oman is pleased, she
shows her yellow fangs. She had something to tell me: 'The servants
have been talking, sir, about Miss Iris.' 'Out with it, ma'am! what do
they say?' 'They notice, sir, that their young lady has taken to going
out in the forenoon, regularly every day: always by herself, and always
in the same direction. I don't encourage the servants, Mr. Henley:
there was something insolent in the tone of suspicion that they
adopted. I told them that Miss Iris was merely taking her walk. They
reminded me that it must be a cruelly long walk; Miss Iris being away
regularly for four or five hours together, before she came back to the
house. After that' (says the housekeeper) 'I thought it best to drop
the subject.' What do you think of it yourself, Mountjoy? Do you call
my daughter's conduct suspicious?"

"I see nothing suspicious, Mr. Henley. When Iris goes out, she visits a
friend."

"And always goes in the same direction, and always visits the same
friend," Mr. Henley added. "I felt a curiosity to know who that friend
might be; and I made the discovery yesterday. When you were staying in
my house in the country, do you remember the man who waited on you?"

Mountjoy began to feel alarmed for Iris; he answered as briefly as
possible.

"Your valet," he said.

"That's it! Well, I took my valet into my confidence--not for the first
time, I can tell you: an invaluable fellow. When Iris went out
yesterday, he tracked her to a wretched little suburban place near
Hampstead Heath, called Redburn Road. She rang the bell at Number Five,
and was at once let in--evidently well known there. My clever man made
inquiries in the neighbourhood. The house belongs to a doctor, who has
lately taken it. Name of Vimpany."

Mountjoy was not only startled, but showed it plainly. Mr. Henley,
still pacing backwards and forwards, happened by good fortune to have
his back turned towards his visitor, at that moment.

"Now I ask you, as a man of the world," Mr. Henley resumed, "what does
this mean? If you're too cautious to speak out--and I must say it looks
like it--shall I set you the example?"

"Just as you please, sir."

"Very well, then; I'll tell you what I suspect. When Iris is at home,
and when there's something amiss in my family, I believe that scoundrel
Lord Harry to be at the bottom of it. There's my experience, and
there's my explanation. I was on the point of ordering my carriage, to
go to the doctor myself, and insist o