'If he left to-night,' was the reply, 'we could not possibly see him until Saturday morning. You must send your message at once, Mr. Carey, and make it as pressing, conclusive, and indeed imperative, as may be.' 'That's a long and serious delay,' said Bryan Duval. 'At what hour on Saturday does the steamer sail for England?' 'It will be late next Saturday,' said Thornton; 'the tide doesn't serve till five.' 'Lots of time,' returned Bryan Duval cheerfully. 'We shall have Mr. Warren here in the middle of Friday night, interview him on Saturday morning, and send our man by the mail.' 'Sharp practice, Mr. Duval,' said the police-officer who had spoken before, 'but quite within possibility, provided Mr. Warren can put us on the track so unerringly as it looks like.' 'Then, as it is clear that nothing more can be settled at present,' said Thornton Carey, rising from his seat and approaching Helen, whose hand he took gently in his own, 'I think, dear Helen, we may now release you. You have told us everything which you can tell; you have given us all the papers which poor Alston left here. Your immediate concern with our wretched business has come to an end; we will leave you to rest and peace.' 'Peace!' she interrupted, but her face was still unchanged, and no tears came to refresh the dimness of her black eyes. Bryan Duval and the two police-officers rose. 'Have you any further suggestion to make, madam?' asked the one who had already spoken. 'No,' she replied faintly. 'Perhaps you will allow me to make one?' he continued. She bowed acquiescence. 'Though your husband's letters from London have been, as you have explained to us, entirely free from any allusion to business, they may have contained indications which would escape your notice, but which may be of much utility in our researches. Have you any objection to confide them to us, in addition to the business papers you have already given us?' A large packet tied up with red tape lay on the table by the speaker's elbow. 'I have not the slightest objection,' returned Helen. 'Every word he wrote to me from England was, like himself, generous and affectionate, and I cannot conceive that any such traces as you allude to exist in them, but I will put neither my judgment nor my will against your experience. Thornton, will you kindly ring for Annette?' In reply to the summons Annette made her appearance, with a scared expression of countenance and a tight hold of her skirts. She glanced askance and fearful at the harmless-looking gentlemen, who were standing bolt upright in front of her mistress's chair, and received in silence Mrs. Griswold's order to bring her a certain green-morocco casket which stood upon the little shelf at her bedside. Silence was maintained during the few moments of Annette's absence.