"'It is an easy thing to prove,' I said, and I went to the cabinet and pressed on the three springs, as I had seen madame do. The little handle at the side fell out, but suddenly he stopped me. "'Yes, it is the cabinet,' he said. 'I see that. And no doubt the drawer contains the letters, as you say. But those letters do not belong to you. They belong to your mistress. I cannot permit that you take them away, for, after all, I do not know you. You may intend to make some bad use of them.' "I protested that such a suspicion was most unjust, that my character was of the best, that I was devoted to my mistress and desired to protect her. He listened, but he was not convinced. In the end, he brought me back into this room. I could have cried with rage! "'Return to your mistress,' he said, 'and inform her that I shall be most happy to return the letters to her. But it must be in her own hands that I place them. The letters are here, whenever it pleases her to claim them." "I saw that it was of no use to argue further; he was of adamant. So I left the house, he himself opening the door for me. And that is all that I know, madame." There was a moment's silence; then I heard Godfrey draw a deep breath. I could see that, like myself, he was convinced that the girl was telling the truth. "Of course," he suggested gently, "as soon as you reached home you related to your mistress what had occurred?" Julie grew a little crimson. "No, monsieur," she said, "I told her nothing." "I should have thought you would have wished to prove your devotion," went on Godfrey, in his sweetest tone. "I feared that, without the letters, she would misunderstand my motives," said Julie, sullenly. "And then, of course, without the letters, there would be no reward," Godfrey supplemented. Julie did not reply, but she looked very uncomfortable. The veiled lady rose. "Have you any further questions to ask her?" she said. "No, madame," said Godfrey. "The story is complete." Julie resumed her veil, shooting at Godfrey a glance anything but friendly. The veiled lady turned to me and held out her hand. "I thank you, Mr. Lester, for your kindness," she said. "Come, Julie," and she moved toward the door, which Rogers hastened to open. Mr. Hornblower nodded and passed out after them, and Godfrey and I were left alone together. We both sat down, and for a moment neither of us spoke. "Well!" said Godfrey, at last. "Well! what a story it would make! And I can't use it! It's a bitter reflection, Lester!" "It would certainly shake the pillars of society," I agreed. "I'm rather shaken myself." "So am I! I was all at sea for a while--I was dumb with astonishment when I heard you and the veiled lady talking about the secret drawer --I could see you laughing at me! I don't know the whole story yet. How did she happen to come to you?"