"Oh, of course. The thief had taken the contents and left the case. Aunt Gertrude can hear nothing of them."
"I hope and trust she will find them," was Mr. Conroy's warm answer. And then he went on, after a perceptible pause: "I think you know already, Miss Winter, that I am connected with the Press. The world being quiet just now, my employers, having nothing better for me to do, have found a very peaceful mission for me for the time being. They have sent me into this part of the country to take sketches of different old mansions and family seats, and I am here to-day to seek Mr. Denison's permission to make a couple of drawings of Heron Dyke."
Ella hesitated for a moment or two, toying nervously with Conroy's card, which she still held. Then she spoke:
"My uncle is a confirmed invalid, Mr. Conroy, and very much of a recluse. Strangers, or indeed acquaintances whom he has not met for a long time, are unwelcome to him, even when there is no need for him to see them personally. Whether he will see you, or grant you the permission you ask for, without seeing you, is more than I can tell. I will, however, try my best to induce him to do so."
"Thank you very much," said Conroy. "I certainly should like to take some sketches of this old house: but, rather than put Mr. Denison out of the way, or cause the slightest annoyance in the matter, I will forego----"
"Certainly not," Ella hastily interrupted: "at least, until I have spoken to my uncle. If he would but see you it might rouse him from the lethargy that seems to be gradually creeping over him, and would do him good. To receive more visitors would be so much better for him! You will excuse me for a few minutes, will you not?"
"What a life for this fair young creature to lead!" Conroy said to himself as soon as she was gone. "To be shut up in this gloomy old house with a querulous hypochondriac who suspects an enemy in every stranger and dreads he knows not what; but it seems to me that women can endure things that would drive a man crazy. Would that I were the knight to rescue her from this wizard's grasp, and take her out into the sweet sunlight!"
He stood gazing out of the window, tapping the panes lightly with his fingers and smiling to himself, lost in dreams.
"My uncle will see you," said Ella, as she re-entered the room.
"Thank you for your kind intervention."