“I am going out for an hour or two, Stimson. You will tell her ladyship if she inquires for me.”
Now, it happened that Theresa had dressed, and was standing at the head of the main staircase when Annesley and the detective went out.
“Bad news,” she thought, “or my husband would come to me at once.”
Then Stimson informed her that his master would not be back for an hour, and she retired to her sitting-room.
In the meantime, Sir Harold and Paul Asbury walked to Scotland Yard. The detective’s business with one of his subordinates occupied but a few minutes, and he left the office, looking well pleased.
“Sir Harold,” he said, “one more question, please. When did Miss Nugent leave you to return to Ashbourne?”
“Oh, some time before my illness—ten or twelve days since.”
“I have just received information that she left the Victoria Hotel, and proceeded to the house of a lady friend in Bayswater, where she is still staying. Now, the sooner this silly business is exploded the better, or she may be tempted to perpetrate some new joke. I can now do nothing more unless I receive instructions from you.”
“Can you furnish me with Miss Nugent’s present address?” demanded Annesley, savagely.
The detective promptly scribbled a few words on the back of one of his cards, and gave it to the baronet. This is the address he wrote down: