They all went into the tapestry-room, where Mrs. Talmage Eglinton, now happily recovered from her headache of three days ago, was chatting to Sybil Hanbury and Alec Forsyth. The necessary introductions were effected by Beaumanoir, whose spirits had wonderfully revived with his entry into the house—to such an extent, indeed, that Leonie put it down to a few hours in the company of her breezy father, little thinking that they had traveled two hundred miles together without exchanging half as many words. Yet if there was nothing forced about the Duke’s sudden gaiety it certainly suggested unnatural excitement, and everyone present was impressed by his changed demeanor. Mrs. Talmage Eglinton was so affected by it that in narrowly observing her host she failed to notice that for some minutes after the introduction she herself was the object of observation, not to say a pretty sharp scrutiny, on the part of Senator Sherman. "Say, your Grace," exclaimed the Senator, recovering from his abstraction and turning with some abruptness to the Duke, "I can’t enjoy your hospitality with a whole heart till I’ve got this treasure under lock and key. Have you got any place where I can deposit the box with tolerable confidence of finding it when I want to take it to the Bank of England to-morrow? It’s a just retribution, I guess, to have to make you its custodian after suspecting you of wanting to lift it." Beaumanoir, it seemed, was quite equal to the occasion. "I can guarantee the impregnability of the fire-proof safe in my muniment room," he replied with alacrity. "If you will come with me, we will lock it up at once." Sturdily disregarding the badinage of his wife and Leonie for thinking robbery possible at Prior’s Tarrant, the Senator followed the Duke, and was conducted by him along many corridors to a stone-floored chamber lined with shelves full of dusty archives, and furnished only with a carved oak table and a few worm-eaten chairs. But, what was more to the purpose, a brand-new safe, resplendent in green and gold, the very latest patent of the most eminent manufacturers, occupied an imposing position at the far end. Producing a key, the Duke unlocked the safe, with no result till a touch on a hidden spring caused the heavy steel door to roll slowly outwards. The interior was nearly filled with parchment-bound volumes exactly like those on the shelves, but there was plenty of room for the box. The Senator promptly placed his precious charge in the vacant space, and heaved a sigh of relief. "It ought to be all right there," he said. "It ought to be," Beaumanoir echoed, as he set the mechanism in motion. And when the heavy door had slid noiselessly back into position, he turned the key and pocketed it with an air of achievement. "Come, Mr. Sherman," he said lightly, "let us go and rejoin the ladies. Now that we have got that safely housed we shall both feel much—er—more comfortable, shan’t we?" CHAPTER XIX—_In the Crypt_