“Sit down again,” he said; “and pray take the easy-chair. You are very much agitated; you want rest.” He was right. I could stand no longer; I dropped into the chair. Major Fitz-David rang the bell, and spoke a few words to the servant at the door. “I have been here a long time,” I said, faintly. “Tell me if I am in the way.” “In the way?” he repeated, with his irresistible smile. “You forget that you are in your own house!” The servant returned to us, bringing with him a tiny bottle of champagne and a plateful of delicate little sugared biscuits. “I have had this wine bottled expressly for the ladies,” said the Major. “The biscuits came to me direct from Paris. As a favor to _me,_ you must take some refreshment. And then--” He stopped and looked at me very attentively. “And then,” he resumed, “shall I go to my young prima donna upstairs and leave you here alone?” It was impossible to hint more delicately at the one request which I now had it in my mind to make to him. I took his hand and pressed it gratefully. “The tranquillity of my whole life to come is at stake,” I said. “When I am left here by myself, does your generous sympathy permit me to examine everything in the room?” He signed to me to drink the champagne and eat a biscuit before he gave his answer. “This is serious,” he said. “I wish you to be in perfect possession of yourself. Restore your strength--and then I will speak to you.” I did as he bade me. In a minute from the time when I drank it the delicious sparkling wine had begun to revive me. “Is it your express wish,” he resumed, “that I should leave you here by yourself to search the room?” “It is my express wish,” I answered. “I take a heavy responsibility on myself in granting your request. But I grant it for all that, because I sincerely believe--as you believe--that the tranquillity of your life to come depends on your discovering the truth.” Saying those words, he took two keys from his pocket. “You will naturally feel a suspicion,” he went on, “of any locked doors that you may find here. The only locked places in the room are the doors of the cupboards under the long book-case, and the door of the Italian cabinet in that corner. The small key opens the book-case cupboards; the long key opens the cabinet door.” With that explanation, he laid the keys before me on the table. “Thus far,” he said, “I have rigidly respected the promise which I made to your husband. I shall continue to be faithful to my promise, whatever may be the result of your examination of the room. I am bound in honor not to assist you by word or deed. I am not even at liberty to offer you the slightest hint. Is that understood?” “Certainly!”