 say so?«
    »Merely to say so, your ladyship.« Mr. Guppy, besides being depressed,
disappointed, and uneasy, is put at a further disadvantage by the splendour and
beauty of her appearance. She knows its influence perfectly; has studied it too
well to miss a grain of its effect on any one. As she looks at him so steadily
and coldly, he not only feels conscious that he has no guide, in the least
perception of what is really the complexion of her thoughts; but also that he is
being every moment, as it were, removed further and further from her.
    She will not speak, it is plain. So he must.
    »In short, your ladyship,« says Mr. Guppy, like a meanly penitent thief,
»the person I was to have had the letters of, has come to a sudden end, and -«
He stops. Lady Dedlock calmly finishes the sentence.
    »And the letters are destroyed with the person?«
    Mr. Guppy would say no, if he could - as he is unable to hide.
    »I believe so, your ladyship.«
    If he could see the least sparkle of relief in her face now? No, he could
see no such thing, even if that brave outside did not utterly put him away, and
he were not looking beyond it and about it.
    He falters an awkward excuse or two for his failure.
    »Is this all you have to say?« inquires Lady Dedlock, having heard him out -
or as nearly out as he can stumble.
    Mr. Guppy thinks that's all.
    »You had better be sure that you wish to say nothing more to me; this being
the last time you will have the opportunity.«
    Mr. Guppy is quite sure. And indeed he has no such wish at present, by any
means.
    »That is enough. I will dispense with excuses. Good evening to you!« and she
rings for Mercury to show the young man of the name of Guppy out.
    But in that house, in that same moment, there happens to be an old man of
the name of Tulkinghorn. And that old man, coming with his quiet footstep to the
library, has his hand at that moment on the handle of the door - comes in - and
comes face to face with the young man as he is leaving the room.
    One glance between the old man and the lady; and for an instant the blind
that is always down flies up. Suspicion, eager and sharp, looks out. Another
