The men sat down again. Morewood perceived very clearly that a
constraint had come upon them; but he was possessed by curiosity.
"Well, I should like to see the prospectus now," he said.
"You'll find one or two over there," said Dick, jerking his head towards
a writing-table, but not rising.
Morewood made in the direction indicated, a low mutter from Dick
following him. Then Jimmy observed:
"He doesn't understand a thing about it, you know, and of course he
didn't follow what Maturin said."
The others nodded. This explanation was indeed the simple one; in most
cases it would have been accepted without demur; or recourse would have
been had to the hypothesis of a sudden change in the Professor's opinion;
indeed Marchmont broached this solution in an off-hand way. Neither view
was explicitly rejected, but a third possibility was in their minds, one
which would not and could not have been there, had any one of the three
had the settling of the prospectus and conducted the business with
Maturin. But Alexander Quisante, assisted only by cousin Mandeville, had
conducted the business and drawn the prospectus.
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