”InthatofMr。PercyPhelps，”answeredHolmes。”Ah，myunfortunatenephew！Youcanunderstandthatourkinshipmakesitthemoreimpossibleformetoscreenhiminanyway。Ifearthattheincidentmusthaveaveryprejudicialeffectuponhiscareer。””Butifthedocumentiffound?””Ah，that，ofcourse，wouldbedifferent。””IhadoneortwoquestionswhichIwishedtoaskyou，LordHoldhurst。””Ishallbehappytogiveyouanyinformationinmypower。””Wasitinthisroomthatyougaveyourinstructionsastothecopyingofthedocument?””Itwas。””Thenyoucouldhardlyhavebeenoverheard?””Itisoutofthequestion。””Didyouevermentiontoanyonethatitwasyourintentiontogiveanyonethetreatytobecopied?””Never。””Youarecertainofthat?””Absolutely。””Well，sinceyouneversaidso，andMr。Phelpsneversaidso，andnobodyelseknewanythingofthematter，thenthethief’spresenceintheroomwaspurelyaccidental。Hesawhischanceandhetookit。”Thestatesmansmiled。”Youtakemeoutofmyprovincethere，”saidhe。
Holmesconsideredforamoment。”ThereisanotherveryimportantpointwhichIwishtodiscusswithyou，”saidhe。”Youfeared，asIunderstand，thatverygraveresultsmightfollowfromthedetailsofthistreatybecomingknown。”
Ashadowpassedovertheexpressivefaceofthestatesman。”Verygraveresultsindeed。””Anyhavetheyoccurred?””Notyet。””Ifthetreatyhadreached，letussay，theFrenchorRussianForeignOffice，youwouldexpecttohearofit?””Ishould，”saidLordHoldhurst，withawryface。”Sincenearlytenweekshaveelapsed，then，andnothinghasbeenheard，itisnotunfairtosupposethatforsomereasonthetreatyhasnotreachedthem。”
LordHoldhurstshruggedhisshoulders。”Wecanhardlysuppose，Mr。Holmes，thatthethieftookthetreatyinordertoframeitandhangitup。””Perhapsheiswaitingforabetterprice。””Ifhewaitsalittlelongerhewillgetnopriceatall。Thetreatywillceasetobesecretinafewmonths。””Thatismostimportant，”saidHolmes。”Ofcourse，itisapossiblesuppositionthatthethiefhashadasuddenillness——””Anattackofbrain-fever，forexample?”askedthestatesman，flashingaswiftglanceathim。”Ididnotsayso，”saidHolmes，imperturbably。”Andnow，LordHoldhurst，wehavealreadytakenuptoomuchofyourvaluabletime，andweshallwishyougood-day。””Everysuccesstoyourinvestigation，bethecriminalwhoitmay，”answeredthenobleman，ashebowedusoutthedoor。”He’safinefellow，”saidHolmes，aswecameoutintoWhitehall。”Buthehasastruggletokeepuphisposition。Heisfarfromrichandhasmanycalls。
Younoticed，ofcourse，thathisbootshadbeenresoled。Now，Watson，Iwon’tdetainyoufromyourlegitimateworkanylonger。Ishalldonothingmoreto-day，unlessIhaveananswertomycabadvertisement。ButIshouldbeextremelyobligedtoyouifyouwouldcomedownwithmetoWokingto-morrow，bythesametrainwhichwetookyesterday。”