course, I might have known all the time had I troubled to give my mind to it,

namely, that the windows were long French ones opening on the terrace. The sound

I had heard, therefore, could not have been that of a window being shut down.

 

Quite idly, and more to distract my mind from painful thoughts than for any

other reason, I amused myself by trying to guess what could have caused the

sound in question.

 

Coals on the fire? No, that was not the kind of noise at all. A drawer of the

bureau pushed in? No, not that.

 

Then my eye was caught by what, I believe, is called a silver table, the lid of

which lifts, and through the glass of which you can see the contents. I crossed

over to it, studying the things. There were one or two pieces of old silver, a

baby shoe belonging to King Charles the First, some Chinese jade figures, and

quite a number of African implements and curios. Wanting to examine one of the

jade figures more closely, I lifted the lid. It slipped through my fingers and

fell.

 

At once I recognized the sound I had heard. It was this same table lid being

shut down gently and carefully. I repeated the action once or twice for my own

satisfaction. Then I lifted the lid to scrutinize the contents more closely.

 

I was still bending over the open silver table when Flora Ackroyd came into the

room.