view of the suspicious conduct of the two
strangers, and no mortal power could
persuade them to look an inch beyond it.

"O, the stupidity, the provoking,
impenetrable, pretentious stupidity of those two
people!" exclaimed Rosamond, when she
and her husband were alone again. "No
help, Lenny, to be hoped for from either of
them. We have nothing to trust to now but
the examination of the house to-morrow; and
that resource may fail us, like all the rest.
What can Doctor Chennery be about? Why
did we not hear from him before we left
West Winston yesterday?"

"Patience, Rosamond, patience. We shall
see what the post brings to-morrow."

"Pray don't talk about patience, dear!
My stock of that virtue was never a very
large one, and it was all exhausted ten days
ago, at least. O, the weeks and weeks I have
been vainly asking myself that one
question, Why should Mrs. Jazeph warn me
against going into the Myrtle Room? Is
she afraid of my discovering a crime? or
afraid of my tumbling through the floor?
What did she want to do in the room, when
she made that attempt to get into it? Why,
in the name of wonder, should she know
something about this house that I never
knew, that my father never knew, that nobody
else?—"

"Rosamond " cried Mr. Frankland,
suddenly changing colour, and starting in his
chair. "I think I can guess who Mrs.
Jazeph is!"

"Good gracious, Lenny! What do you
mean?"

"Something in those last words of yours
started the idea in my mind, the instant you
spoke. Do you remember, when we were
staying at St. Swithin's on Sea, and talking
about the chances for and against our
prevailing on your father to live with us here—
do you remember, Rosamond, telling me at
that time of certain unpleasant associations
which he had with the house, and mentioning
among them the mysterious disappearance
of a servant on the morning of your mother's
death?"

Rosamond turned pale at the question.
"How came we never to think of that
before?" she said.

"You told me," pursued Mr. Frankland,
"that this servant left a strange letter behind
her, in which she confessed that your mother
had charged her with the duty of telling a
secret to your father—a secret that she was
afraid to divulge, and that she was afraid of
being questioned about. I am right, am I
not, in stating those two reasons as the
reasons she gave for her disappearance?"

"Quite right."

"And your father never heard of her
again?"

"Never!"

"It is a bold guess to make, Rosamond;
but the impression is strong on my mind
that, on the day when Mrs. Jazeph came
into your room at West Winston, you and
that servant met, and she knew it!"

"And the secret, dear—the secret she was
afraid to tell my father?"

"Must be in some way connected with the
Myrtle Room."

Rosamond said nothing in answer. She
rose from her chair, and began to walk
agitatedly up and down the room. Hearing the
rustle of her dress, Leonard called her to
him, and, taking her hand, laid his fingers on
her pulse, and then lifted them for a moment
to her cheek.

"I wish I had waited until to-morrow
morning before I told you my idea about
Mrs. Jazeph," he said. "I have agitated you
to no purpose whatever, and have spoilt your
chance of a good night's rest."

"No, no! nothing of the kind. O, Lenny,
how this guess of yours adds to the interest,
the fearful, breathless interest, we have in
tracing that woman, and in finding out the
Myrtle Room. Do you think—"

"I have done with thinking, for the night,
my dear; and you must have done with it
too. We have said more than enough about
Mrs. Jazeph already. Change the subject,
and I will talk of anything else you please."

"It is not so easy to change the subject,"
said Rosamond, pouting, and moving away to
walk up and down the room again.

"Then let us change the place, and make
it easier that way. I know you think me the
most provokingly obstinate man in the world,
but there is reason in my obstinacy, and you
will acknowledge as much when you wake
to-morrow morning refreshed by a good
night's rest. Come, let us give our anxieties
a holiday. Take me into one of the other
rooms, and let me try if I can guess what it
is like by touching the furniture."

The reference to his blindness which the
last words contained brought Rosamond to
his side in a moment. "You always know
best," she said, putting her arm round his
neck and kissing him. "I was looking cross,
love, a minute ago, but the clouds are all
gone now. We will change the scene, and
explore some other room, as you propose."

She paused, her eyes suddenly sparkled, her
colour rose, and she smiled to herself as if
some new fancy had that instant crossed her
mind.

"Lenny, I will take you where you shall
touch a very remarkable piece of furniture
indeed," she resumed, leading him to the
door while she spoke. "We will see if you
can tell me at once what it is like. You must
not be impatient, mind; and you must
promise to touch nothing till you feel me guiding
your hand."

She drew him after her along the passage,
opened the door of the room in which the
baby had been put to bed, made a sign to the
nurse to be silent, and, leading Leonard up to
the cot, guided his hand down gently, so as