterwards expressed himself, "I might as well have talked to a mollusc," for Random politely declined to be used as an instrument to forward the Professor's ambition at the cost of Miss Kendal's unhappiness.

The interview took place in Sir Frank's quarters at the Fort on the day after Hervey had called to propose a search for the corpse.

And it was during this interview that Braddock learned something which both startled and annoyed him.
Random, at three o'clock, had just changed into mufti, when the Professor was announced by his servant.

Braddock, determined to give his host no chance of denying himself, followed close on the man's heels, and was in the room almost before Sir Frank had read the card.

It was a bare room, sparsely furnished, according to the War Office's idea of comfort, and although the baronet had added a few more civilized necessities, it still looked somewhat dismal.