ship the Countess saying stiffly:--"Surely afterwards would do." But
Gwen cut in with:--"No--I can't wait. Give it to me, Norbury!" And took
it and read it as intently as her father had done. Having finished, she
telegraphed to him, all the length of the table:--"Isn't that just what
I said?" And then things went on as before. Only the Earl and his
daughter had come off their _P_'s and _Q_'s, most lawlessly.

Here is the letter each had read, when off them:

"My dear Lord Ancester,

"I have thoroughly considered the letter, and return it herewith. I am
satisfied that it is a forgery by the hand of the convict Daverill, but
it is difficult to see what his object can have been, malice apart. It
is clear, however, that it was to influence his wife, to what end it is
impossible to say.

"The only theory I can have about the black ink is far-fetched. It is
that a letter from England of that date was erased to make way for the
forgery, these few black letters having been allowed to remain, not to
disturb the English postmark, which partly-obscures them. You may notice
some compromise or accommodation in the handwriting of the direction,
evidently to slur over the difference. I suggest that the letter should
be referred to some specialist in palimpsests, who may be able to detect
some of the underlying original, which is absolutely invisible to me.

"If you meet with any other letter written by this ingenious penman, I
suspect it will be in the pale ink of the forgery, which no doubt was as
black as the English ink, when new.

"Believe me, my lord, your very faithful and obedient servant,

"JAMES HAWTREY."

"There can't be another letter of the ingenious penman's in the lot we
left tied up, because he and his wife were living together, and not
writing each other letters." So said Gwen afterwards, deprecating a
suggestion of her father's that the packet should be opened and
examined. But he replied:--"It is only to look at the colour of the ink.
We won't read old Mrs. Prichard's love-letters." However, nothing was
found, all these letters having been written in England except the one
from Sydney inviting her to come out, which was referred to early in
this story. The Sydney ink had been different--that was all.

So all the letters were tied up again and placed _pro tem_. in the
cinquecento cabinet, to be quite safe. They had been just about to
vanish therein when the Earl made his suggestion. Nothing having come of
it