Many Dimensions by Charles Williams (my miracle luna book free read .TXT) đ
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hands again to the typewriter, âthat Reginald wonât realize how careful
I have to be of what my money is in. Itâs a wonder I have any private
income at all. As it is, whenever I give a decision in a financial
case I expect to be left comparatively penniless in a month or two.â
âDoes Mr. Montague want you to invest?â Miss Burnett asked.
âHe wants me to give him five hundred, so far as I can understand,â
Lord
Arglay said, âto put in the best thing that ever was. What is the best
thing that ever was?â
Miss Burnett looked at her typewriter and offered no opinion.
âI suppose that I ought to think the Twelve Tables were,â the Chief
Justice went on, âofficially - or the Code Napolïżœon - but theyâre
rather specialist. And anyhow when you say âthat ever was,â do you
mean
that itâs stopped being? Or can it still be?⊠Miss Burnett,â he
added after a pause, âI was asking you a question.â
âI donât know, Lord Arglay,â Chloe said patiently. âI never can answer
that sort of question. I suppose it depends on what you mean by âwas.â
But oughtnât we to get on with the rest of the chapter before lunch?â
Lord Arglay sighed and looked at his notes. âI suppose so, but Iâd
much rather talk. Was there ever a best thing that ever was? Never
mind; youâre right as usual. Where were we? The judgement of Lord
Mansfield-â He began dictating.
There was, in fact, time for an hourâs work before Mr. Montague arrived
for lunch. Chloe Burnett had been engaged six months before by Lord
Arglay as general intellectual factotum when he had determined to begin
work on his Survey of Organic Law. When the Chief justice was at the
Courts she spent her time reducing to typed order whatever material
Lord Arglay left ready for her the night before. But during the
vacation, since he had remained in town, it had become a habit for them
to lunch together, and neither Chloeâs intention of withdrawing or Mr.
Montagueâs obvious uneasiness caused Lord Arglay to break it.
âOf course youâll lunch here,â he said to Chloe, and to Mr. Montagueâs
private explanations that the matter in hand was very secret, âThatâs
all right; two can spoil a secret but three make a conspiracy, which is
much safer.â
âAnd now,â he said to his nephew after they were settled, âwhat is it?
What do you want me to put my money in this time? I shanât, of course,
but whatâs it all about?â
âWell, itâs a kind of transport,â Reginald said. âIt came to me
through Uncle Giles, who wanted me to help him in an experiment.â
âWas it a dangerous experiment?â Lord Arglay asked.
âNo I donât think dangerous,â Montague answered. âUnusual perhaps, but
not dangerous. When he came back from Baghdad this time he brought
with
him a funny kind of a thing, something⊠well, something like a
crown and something⊠somethingâŠâ
âSomething not,â said Lord Arglay. âQuite. Well?â
âMade of gold,â Reginald went on, âwith a stoneâthat size⊠in the
middle. Well, so he asked me over to help him experiment, and there was
a man from the Persian Embassy there too, who said it was what Sir
Giles
thought it wasâat least, heâd bought it as beingâbut that doesnât
matter. Well now, this thingâI know you wonât believe itâit sounds so
silly; only you know I did it. Not Sir Gilesâhe said he wanted to
observe, but I did. The Persian fellow was rather upset about it, at
least not upset, but a bit high in the air, you know. Rather frosty.
But Iâm bound to say he met us quite fairly, said he was perfectly
willing to admit that we had it, and to make it clear to us what it
was;
only he must have it back. But that would have been too silly.â
As Mr. Montague paused for a moment Lord Arglay looked at Chloe.
âItâs
a fact Iâve continually observed in the witness box,â he said
abstractedly, âthat nine people out of ten, off their own subject, are
incapable of lucidity, whereas on their own subject they can be as
direct as a straight line before Einstein. I had a fellow once who
couldnât put three words together sanely; we were all hopeless, till
counsel got him on his own businessâwhich happened to be statistics of
the development of industry in the Central American Republics; and then
for about five minutes I understood exactly what had been happening
there for the last seventy years. Curious. You and I are either
silent or lucid. Yes, Reginaldâ Never mind me, Iâve often been meaning
to tell Miss Burnett that, and it just came into my mind. Yes?â
âO he was lucid enough,â Reginald said. âWell it seems this thing was
supposed to be the crown of King Suleiman, but of course as to that I
canât say. But I can tell you this.â He pointed a fork at the Chief
justice. âI put that thing on my head- â Chloe gave a small gasp-âand I
willed myself to be back in my rooms in Rowland Street, and there I
was.â He stopped.
Lord Arglay and Chloe were both staring at him. âThere!â he repeated.
âAnd then I willed myself back at Ealing, and there I was.â
Chloe went on staring. Lord Arglay frowned a little. âWhat
do you mean?â he said, with a sound of the Chief Justice in his voice.
âI mean that I just was,â Reginald said victoriously. âI donât know
how I got there. I felt a little dizzy at the time, and I had a
headache of sorts afterwards. But without any kind of doubt I was one
minute in Ealing and the next in Rowland Street, one minute in Rowland
Street and the next in Ealing.â
The two listeners looked at each other, and were silent for two or
three minutes. Reginald leaned back and waited for more.
Lord Arglay said at last, âI wonât ask you if you were drunk, Reginald,
because I donât think youâd tell me this extraordinary story if you
were drunk then unless you were drunk now, which you seem not to be. I
wonder what exactly it was that Giles did. Sir Giles Tumulty, Miss
Burnett, is one of the most cantankerously crooked birds I have
ever known. He is, unfortunately, my remote brother-in-law; his brother
was Reginaldâs motherâs second husbandâyou know the kind of riddle-me-ree relationship. Heâs obscurely connected with diabolism in two
continents; he has written a classic work on the ritual of Priapus; he
is the first authority in the world on certain subjects, and the first
authority in hell on one or two more. Yet he never seems to do anything
himself, heâs always in the background as an interested observer. I
wonder what exactly it was that he did and still more I wonder why he
did it.â
âBut he didnât do anything,â Reginald said indignantly. âHe just sat
and watched.â
âOf two explanations,â Lord Arglay said, âother things being equal,
one should prefer that most consonant with normal human experience.
That Giles should play some sort of trick on you is consonant with
human
experience; that you should fly through the air in ten minutes is notâat least it doesnât seem so to me. What do you think, Miss Burnett?â
âI donât seem to believe it somehow,â Chloe said. âDid you say it was
the Crown of Suleiman, Mr. Montague? I thought he went on a carpet.â
Lord Arglay stopped a cigarette half way to his lips. âEhâ he said. â
What a treasure you are as a secretary, Miss Burnett! So he did, I
seem to remember. Youâre sure it wasnât a carpet, Reginald?â
âOf course Iâm sure,â Reginald said irritably. âShould I mistake a
carpet for a crown? And I never knew that Suleiman had either
particularly.â
Lord Arglay, pursuing his own thoughts, shook his head. âIt would be
like Giles to have the details right, you know,â he said. âIf there
was
a king who travelled so, that would be the king Giles would bring out
for whatever his wishes might be. Look here, Reginald, what did he
want you to do?â
âNothing,â Reginald answered. âBut the point is this.â Confirming
the Chief Justiceâs previous dictum he became suddenly lucid. âThe
Persian man told us that small fractions taken from the Stoneâitâs the
Stone in the Crown that does itâhave the same power. Now, if thatâs
so,
we can have circlets madeâwith a chip in each, and just think what any
man with money would give to have a thing like that. Think of a fellow
in Throgmorton Street being able to be in Wall Street in two seconds!
Think of Foreign Secretaries! Think of the Secret Service! Think of
war!
Every Government will need them. And we have the monopoly. It means a
colossal fortuneâcolossal. O uncle, you must come in. I want a
thousand: I can get six hundred or so quietlyânot a word must leak out
or I could do more, of course. Give me five hundred and Iâll get you
fifty thousand times five hundred back.â
Lord Arglay disregarded this appeal. âDid you say the other man
belonged to the Persian Embassy?â he asked. âWhat did he want anyway?â
âHe wanted it back,â Reginald said. âSome sort of religious idea, I
fancy. But really Sir Giles only needed him in order to make sure it
was authentic.â
âIf Giles thought it was authentic,â Lord Arglay said, âIâ( bet any
money he wanted to tantalize him with it. If there was an it, which of
course I donât believe.â
âBut I saw it, I touched it, I used it,â Reginald cried out lyrically.
âI tell you, I did it.â
âI know you do,â the ChiefJjustice answered, âAnd though I shanât give
you the money Iâm bound to say I feel extremely curious.â He got up
slowly. âI think,â he said, âthe telephone Excuse me a few minutes. I
want to try and catch Giles if heâs in.â
When he had gone out of the room a sudden consciousness of their
respective positions fell on the other two. Reginal, Montague became
acutely aware that he had been revealing an immense and incredible
secret to a girl in his uncleâs employment. Chloe became angrily
conscious that she could not interrogate this young man as she would
have done her own friends. This annoyed her the more because, compared
with Lord Arglayâs learning and amused observation, she knew him to be
trivial and greedy. But she, though certain of greater affection for
the Chief Justice than he had, was a servant and he a relation. She
thought of the phrase again-âthe Crown of Suleiman.â The crown of
Suleiman an Reginald Montague!
âSounds awfully funny, doesnât it, Miss Burnett?â Mr. Montague asked,
coming carefully down to her level.
âLord Arglay seemed to think Sir Giles was having a joke with you,â she
answered coldly. âA kind of mesmerism,
perhaps.â
âO thatâs just my uncleâs way,â Reginald said sharply. âHe likes to
pull my leg a bit.â
âSo Lord Arglay seemed to think,â Chloe said.
âNo, I mean Lord Arglay,â Reginald said more irritably than before.
âYou mean Lord Arglay really believes it all?â Chloe said, surprised.
âO do you think so, Mr. Montague?â
âLord Arglay and I understand one another,â Reginald threw over
carelessly.
âOne another?â Chloe said. âBoth of you? But how splendid! Heâs such
an able man, isnât he? It must be wonderful to understand him so well.â
She frowned thoughtfully. âOf course I donât know what to think.â
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