"
"I think that must have been the great Paul Van Vreck," Knight hazarded.
"I thought you'd guess! There aren't many who'd make such an offer. Think
what it would mean to me if it could be accepted, and I could have the
handling of the money. There are three small pictures in the little
octagon gallery next door, too, Van Vreck took a fancy to on a visit he
paid us from Saturday to Monday last summer. We never thought much of
them, and they're in a dark place, labelled in the catalogue 'Artist
unknown: School of Fragonard'; but _he_ swore they were authentic
Fragonards, and would have backed his opinion to the tune of fifteen
thousand pounds for the trio, or six thousand for the one he liked best.
Isn't it aggravating? In the Chinese room he went mad over some bits of
jade, especially a Buddha nobody else had ever admired."
"He's one of the few millionaire collectors who is really a judge of all
sorts of things," Knight replied. "But, great Scott! I'm no expert, yet
it strikes me these miniatures are something out of the ordinary!"
"Well, yes, they are," Annesley-Seton admitted, modestly. "That queer one
at the top is a Nicholas Hilliard.
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