It was not to be found in the bottom of the
bureau. He next looked, after a little preliminary hesitation, into a
long narrow drawer opening beneath some pigeon-hole recesses at the
back.
The tube was not there, either; and he shut the drawer to again,
carefully and gently--for inside it was the Hair Bracelet that had
belonged to Madonna's mother, lying on the white handkerchief, which
had also been taken from the dead woman's pocket. Just as he closed the
drawer, he heard footsteps at his right hand, and turned in that
direction rather suspiciously--locking down the lid of the bureau as he
looked round. It was only the civil Mr. Gimble, wanting to know what
Mr. Blyth was searching for, and whether he could help him. Valentine
mentioned the loss of the tube; and Mr. Gimble immediately volunteered
to make one of pasteboard. "Ten thousand thanks," said Mr. Blyth,
hooking the key to his watch-guard again, as he returned to Lady
Brambledown with his friend. "Ten thousand thanks; but the worst of it
is, I don't know where to find the pasteboard."
If, instead of turning to the right hand to speak to Mr. Gimble,
Valentine had turned to the left, he would have seen that, just as he
opened the bureau and began to search in it, Mr.
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