nature," answered the old lawyer. "I will go straight to it. Your
lordship has doubtless read in the newspapers of the murder of a man
named Ashton in Lonsdale Passage, in the Bayswater district?"

Lord Ellingham glanced at a pile of newspapers which lay on a
side-table.

"Yes," he answered, "I have. I've been much interested in it--as a
murder. A curious and mysterious case, don't you think?"

"We," replied Mr. Pawle, waving a hand toward Viner, "know it to be a
much more mysterious case than anybody could gather from the newspaper
accounts, for they know little who have written them, and we, who are
behind the scenes, know a great deal. Now, your lordship will have seen
that a young man, an actor named Langton Hyde, has been arrested and
charged, and is on remand. This unfortunate fellow was an old schoolmate
of Mr. Viner--they were at Rugby together; and Mr. Viner--and I may say I
myself also--is convinced beyond doubt of his entire innocence, and we
want to clear him; we are doing all we can to clear him. And it is
because of this that we have ventured to call on your lordship."

"Oh!" exclaimed Lord Ellingham. "But--what can I do! How do I come in?"

"My lord," said Mr. Pawle in his most solemn manner, "I will go straight
to this point also. We have reason to feel sure, from undoubted evidence,
that Mr. John Ashton, a very wealthy man, who had recently come from
Australia, where he had lived for a great many years, to settle here in
London, had in his possession when he was murdered certain highly
important papers relating to your lordship's family, and that he was
murdered for the sake of them!"