“Well, what news, Foxley?”
“My men have shadowed everybody, but so far with no result. I thought it advisable to keep an eye on the young lady. He is sure to communicate with her, and she’ll try to see him. His people at the rectory know where he is, and I suspect that Mr. Herresford knows as well. My man reports that the young lady went to Asherton Hall after an interview with Mr. Herresford’s valet. She came out of the house in a state of excitement, and showed every sign of joy. She thought she was alone, and danced and ran like a child, from which we deduced that she had seen the young man, and that he was hiding in Asherton Hall. We went so far as to interview the housekeeper, who made it clear that the young man had not been there, and offered to let us search. But we are watching the house.”
“And the rectory?” asked Ormsby.
“He hasn’t been there. Miss Dundas called at the rectory as well, and after a short visit returned home on foot. Evidently, she is getting information from his relatives. It has occurred to me that she’ll possibly write to him, addressing him by some other 282 name. Can you, therefore, arrange to have her letters posted by some—some responsible servant who will take copies of all the addresses?”
“I have no doubt that can be done. The housekeeper at the colonel’s is a very good friend of mine. I have tipped her handsomely. The letters are all posted in a letter-box in the hall, and cleared by the same servant every day.”
“We have endeavored to approach the servants at the rectory, but—no go. They are of course stanch and loyal to their young master. That is only natural. Mrs. Swinton has been shadowed, and she has made no attempt to meet her son. Our only danger is that he may get out of the country again. Every port is watched.”
“What puzzles me is the visit of Miss Dundas to Herresford,” said Ormsby, thinking of his letter of dismissal, with the old miser’s monogram on it.
“She evidently went there to see him,” said the detective, “and heard from him the news of the young man’s escape. That, perhaps, accounted for her high spirits.”
“Briefly, then, your labors have had no result, and you are as far from the scent as on the first day.”
“Not exactly that, sir. We’ll nab him yet.”