The Ashiel mystery : $b a detective storyBryce, Marion
General
The Ashiel mystery : $b a detective story
Bryce, Marion
Detective and mystery stories; Fiction
"Stuffed with them, every blessed one of them," Mark replied rather
gloomily. "And the worst of it is, I'm pretty certain they're nothing but
these dusty old bills and letters. But there's nowhere else to look, and
I know he kept nearly everything here."
Gimblet sauntered round the room, pulling open the drawers and peeping in
at the piles of documents.
"What an accumulation!" he remarked. "None of these cupboards are locked,
I see," he added.
"No, he never locked anything up," said Mark. "I've heard him boast he
never used a key. Do you know, if one had time to read them, I believe
some of these old letters might be rather amusing. It looked as if my
grandfather and his fathers had kept every single one that ever was
written to them. I've just come across one from Raeburn, the painter, and
I saw another, a quarter of an hour ago, from Lord Clive."
"Really," said Gimblet eagerly, "which cupboard were they in? I should
like to see them immensely some time."
"They were in this one," said Mark, pointing to the shelves
opposite him.
Gimblet stood facing it, and looked hopefully round him in all directions
for anything like a bull. There was nothing, however, to suggest such an
animal, and he reflected that interesting though these old letters might
be it would be going rather far to refer to them as curiosities. Suddenly
an idea struck him.
"I suppose you haven't come across anything concerning a Papal Bull?"
he inquired.
"No," said Mark, looking up in surprise. "It's not very likely I should,
you know."
"No, I suppose not," said Gimblet. "Still, you old families did get hold
of all sorts of odd things sometimes, and your uncle was a bit of a
collector, wasn't he?"
"Uncle Douglas," said Mark, "not he! He didn't care a bit for that kind
of thing. You can see in the drawing-room the sort of horrors he used to
buy. He was thoroughly early Victorian in his tastes, and ought to have
been born fifty years sooner than he was."
"Dear me," said Gimblet. "I don't know why I thought he was rather by way
of being a connoisseur. Well, well, I mustn't waste any more time. I
wanted to ask you if you would mind my going all over the house. I may
see something suggestive. Who knows? At present I have only examined the
library and your uncle's bedroom."
"By all means," said Mark. "Blanston will show you anything you want to
see. Oh, by the by, you like to be alone, don't you? I was forgetting.
Well, go anywhere you like; and good luck to your hunting!"
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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