She had died abroad, and alone, save for her faithful maid, who,
knowing the chasm that lay between her mistress and her lord, had brought
her letters and papers back to the Cloistered House, and locked them away
with all the other papers and correspondence which the Countess had
accumulated.
Among these papers was a letter to the late Lord Eglington written the
day before she died. In the haste and confusion ensuing on her death, the
maid had not seen it. It had never reached his hands, but lay in a pocket
of the dead woman's writing-portfolio, which Hylda had explored without
discovering. Only a few hours, however, before the Duchess of Snowdon
came, Hylda had found again an empty envelope on which was written the
name, James Fetherdon. The writing on the envelope was that of Sybil Lady
Eglington.
When she discovered the envelope, a sense of mystery and premonition
possessed her. What was the association between the Countess of Eglington
and James Fetherdon, the father of David Claridge? In vain she searched
among the voluminous letters and papers, for it would seem that the dead
woman had saved every letter she received, and kept copies of numberless
letters she had written.
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