"Locked? Then did Mrs. Pargeter take her keys with her?"
"I suppose she did, sir."
"Then it's no use," said Pargeter, with a certain relief, "I don't want
to force the thing open."
Vanderlyn looked across, coldly and steadily, at the woman. Her
expression struck him as oddly enigmatical; meeting his glance, Plimmer
reddened, her eyes dropped. "I expect any simple key would open it," he
said, briefly.
"Well, sir, I did ask the housekeeper to lend me a bunch of keys. Here
they are," she opened one of the dressing-table drawers. "Perhaps one of
the smaller ones would fit the lock."
It was Vanderlyn who took the keys from her strangely reluctant hand,
and it was he who at last felt the old-fashioned lock yield.
"Now, Pargeter," he said, sharply, "will you please come over here?"
The whole of the inside of the desk was filled with neat packets, each
carefully tied up and docketed; on several had been written, "In the
case of my death, to be burnt;" on other packets, "To be returned to
Madame de Léra in case of my death."
Vanderlyn saw that here at least were none of his letters, and none from
Peggy's child.
"It's no use bothering about any of these," said Pargeter, crossly,
"they can't tell us anything. Why anyone should trouble to keep old
letters is quite beyond me!"
"That little knob that you see there, sir," said Plimmer, in her
diffident, well-trained voice, "is the head of a brass pin; if you draw
it out, sir, it releases the side drawer. I think you will find more
letters there,--at least that is where Master Jasper's letters are, I
know."
She looked furtively at Vanderlyn, and her look said, "If you want to
have the truth you shall have it!"
"I say, how queer!" exclaimed Pargeter. "A secret drawer! eh, Grid?"
"All old pieces of furniture have that kind of thing," said Vanderlyn,
"there isn't any secret about it."
Pargeter fumbled at the brass-headed pin; he pulled it out, and a drawer
which filled up the side of the davenport shot out. Yes, here were more
packets inscribed with the words, "Jasper's letters, written at school,"
and then others, "To be returned to Laurence Vanderlyn in case of my
death;" and two or three loose letters.
"Well, these won't tell us anything, eh, Grid?" Pargeter opened the
first envelope under his hand:--
"Dear Mammy," (he read slowly),
"Please send me ten shillings. I have finished the French
cherry-jam. I should like some more. Also some horses made of
gingerbread. I have laid 3 to 1 on Absinthe. Betting is forbidden,
but as it was Dad's horse I thought I might. My bat is the best in
the school.
"Your loving
"Jasper."
"He's a fine little chap, isn't he, Grid?" Pargeter was fingering
absently a yellowing packet of Vanderlyn's letters: "Fancy keeping your
old letters! What a queer thing to do!"
Vanderlyn said nothing. The maid stared at him stealthily.
At last Pargeter put the packet down, and deliberately opened yet
another envelope which lay loose. "I suppose this is the last note you
wrote to her?" he said, then, opening it, murmured its contents over to
himself:--
"Dear Peggy,
"I hear the show at the Gardinets is worth seeing. I'll call for
you at two to-morrow.
Yours sincerely,
"L. V."
"Well, it's no use our wasting any more time here, is it? We'd better go
downstairs and have a smoke. Why--why, Grid!--what's the matter?"
"It's nothing," said Vanderlyn, roughly, "I'll be all right in a minute
or two----"
"I don't wonder you're upset," said the other, moodily. "But just think
what it must be for _me_. I can't stand much more of it. It's been
simply awful since Peggy's brother and that cousin of hers arrived. They
treat me as if I were a murderer! They're at the Prefecture of Police
now, making what they're pleased to call their own enquiries."
They had left Peggy's room, and as he spoke Pargeter was leading the way
down a staircase which led into his smoking-room.
Once there, he shut the door and came and stood close by Vanderlyn.
"Grid," he said, lowering his voice, "I've been wondering--don't you
think it would be a good plan if I were to go and see that
fortune-teller of mine, Madame d'Elphis? I don't mind telling you that
I'd a shot at her yesterday evening, but she was away. She does
sometimes make mistakes, but still, she's a kind of Providence to me. I
never do anything important--I mean at the stables--without consulting
her."
Vanderlyn looked at the eager face, the odd twinkling green and blue
eyes, with scarcely concealed surprise and contempt.
"Surely you don't think she could tell you where--what's happened to
Peggy?" he said incredulously.
"If I could have seen her last night," went on Pargeter, "I'd have got
away to England to-day. There's no object in my staying here; _I_ can't
help them to find Peggy. But La d'Elphis won't see me before to-morrow
morning. If she can't clear up the mystery nobody can. I'm beginning to
think, Grid"--he came close up to the other man,--"that something must
have happened to her. I'm beginning to feel--worried!"