The pony-chaise returned a good half hour before I had ventured to
expect it. My lady had decided to remain for the present, at her
sister's house. The groom brought two letters from his mistress; one
addressed to Mr. Franklin, and the other to me.
Mr. Franklin's letter I sent to him in the library--into which refuge
his driftings had now taken him for the second time. My own letter,
I read in my own room. A cheque, which dropped out when I opened it,
informed me (before I had mastered the contents) that Sergeant Cuff's
dismissal from the inquiry after the Moonstone was now a settled thing.
I sent to the conservatory to say that I wished to speak to the Sergeant
directly. He appeared, with his mind full of the gardener and the
dog-rose, declaring that the equal of Mr. Begbie for obstinacy never
had existed yet, and never would exist again. I requested him to dismiss
such wretched trifling as this from our conversation, and to give his
best attention to a really serious matter. Upon that he exerted himself
sufficiently to notice the letter in my hand. "Ah!" he said in a weary
way, "you have heard from her ladyship. Have I anything to do with it,
Mr.
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