163

XVII.--BUTTERWORTH VERSUS GRYCE 170

XVIII.--THE LITTLE PINCUSHION 176

XIX.--A DECIDED STEP FORWARD 187

XX.--MISS BUTTERWORTH'S THEORY 201

XXI.--A SHREWD CONJECTURE 208

XXII.--A BLANK CARD 217

XXIII.--RUTH OLIVER 229

XXIV.--A HOUSE OF CARDS 244

XXV.--"THE RINGS! WHERE ARE THE RINGS?" 255

XXVI.--A TILT WITH MR. GRYCE 260

XXVII.--FOUND 266

XXVIII.--TAKEN ABACK 272

_BOOK III._

THE GIRL IN GRAY.

XXIX.--AMELIA BECOMES PEREMPTORY 274

XXX.--THE MATTER AS STATED BY MR. GRYCE 283

XXXI.--SOME FINE WORK 296

XXXII.--ICONOCLASM 311

XXXIII.--"KNOWN, KNOWN, ALL KNOWN" 321

XXXIV.--EXACTLY HALF-PAST THREE 329

XXXV.--A RUSE 335

_BOOK IV._

THE END OF A GREAT MYSTERY.

XXXVI.--THE RESULT 341

XXXVII.--"TWO WEEKS!" 345

XXXVIII.--A WHITE SATIN GOWN 350

XXXIX.--THE WATCHFUL EYE 357

XL.--AS THE CLOCK STRUCK 364

XLI.--SECRET HISTORY 368

XLII.--WITH MISS BUTTERWORTH'S COMPLIMENTS 395

THAT AFFAIR NEXT DOOR.

_BOOK I._

MISS BUTTERWORTH'S WINDOW.

I.

A DISCOVERY.

I am not an inquisitive woman, but when, in the middle of a certain warm
night in September, I heard a carriage draw up at the adjoining house
and stop, I could not resist the temptation of leaving my bed and taking
a peep through the curtains of my window.

First: because the house was empty, or supposed to be so, the family
still being, as I had every reason to believe, in Europe; and secondly:
because, not being inquisitive, I often miss in my lonely and single
life much that it would be both interesting