“But it said in the paper only a week ago that nobody has ever been upstairs in that house except himself. There is a door on the stairs, they say, which is always kept locked and bolted.”
“And if that is so?”
“Well—have you ever been upstairs, Mr Rolfe. Tell me; I’m very anxious to know.”
“I make no secret of it,” was his reply, smiling the while. “I have never been upstairs. Entrance there is forbidden.”
“Even to you—his confidential secretary?”
“Yes, even to me.”
“And yet there are signs of the upstairs’ rooms being occupied,” she remarked. “I have seen lights there myself, as I’ve passed the house. I was along Park Lane late one evening last week.”
“So you have been recently in London?”
“London is my home. I am only here on a visit,” was her reply. “And ascertaining you were coming here, I resolved to see you.”
“And has this serious allegation which Adams intends to bring any connection with the mystery concerning the mansion?”