only
come here to ask you a question."

"What is it, Major?"

"Have you met with any letters of mine in the course of your
investigations?"

"I have found none yet," I answered. "If I do discover any letters, I
shall, of course, not take the liberty of examining them."

"I wanted to speak to you about that," he rejoined. "It only struck me
a moment since, upstairs, that my letters might embarrass you. In your
place I should feel some distrust of anything which I was not at liberty
to examine. I think I can set this matter right, however, with very
little trouble to either of us. It is no violation of any promises or
pledges on my part if I simply tell you that my letters will not assist
the discovery which you are trying to make. You can safely pass them
over as objects that are not worth examining from your point of view.
You understand me, I am sure?"

"I am much obliged to you, Major--I quite understand."

"Are you feeling any fatigue?"

"None whatever, thank you."

"And you still hope to succeed? You are not beginning to be discouraged
already?"

"I am not in the least discouraged. With your kind leave, I mean to
persevere for some time yet."

I had not closed the drawer of the cabinet while we were talking, and
I glanced carelessly, as I answered him, at the fragments of the broken
vase. By this time he had got his feelings under perfect command. He,
too, glanced at the fragments of the vase with an appearance of perfect
indifference. I remembered the look of suspicion and surprise that
had escaped him on entering the room, and I thought his indifference a
little overacted.

"_That_ doesn't look very encouraging," he said, with a smile, pointing
to the shattered pieces of china in the drawer.

"Appearances are not always to be trusted," I replied. "The wisest thing
I can do in my present situation is to suspect everything, even down to
a broken vase."

I looked hard at him as I spoke. He changed the subject.

"Does the music upstairs annoy you?" he asked.

"Not in the least, Major."

"It will soon be over now. The singing-master is going, and the Italian
master has just arrived. I am sparing no pains to make my young prima
donna a most accomplished person. In learning to sing she must also
learn the language which is especially the language of music. I shall
perfect her in the accent when I take her to Italy. It is the height
of my ambition to have her mistaken for an Italian when she sings in