with the will--though no lawyer would think so," said the
duke.

"You know its purport then?"

"No, dearest, not certainly, but I surmise it, from some conversations
that I held with the late Sir Lemuel Levison."

As he spoke the door opened and Lady Belgrade entered the room, saying
softly, as she would have spoken beside the cradle of a sick baby:

"I am sorry to disturb your grace; but the fifteen minutes permitted by
the doctor have passed, and Salome must not sit up longer."

"I am going now, dear madam," said the duke, rising.

He took Salome's hand, held it for a moment in his, while he gazed into
her eyes, then pressed it to his lips, and so took his morning's leave of
her.

The same forenoon he rode over to the Lone Station, and dispatched a
telegram to the family solicitor, Kage.

CHAPTER X.

THE LETTER AND ITS EFFECT.

Mr. Kage arrived at Lone, within twenty-four hours after having received
the duke's telegram. He reached the castle at noon and had a private
interview with the duke in the library, when it was arranged that the
will and the letter should be read the same afternoon in the presence of
the assembled household.

"The letter also? Is not that a private one from the father to his
daughter?" inquired the duke.

"No, your grace. There are reasons why it must be public, which you will
recognize when you hear it read," answered the lawyer.

"Then I fear I have been mistaken in my private thoughts concerning it.
Pray, will it give us any clue to the perpetrators of the murder?"

"None whatever! It certainly was not a violent death that the banker
anticipated for himself when he prepared that letter to be delivered in
the event of his sudden decease."

"Has any clue yet been found to the murderer?"

"None that I have heard of."

"Or to the mysterious woman who was supposed to have carried off the
booty?"

"None, Detective Keightley called on me yesterday for some information
regarding the stolen property, and I furnished him with a photograph of
that snuff-box given to Sir Lemuel Levison by the Sultan of Turkey--the
gold one richly set with precious stones. Sir Lemuel had it photographed
by my advice, for identification in case of its being stolen. And he left
several duplicate copies with me. I gave one to Keightley. But the man
could give me no information in return. The missing woman seemed lost in
London. And the proverbial little needle in the haystack might be as
eas