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Page 93
"And if we, of this day, fail to find them out, it is easy to guess
that in their own times, much that they caused to be done was set
down to the operations of Heaven alone.
"Science will be deeply interested in your Borgia mattress, Sir
Walter. Science, I doubt not, will carefully unpick it and make a
series of very remarkable experiments; yet I make bold to believe
that science may be baffled by the cunning and forgotten knowledge
of men long dust. We shall see as to that."
He rose and bade Masters call Stephano. Then, with a few words,
they parted, and each shook the old man's hand and expressed a deep
and genuine gratitude before they did so.
"A little remains to add," said Signor Mannetti. "You shall hear
what it is to-morrow. For the moment, 'Good-night!' It has been
a crowning joy to my long life that I was able to do this service
to new and valued friends."
In the servants' hall next morning Masters related what he had
heard.
"And if you ask me," he concluded, "I draw back what I thought
about him being younger than he pretends. He's older--old as the
hills--older than that horror in the Grey Boom. He's a demon;
and he's killed the old dog; and I believe he's a Borge himself if
the truth was known."
CHAPTER XIII
TWO NOTES
They walked in the garden next morning, and Sir Walter delayed to
write to Scotland Yard until after seeing Signor Mannetti again.
The old gentleman descended to them presently, and declared himself
over-fatigued.
"I must sit in the sun and go to sleep again after lunch," he said.
"Stephano is annoyed with me, and hints at the doctor."
"Mannering will be here to lunch. You will understand that nobody
is more deeply interested in these things than he."
"But yourself," said Mary. "Come and sit down and rest. You are
looking very tired to-day."
"A little reaction--no more. It was worth it." He then proceeded
where he had broken off on the preceding night.
"There remains only to tell you how I found myself caught up in
your sad story. It had not occurred to you to wonder?"
"I confess I had never thought of that, signor. You made us forget
such a trifling detail."
"But, none the less, you will want to know, Sir Walter. Our common
friend, Colonel Vane, put the first thought in my head. He laid
the train to which I set the match so well. He it was who described
the Grey Room very exactly, and the moment that I heard of the
ancient carved furniture, I knew that he spoke of curios concerning
which I already had heard. The name of Lennox completed the clue,
for that had already stirred memories in my ancient mind. I had
listened to my father, when I was young, telling a story in which
a bed and chairs and a gentleman named Lennox were connected. He
spoke of an ancient Italian suite of three pieces, the work of
craftsmen at Rome in the fifteenth century. It was papal furniture
of the early Renaissance, well known to him as being in a Spanish
collection--a hundred and fifty years ago that is now--and when
these things came into the market, he rejoiced and hurried off to
Valencia, where it was to be sold. For he was even such a man as
your grandfather--a connoisseur and an enthusiastic collector.
But, alas, his hopes were short-lived; he found himself in
opposition to a deeper purse than his own, and it was Sir John
Lennox, not my father, who secured the bed and the two chairs that
go with it. These things, as I tell you, returned to my
recollection, and, remembering them, I guessed myself upon the
right track. The arms of the Borgia, and the successful experiment
with the dog, Prince, proved that I was correct in guessing where
the poison lay hidden."
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