Produced by D Alexander and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team at https://www.pgdp.net (This file was produced from images generously made available by The Internet Archive) THE STRETTON STREET AFFAIR BY WILLIAM LE QUEUX AUTHOR OF "THE DOCTOR OF PIMLICO," "THE INTRIGUERS," "MADEMOISELLE OF MONTE CARLO" NEW YORK THE MACAULAY COMPANY COPYRIGHT, 1922 BY WILLIAM LE QUEUX PRINTED IN THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA _BY THE SAME AUTHOR_ THE DOCTOR OF PIMLICO THE INTRIGUERS MADEMOISELLE OF MONTE CARLO [Illustration: "Gabrielle, my poor niece," he cried. "She's dead--dead!"] CONTENTS PAGE PROLOGUE 11 CHAPTER I INTRODUCES OSWALD DE GEX 20 II THE SISTER'S STORY 37 III WHO WAS GABRIELLE ENGLEDUE? 48 IV FACING THE MUSIC 59 V THE CITY OF THE LILY 69 VI ANOTHER PUZZLE 80 VII THE MILLIONAIRE'S APPREHENSIONS 91 VIII LITTLE MRS. CULLERTON 102 IX SOME PLAIN SPEAKING 113 X MONSIEUR SUZOR AGAIN 122 XI THE ABSOLUTE FACTS 132 XII "RED, GREEN AND GOLD!" 143 XIII SOME INTERESTING REVELATIONS 153 XIV THE GATE OF THE SUN 163 XV THE INTRUDER 172 XVI ANOTHER STRANGE DISCLOSURE 182 XVII WHAT THE PROFESSOR FOUND 192 XVIII MORE ABOUT THE MYSTERY-MAN 202 XIX THE TRACK OF DESPUJOL 212 XX MADEMOISELLE JACQUELOT 222 XXI AT THE HÔTEL LUXEMBOURG 232 XXII GABRIELLE AT HOME 243 XXIII THE DEATH-DRUG 253 XXIV YET ANOTHER MYSTERY 263 XXV WHAT THE VALET KNEW 272 XXVI MORE ABOUT MATEO SANZ 284 XXVII A CURIOUS STORY 293 XXVIII LOVE THE CONQUEROR 299 XXIX ANOTHER PLOT 311 CONCLUSION 316 THE STRETTON STREET AFFAIR PROLOGUE IS ABOUT MYSELF The whole circumstances of the Stretton Street Affair were so complicated and so amazing from start to finish that, had the facts been related to me, I confess I should never have for a moment given them credence. That they were hard, undeniable facts, presenting a problem both startling and sensational, the reader will quickly learn from this straightforward narrative--an open confession of what actually occurred.