’The Lord Mayor didn’t come!  He was frightened at the last moment;—­ took it into his head that his authority in the City was somehow compromised.  But the wonder was that the dinner went on without him.’  Then Melmotte referred to the purport of his call there that day.  He would have to draw large cheques for his private wants.  ’You don’t give a dinner to an Emperor of China for nothing, you know.’  He had been in the habit of overdrawing on his private account,—­making arrangements with the manager.  But now, in the manager’s presence, he drew a regular cheque on his business account for a large sum, and then, as a sort of afterthought, paid in the L250 which he had received from Mr...