"Good morning, Mrs. Pentreath," said Mr.
Munder. "Any news to-day?" What a
weight and importance his deep voice and
his impressively slow method of using it,
gave to those two insignificant sentences!

"News, Mr. Munder, that will astonish
you," replied the housekeeper. "I have
received a letter this morning from Mrs.
Frankland, which is, without any exception,
the most mystifying thing of the sort I ever
met with. I am told to communicate the
letter to you; and I have been waiting the
whole morning to hear your opinion of it.
Pray sit down, and give me all your attention
—for I do positively assure you that the
letter requires it."

Mr. Munder sat down, and became the
picture of attention immediately—not of
ordinary attention, which can be wearied, but of
judicial attention, which knows no fatigue,
and is superior alike to the power of dulness
and the power of time. The housekeeper,
without wasting the precious minutes—Mr.
Munder's minutes, which ranked next on the
scale of importance to a prime minister's!—
opened her mistress's letter, and, resisting
the natural temptation to make a few more
prefatory remarks on it, immediately favoured
the steward with the first paragraph, in the
following terms:—

"Mrs. Pentreath,

"You must be tired of receiving letters from me,
fixing a day for the arrival of my husband and myself.
On this, the third occasion of my writing to you about
our plans, it will be best, I think, to make no third
appointment, but merely to say that we shall leave
West Winston for Porthgenna the moment I can get
the doctor's permission to travel."

"So far," remarked Mrs. Pentreath, placing
the letter on her lap, and smoothing it out
rather irritably while she spoke—"so far,
there is nothing of much consequence. The
letter certainly seems to me (between
ourselves) to be written in rather poor language
—too much like common talking to come up to
my idea of what a lady's style of composition
ought to be—but that is a matter of opinion.
I can't say, and I should be the last person
to wish to say, that the beginning of Mrs.
Frankland's letter is not, upon the whole,
perfectly clear. It is the middle and the
end that I wish to consult you about, Mr.
Munder."

"Just so," said Mr. Munder. Only two
words, but what volumes of meaning in them!
The housekeeper cleared her throat with
extraordinary loudness and elaboration, and
read on thus:—

"My principal object in writing these lines is to
request, by Mr. Frankland's desire, that you and Mr.
Munder will endeavour to ascertain, as privately as
possible, whether a person now travelling in Cornwall
—in whom we happen to be much interested—has
been yet seen in the neighbourhood of Porthgenna.
The person in question is known to us by the name of
Mrs. Jazeph. She is an elderly woman, of quiet ladylike
manners, looking nervous and in delicate health.
She dresses, according to our experience of her, with
extreme propriety and neatness, and in dark colours.
Her eyes have a singular expression of timidity, her
voice is particularly soft and low, and her manner is
frequently marked by extreme hesitation. I am thus
particular in describing her, in case she should not
be travelling under the name by which we know her.

"For reasons, which it is not necessary to state,
both my husband and myself think it probable that,
at some former period of her life, Mrs. Jazeph may have
been connected with the Porthgenna neighbourhood.
Whether this be the fact or no, it is indisputably certain
that she is familiar with the interior of Porthgenna
Tower, and that she has an interest of some kind,
quite incomprehensible to us, in the house. Coupling
these facts with the knowledge we have of her being
now in Cornwall, we think it just within the range
of possibility, that you, or Mr. Munder, or some other
person in our employment may meet with her; and
we are particularly anxious, if she should by any chance
ask to see the house, not only that you should show
her over it with perfect readiness and civility, but also
that you should take private and particular notice of her
conduct from the time when she enters the building
to the time when she leaves it. Do not let her
out of your sight for a moment; and, if possible,
pray get some trustworthy person to follow her
unperceived, and ascertain where she goes to, after she has
quitted the house. It is of the most vital importance
that these instructions (strange as they may seem
to you) should be implicitly obeyed to the very
letter.

"I have only room and time to add, that we know
nothing to the discredit of this person, and that we
particularly desire you will manage matters with
sufficient discretion (in case you meet with her) to
prevent her from having any suspicion that you are
acting under orders, or that you have any especial
interest in watching her movements. You will be
good enough to communicate this letter to the steward,
and you are at liberty to repeat the instructions in
it to any other trustworthy person, if necessary.
"Yours truly,
"ROSAMOND FRANKLAND.

"P.S.—I have left my room, and the baby is getting
on charmingly."

"There!" said the housekeeper. "Who
is to make head or tail of that, I should like
to know! Did you ever, in all your
experience, Mr. Munder, meet with such a letter
before? Here is a very heavy responsibility
laid on our shoulders, without one word of
explanation. I have been puzzling my brains
about what their interest in this mysterious
woman can be, the whole morning; and the
more I think, the less comes of it. What
is your opinion, Mr. Munder? We ought to
do something immediately. Is there any
course in particular which you feel disposed
to point out?"

Mr. Munder coughed softly, crossed his
right leg over his left, put his head critically
on one side, coughed softly for the second
time, and looked at the housekeeper. If it
had belonged to any other man in the world,
Mrs. Pentreath would have considered that
the face which now confronted her's
expressed nothing but the most profound and
vacant bewilderment. But it was Mr. Munder's
face, and it was only to be looked at