flat. A minute or two later Lord Ashiel was ushered in.

"I'm very sorry I'm late," said he, as the door closed behind him, "but
you know what kept me."

"Not the young lady, surely," said Gimblet; "you were to see her at
twelve o'clock this morning, weren't you?"

"Yes, but she telephoned to me after lunch. By Jove, Gimblet, I believe
you have got hold of the right girl this time." Lord Ashiel's tone was
enthusiastic. "If she turns out to be half as nice as she looks, I shall
be ever grateful to you for routing her out."

"Indeed, I am very glad to hear it," replied the detective. "And do you
observe a resemblance in her to your family; do you feel satisfied that
she is your daughter?"

"I can't say I do see much likeness," Lord Ashiel confessed rather
reluctantly. "I thought at one moment, when she smiled, that she was like
her mother; but otherwise she did not strike me as resembling either of
us, I am sorry to say."

"Did she know her history at all?" asked Gimblet. "Did she claim you
as father?"

"No, she had never heard of me, as far as I could make out. And she
assured me that Sir Arthur Byrne has no idea whose child she is."

"That certainly seems very improbable," Gimblet commented.