The picture of Elma
Heath was no longer there. The photograph had been taken from its frame,
and in its place was the portrait of a broad-browed, full-bearded man in
a foreign military uniform--a picture that, being soiled and faded, had
evidently been placed there to fill the empty frame.
Whose hand had secured that portrait before the Leithcourt's flight?
Why, indeed, should I, for the second time, discover the unhappy girl's
picture missing?
"Has the gentleman who called on the evening of Mr. Leithcourt's
disappearance been back here again since he left the hospital?" I
inquired as a sudden idea occurred to me.
"Yes, sir. He called here in a fly on the day he came out, and at his
request I took him over the castle. He went into the library, and spent
half-an-hour in pacing across it, taking measurements, and examining
the big cupboard in which he was found insensible. It was a strange
affair, sir," added the young woman, "wasn't it?"
"Very," I replied.
"The gentleman might have been in there now had I not gone into the
library and found a lot of illustrated papers, which I always put in the
cupboard to keep the place tidy, thrown out on to the floor.
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