The Return of Sherlock Holmes Part 7 (2/2)
”No”
”How do you knoas from the father?”
”The coat of arms was on the envelope, and it was addressed in the Duke's peculiar stiff hand Besides, the Duke re written”
”When had he a letter before that?”
”Not for several days”
”Had he ever one from France?”
”No, never
”You see the point of my questions, of course Either the boy was carried off by force or he went of his own free will In the latter case, you would expect that so a lad do such a thing If he has had no visitors, that pro must have come in letters; hence I try to find out ere his correspondents”
”I fear I cannot help you much His only correspondent, so far as I knoas his own father”
”Who wrote to him on the very day of his disappearance Were the relations between father and son very friendly?”
”His Grace is never very friendly with anyone He is coe public questions, and is rather inaccessible to all ordinary emotions But he was always kind to the boy in his oay”
”But the sympathies of the latter ith the mother?”
”Yes”
”Did he say so?”
”No”
”The Duke, then?”
”Good heaven, no!”
”Then how could you know?”
”I have had some confidential talks with Mr Jaave s”
”I see By the way, that last letter of the Dukes--was it found in the boy's rooone?”
”No, he had taken it with hi for Euston”
”I will order a four-wheeler In a quarter of an hour, we shall be at your service If you are telegraphing home, Mr Huxtable, it would be well to allow the people in your neighbourhood to i on in Liverpool, or wherever else that red herring led your pack In the meantime I will do a little quiet work at your own doors, and perhaps the scent is not so cold but that two old hounds like Watson andfound us in the cold, bracing atmosphere of the Peak country, in which Dr Huxtable's famous school is situated It was already dark e reached it A card was lying on the hall table, and the butler whispered soitation in every heavy feature
”The Duke is here,” said he ”The Duke and Mr Wilder are in the study Coentlemen, and I will introduce you”
I was, of course, familiar with the pictures of the famous statesman, but the man himself was very different from his representation He was a tall and stately person, scrupulously dressed, with a drawn, thin face, and a nose which was grotesquely curved and long His co by contrast with a long, dwindling beard of vivid red, which flowed down over his white waistcoat with his watch-chain gleae Such was the stately presence who looked stonily at us fro Beside hi man, whom I understood to be Wilder, the private secretary He was sht-blue eyes and mobile features It was he who at once, in an incisive and positive tone, opened the conversation
”I called thisfor London I learned that your object was to invite Mr Sherlock Holmes to undertake the conduct of this case His Grace is surprised, Dr Huxtable, that you should have taken such a step without consulting him”
”When I learned that the police had failed----”
”His Grace is by no means convinced that the police have failed”
”But surely, Mr Wilder----”
”You are well aware, Dr Huxtable, that his Grace is particularly anxious to avoid all public scandal He prefers to take as few people as possible into his confidence”
”The matter can be easily remedied,” said the brow-beaten doctor; ”Mr Sherlock Hol train”
”Hardly that, Doctor, hardly that,” said Hol and pleasant, so I propose to spend a few days upon your moors, and to occupy my mind as best I e inn is, of course, for you to decide”
I could see that the unfortunate doctor was in the last stage of indecision, from which he was rescued by the deep, sonorous voice of the red-bearded Duke, which booree with Mr Wilder, Dr Huxtable, that you would have done wisely to consult me But since Mr Holmes has already been taken into your confidence, it would indeed be absurd that we should not avail ourselves of his services Far fro to the inn, Mr Holmes, I should be pleased if you would come and stay with me at Holdernesse Hall”
”I thank your Grace For the purposes of ation, I think that it would be wiser for me to remain at the scene of the mystery”
”Just as you like, Mr Holive you is, of course, at your disposal”
”It will probably be necessary for me to see you at the Hall,” said Holmes ”I would only ask you now, sir, whether you have formed any explanation in your own mind as to the mysterious disappearance of your son?”
”No sir I have not”
”Excuse me if I allude to that which is painful to you, but I have no alternative Do you think that the duchess had anything to do with the reat minister showed perceptible hesitation
”I do not think so,” he said, at last
”The other most obvious explanation is that the child has been kidnapped for the purpose of levying ransom You have not had any demand of the sort?”
”No, sir”
”One more question, your Grace I understand that you wrote to your son upon the day when this incident occurred”
”No, I wrote upon the day before”
”Exactly But he received it on that day?”
”Yes”
”Was there anything in your letter which ht have unbalanced him or induced him to take such a step?”
”No, sir, certainly not”