want me, you know where to send for me, and at all events
I've drawn Silver's teeth."

"Yes, dear; thank you very much," said Agnes mechanically, so the
visitor took her leave, wondering what was rendering her hostess so
absent-minded. A very persistent thought told her that Agnes had made a
discovery in connection with the letter, but since she would not impart
that thought there was no more to be said.

When Miss Greeby left the house and was striding down the street, Agnes
for the third time took the letter from her pocket and studied every
line of the writing. It was wonderfully like her own, she thought again,
and yet wondered both at the contents and at the signature. "I should
never have written in this way to Noel," she reflected. "And certainly
I should never have signed myself 'Agnes Pine' to so intimate a note.
However, we shall see," and with this cryptic thought she placed the
letter in her desk.

When Garvington and his wife returned they found Agnes singularly quiet
and pale. The little man did not notice this, as he never took any
interest in other people's emotions, but his wife asked questions to
which she received no answers, and looked at Agnes uneasily, when she
saw that she did not eat any dinner to speak of. Lady Garvington was
very fond of her kind-hearted sister-in-law, and would have been glad to
know what was troubling her. But Agnes kept her worries to herself, and
insisted that Jane should go to the pantomime, as she had arranged with
some friends instead of remaining at home. But when Garvington moved to
leave the drawing-room, after drinking his coffee, his sister detained
him.

"I want you to come to the library to write a letter for me, Freddy,"
she said in a tremulous voice.

"Can't you write it yourself?" said Garvington selfishly, as he was in a
hurry to get to his club.

"No, dear. I am so tired," sighed Agnes, passing her hand across her
brow.

"Then you should have kept on Silver as your secretary," grumbled
Garvington. "However, if it won't take long, I don't mind obliging you."
He followed her into the library, and took his seat at the writing
table. "Who is the letter to?" he demanded, taking up a pen in a hurry.

"To Mr. Jarwin. I want him to find out where Gentilla Stanley is. It's
only a formal letter, so write it and sign it on my behalf."

"Like an infernal secretary," sighed Garvington, taking paper and
squaring his elbows. "What do you want with old Mother Cock