THE conference between Lady Lydiard and Mr. Troy, on the way back to
London, led to some practical results.
Hearing from her legal adviser that the inquiry after the missing money
was for a moment at a standstill, Lady Lydiard made one of those bold
suggestions with which she was accustomed to startle her friends in
cases of emergency. She had heard favorable reports of the extraordinary
ingenuity of the French police; and she now proposed sending to Paris
for assistance, after first consulting her nephew, Mr. Felix Sweetsir.
"Felix knows Paris as well as he knows London," she remarked. "He is an
idle man, and it is quite likely that he will relieve us of all trouble
by taking the matter into his own hands. In any case, he is sure to know
who are the right people to address in our present necessity. What do
you say?"
Mr. Troy, in reply, expressed his doubts as to the wisdom of employing
foreigners in a delicate investigation which required an accurate
knowledge of English customs and English character. Waiving this
objection, he approved of the idea of consulting her Ladyship's nephew.
"Mr. Sweetsir is a man of the world," he said. "In putting the case
before him, we are sure to have it presented to us from a new point
of view." Acting on this favorable expression of opinion, Lady Lydiard
wrote to her nephew. On the day after the visit to Miss Pink, the
proposed council of three was held at Lady Lydiard's house.
Felix, never punctual at keeping an appointment, was even later than
usual on this occasion.
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