“Certainly I do,” she replied calmly.  “I suppose the work will be no harder for me than for other women; and whereas they do it for some ten or twelve pounds a year I shall do it for a fortune.  I see not the slightest difficulty or objection in that part of the business.  I shall, of course, let my house at Dover, making arrangements for my son’s letters there being forwarded, and for my letters to him being posted in Dover.  I shall have the satisfaction that while engaged upon this work my income will be accumulating for his benefit.  I own that I can see no difficulty whatever in my plan being carried out.

“Now, as to the assistance that I wish you to give me.  It could, perhaps, have been more readily given by Mr. Withers, for naturally he would know personally most of the servants of the Hall, as the majority of them doubtless belong to the village.  But Mr. Withers, as a clergyman, might have conscientious scruples against taking any part in a scheme which, however righteous its ends, must be conducted by what he would consider underground methods, and involving a certain amount of deceit.  At any rate, I think it better that neither he nor Mrs. Withers should have any complicity whatever in my plans.  I therefore come to you.  What I want, in the first place, is to find out when a vacancy is likely to be caused by some servant leaving; secondly, if no such vacancy is likely to occur, for a vacancy to be manufactured by inducing some servant to leave—­a present of a year’s wages would probably accomplish that; thirdly, the vacancy must occur in the case of some servant whose work would naturally lie in the part of the building I have to examine; finally, it must be arranged that I can be so recommended as to insure my getting the place.”

Mr. Tallboys was silent for some time.

“Certainly your plan does appear feasible, Mrs. Conway,” he said at length.  “It does seem to me that if once installed in the way you propose at the Hall, and prepared to spend, as you say, months or even years in the search, it is possible and even probable that in the end you may light upon the spring that will open this mystery.  You must be prepared to face much unpleasantness.  You will have for all this time to associate with servants, to do menial work, to relinquish all the luxuries and appliances to which you have all your life been accustomed, and possibly to fail at last.  Still, if you are prepared to face all this, there does appear to me to be a possibility of your enterprise being crowned with success.”

“I have thought it all over, Mr. Tallboys, and am quite prepared to submit to all the sacrifices you mention, which, however, will scarcely be felt by me to be sacrifices, working, as I shall be, for the future of my son.  And now, can I rely upon your assistance?”

“You shall have any assistance I can give, assuredly, Mrs. Conway.  The matter is by no means a simple one, still I can see no reason why it should not be successfully carried out.”