A Coin of Edward VII: A Detective StoryHume, Fergus
Philosophy
A Coin of Edward VII: A Detective Story
Hume, Fergus
Detective and mystery stories; Fiction
Mrs. Parry nodded. "If she is the younger of the two, she is not a
bad-looking girl, Ware. She passed my window and went on to look at the
church. Rather a strange hour to look at a church."
Giles started. It was about that hour that he had been talking to Anne,
and shortly afterwards she had heard the footsteps and had fled. He now
believed that Olga must have overheard a portion of the conversation. It
was her footsteps which they had heard retreating. At once he remembered
Olga's threat, that if he tampered with Anne in the meantime she would
have her arrested. This, then, was the reason why Olga had not come to
his house again, and why she and her mother had left so suddenly for
London. He wondered if the elder Princess knew about Anne, and was
assisting her daughter to get the poor girl into the hands of the law.
Giles turned pale.
"What's the matter, Ware?" asked Mrs. Parry, sitting up.
"Nothing," he stammered; "but this coincidence----"
"Oh, I simply mean that as Princess Karacsay and Anne both came from
Jamaica, it was strange that they should go away to London together.
Don't you think so, too? There must be some connection."
Giles started to his feet. "Anne," he said loudly, "do you know that
Anne is here?"
"She was here," said Mrs. Parry, with a gratified chuckle; "but where
she has been hiding is more than I know. However, I am certain it was
Anne I saw this morning on the moor. She was veiled and dressed quietly;
but I knew her walk and the turn of her head."
"You must be mistaken," said Giles, perplexed.
"Indeed, I'm not. Trust one woman to know another, however she may
disguise herself. I tell you Anne Denham has been here in hiding. I
don't believe she left the neighborhood after all. I wonder who took
her in," muttered Mrs. Parry, rubbing her nose as usual. "I must find
that out."
"But what do you mean by saying Anne went to London with the----"
"I can believe my own eyes and ears, I suppose," snapped the good lady.
"I was out at seven o'clock taking a walk. I always do get up early in
summer. That is how I keep my health. I have no patience with those who
lie in bed, and----"
"But what did you see?"
"Don't you be impatient, Ware. I want you to find Anne, as I believe she
is guiltless and has suffered a lot unjustly. While you have been on a
wild-goose chase she has been here all the time. If I had only known I
should have told you; but I didn't, worse luck."
"I know you are my friend," said Giles, pressing her hand. "And you can
help me by saying where Anne has gone to."
"Oh, my good man, you must find that out for yourself! I believe she has
gone to London with those Princesses of yours. At least that fool of a
Morris said they left his inn this morning early to go to London. They
drove to the Westbury Station. That is the one we hardly ever use down
here. The Barnham Station is the nearest."
"Yes! yes! The Westbury is ten miles away. You go across the moor----"
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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