“He leads the way along a narrow privet alley that winds its surreptitious way towards an alcove.
“‘Miss Merton,’ he says, flinging the door of this open.
“‘The Roman Catholic young person?’ says Dr. Tomlinson Keyhole.
“‘Quite right, sir,’ says the aged custodian.
“They peer in.
“Hanging from a peg the four visitors behold a pale blue dress cut in the fashion of the ’seventies, a copious ‘chignon’ of fair hair, large earrings, and on the marble bench a pair of open-work stockings and other articles of feminine apparel. A tall mirror hangs opposite these garments, and in a little recess convenient to the hand are the dusty and decaying materials for a hasty ‘make-up.’
“The old custodian watches the effect of this display upon the others with masked enjoyment.
“‘You mean Miss Merton painted?’ said the Encyclopædist, knitting his brows.
“‘Mr. Mallup did,’ says the aged custodian.
“‘You mean——?’