St. Claire can leave his keys at Collingwood."
Victor departed with the message, and Edith, somewhat recovered
from her pet, said,
"Isn't it queer, though, that Mr. St. Claire should ask to leave
his keys with me? One would suppose he'd trust his cousin to
rummage his goods and chattels sooner than a stranger."
"He has his reasons, I dare say, for preferring you," returned
Richard, adding that he himself would go with her some day to
Grassy Spring, and assist her in airing the house.
Toward the middle of the afternoon, the keys of Collingwood were
delivered to Edith, together with a sealed note, containing a
single line,
"The iron broken key unlocks the DEN."
Had Arthur wished to puzzle Edith he could not have done so more
effectually than he did by these few words.
"What do I care," she said, "which unlocks the Den. I certainly
should not cross its threshold were the door left wide open. What
does he mean?" and she was still wondering over the message when
Grace Atherton was announced.
As she grew older Grace assumed a more familiar, youthful manner
than had characterized her early womanhood, and now, tossing her
riding hat and whip upon the bed, she sank into Edith's easy chair
and began: "The funniest thing imaginable has happened at Grassy
Spring.
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