{"product_id":"2940013771666","title":"The Forger","description":"THE BIG consulting-room at 903, Harley Street differed as much from its\u003cbr\u003ekind as Mr. Cheyne Wells differed from the average consultant.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eIt was something between a drawing-room and the kind of a library which a\u003cbr\u003elover of good books gathers together piecemeal as opportunity presents.\u003cbr\u003eThere was comfort in the worn, but not too worn, furniture, in the deep,\u003cbr\u003eleather-covered settee drawn up before the red fire. Two walls were\u003cbr\u003efilled with shelves wedged with oddly bound, oddly sized volumes; there\u003cbr\u003ewere books on the table, a newspaper dropped by a careless hand on the\u003cbr\u003efloor, but nothing of the apparatus of medicine--not so much as a\u003cbr\u003emicroscope or test tube.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eIn one corner of the room, near the window where yellow sunlight was\u003cbr\u003epouring in, was a polished door; beyond that a white-tiled bathroom\u003cbr\u003ewithout a bath but with many glass shelves and glass-topped table. You\u003cbr\u003ecould have your fill of queer mechanisms there, and your nostrils\u003cbr\u003eoffended by pungent antiseptics. There were cupboards, carefully locked,\u003cbr\u003ewith rows and rows of bottles, and steel and glass cabinets full of\u003cbr\u003elittle culture dishes. But though Peter Clifton had been a constant\u003cbr\u003evisitor for years, he had never seen that door opened.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eHe was sitting now on an arm of one of the big chairs, his fine head\u003cbr\u003escrewed round so that he could see the street, though he had no interest\u003cbr\u003ein the big car which stood at the kerb, or the upper floors of the houses\u003cbr\u003eon the opposite side of the road which filled his vision. But he was a\u003cbr\u003esensitive man, with a horror of emotional display, and just then he did\u003cbr\u003enot wish any man--even Cheyne Wells--to see his face.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003ePresently he jerked back his head and met the dark eyes of the man who\u003cbr\u003estraddled before the fireplace, a cigarette drooping from his lips.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eMr. Wells was rather thin, and this gave the illusion of height which his\u003cbr\u003einches did not justify. The dark, saturnine face with its neat black\u003cbr\u003emoustache was almost sinister in repose: when he smiled, the whole\u003cbr\u003echaracter of his face changed, and he was smiling now.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003ePeter heaved a deep sigh and stretched his six feet of bone and muscle.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\"It was a good day for me when I mistook you for a dentist!\" he said.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eThere was a nervous tension in his laugh which Mr. Donald Cheyne Wells did\u003cbr\u003enot fail to note.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\"My good chap\"--he shook his head--\"it was a double-sided benefit, for\u003cbr\u003eyou have been the most foolishly generous patient I have ever had. And I\u003cbr\u003ebless the telephone authorities that they made 903, Harley Street the\u003cbr\u003ehabitation of a gentleman who left the week before I moved in.\"\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eAgain the other laughed.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\"You even cured the old molar!\" he said.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eThe smile left the surgeon's face.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\"I have cured nothing else--except your misgivings. The real assurance on\u003cbr\u003ewhich your faith must rest is Sir William Clewers's. I would not have\u003cbr\u003edared to be so definite as he; even now I tell you that although the big\u003cbr\u003edanger is wiped out you are liable to the attacks I spoke about. I did\u003cbr\u003enot think it was worth while discussing that possibility with Sir\u003cbr\u003eWilliam, but you may have another consultation if you wish?\"","brand":"WDS Publishing","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":47079724581104,"sku":"2940013771666","price":0.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0737\/7593\/9824\/files\/2940013771666_p0.jpg?v=1763590044","url":"https:\/\/shop-qa.barnesandnoble.com\/products\/2940013771666","provider":"Barnes \u0026 Noble (DEV)","version":"1.0","type":"link"}