rl who acted as maid to Mrs. Carstairs
herself; and I admit at first it seemed that she was the most likely
person to have been mixed up in the affair; for she was a flighty minx
who wasn't too particular about her behaviour, and was generally engaged
to two or three young men at once."

"Well?" From Sir Richard's manner Anstice gathered that there was no
case against the pretty young minx; and the next words confirmed his
supposition.

"Sad to say the poor girl caught a chill and died of pneumonia after
only five days' illness, during which time the letter-writer was
particularly active; and as the communications continued after her
death, she must be counted out."

"Well," said Anstice, "that accounts for three of them. What about the
fourth?"

"The fourth was an old servant of the other side of the family--Chloe's
family--the woman they call Tochatti, who lives there still. She's half
Italian, though she's lived the greater part of her life in England.
Chloe's mother picked her up on her honeymoon, and she was Chloe's
nurse. She has been a most devoted servant all the time, and I would
almost as soon suspect Chloe herself as suspect the poor woman of
working any harm to her adored young mistress."

Remembering the woman's solicitude on the occasion of his first visit to
Cherry Orchard, Anstice was compelled to admit it was unlikely she was
the culprit; and his impression was deepened by Sir Richard's next
speech.

"As a matter of fact, it came out that the poor old thing couldn't even
write her name. The other woman, Janet, was what she called a 'poor
scollard', but Tochatti went one better, for she could neither write nor
read. It appeared they had often teased her about it, and she had
frequently flown into a rage when the other servants poked fun at her;
but she certainly scored in the end!"

"Well, that disposes of the household," said Anstice rather regretfully.
"But what about outdoor workers--gardeners and so forth?"

"There was only one gardener--and a boy--and neither could possibly have
had access to Chloe's writing-table; added to which they both left
Cherry Orchard during the critical time and took situations in different
parts of the county. So they too had to be counted out."

"All this came out in court?"

"Yes. You see, had the matter rested between the party libelled and the
libeller--if there is such a term--an action in the Civil Courts to
recover damages would have met the case. But o