Lady Lydiard felt the composing influence of Mr. Troy.  “I am at your disposal, sir,” she said, quietly.

“Are you absolutely certain that you inclosed the bank-note in the letter?” the lawyer asked.

“I certainly believe I inclosed it,” Lady Lydiard answered.  “But I was so alarmed at the time by the sudden illness of my dog, that I do not feel justified in speaking positively.”

“Was anybody in the room with your Ladyship when you put the inclosure in the letter—­as you believe?”

“I was in the room,” said Moody.  “I can swear that I saw her Ladyship put the bank-note in the letter, and the letter in the envelope.”

“And seal the envelope?” asked Mr. Troy.

“No, sir.  Her Ladyship was called away into the next room to the dog, before she could seal the envelope.”

Mr. Troy addressed himself once more to Lady Lydiard.  “Did your Ladyship take the letter into the next room with you?”

“I was too much alarmed to think of it, Mr. Troy.  I left it here, on the table.”

“With the envelope open?”

“Yes.”

“How long were you absent in the other room?”

“Half an hour or more.”

“Ha!” said Mr. Troy to himself.  “This complicates it a little.”  He reflected for a while, and then turned again to Moody.  “Did any of the servants know of this bank-note being in her Ladyship’s possession?”

“Not one of them,” Moody answered.

“Do you suspect any of the servants?”

“Certainly not, sir.”

“Are there any workmen employed in the house?”

“No, sir.”

“Do you know of any persons who had access to the room while Lady Lydiard was absent from it?”

“Two visitors called, sir.”

“Who were they?”

“Her Ladyship’s nephew, Mr. Felix Sweetsir, and the Honorable Alfred Hardyman.”

Mr. Troy shook his head irritably.  “I am not speaking of gentlemen of high position and repute,” he said.  “It’s absurd even to mention Mr. Sweetsir and Mr. Hardyman.  My question related to strangers who might have obtained access to the drawing-room—­people calling, with her Ladyship’s sanction, for subscriptions, for instance; or people calling with articles of dress or ornament to be submitted to her Ladyship’s inspection.”

“No such persons came to the house with my knowledge,” Moody answered.

Mr. Troy suspended the investigation, and took a turn thoughtfully in the room.  The theory on which his inquiries had proceeded thus far had failed to produce any results.  His experience warned him to waste no more time on it, and to return to the starting-point of the investigation—­in other words, to the letter.  Shifting his point of view, he turned again to Lady Lydiard, and tried his questions in a new direction.

“Mr. Moody mentioned just now,” he said, “that your Ladyship was called into the next room before you could seal your letter.  On your return to this room, did you seal the letter?”