He had
written me a long letter stating that he had important information to
communicate to me with reference to my candidature at Billsbury, and
desired a short interview in order to lay it before me, Said he was
"a Billsbury man born and bred, and naturally interested in everything
that concerned the welfare of the old place, though for family
reasons he had found it best to make the home of his riper manhood in
the Metropolis." I smelt a rat, but thought it best to give him an
interview. He is a tall man, with a dark beard, straight dark hair, a
sallow face and shifty eyes, and was dressed rather like a dissenting
clergyman. He was immensely genial in his manner, said he had read
every word of my eloquent speeches, and thoroughly agreed with all
I had said, though he himself would never have been able to say it
half as well. He then asked me if I had heard of his "History of the
Borough of Billsbury" in four volumes. I asked him who had published
it and when, but he said he had been made the victim of intrigues, and
had not yet secured a publisher, though there was any amount of money
to be made out of the book. Would I like to read it in MS., and give
him my candid opinion of it? Excused myself on the ground of great
pressure of work.
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