“At Lonesome Cove?”
“Yes. The very name of it chills me. For my husband it had an uncanny fascination. He used to talk to me about the place. He even wanted to build there; but Mr. Alexander Blair wouldn’t listen to it.”
“Would you know the face of Camilla Grosvenor?”
“Of course. The Elliott portrait hangs in the library at Hedgerow House.”
Kent took from under his coat the drawing purchased from Elder Dennett.
“That is the same,” said Mrs. Blair unhesitatingly. “It isn’t quite the same pose as the finished portrait. And it lacks the earring which is in the portrait. But I should say it is surely Elliott’s work. Couldn’t it be a preliminary sketch for the portrait?”
“Probably that is what it is.”
“Can you tell me where it came from?”
“From between the pages of an old book. It must have been carelessly thrown aside. The book has just been sold at an auction in Martindale Center, and the drawing found by a man who didn’t appreciate what it was. I bought it from him.”
“That’s rather wonderful, isn’t it?”