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“Ipaidespecialattentiontoalargewriting-tablenearwhichhesat,
anduponwhichlayconfusedly,somemiscellaneouslettersandother
papers,withoneortwomusicalinstrumentsandafewbooks.Here,
however,afteralongandverydeliberatescrutiny,Isawnothing
toexciteparticularsuspicion.
“Atlengthmyeyes,ingoingthecircuitoftheroom,fellupon
atrumperyfillagreecard-rackofpasteboard,thathungdangling
byadirtyblueribbon,fromalittlebrassknobjustbeneaththemiddle
ofthemantel-piece.Inthisrack,whichhadthreeorfour
compartments,werefiveorsixvisitingcardsandasolitaryletter.This
lastwasmuchsoiledandcrumpled.Itwastornnearlyintwo,across
themiddle—asifadesign,inthefirstinstance,totearitentirely
upasworthless,hadbeenaltered,orstayed,inthesecond.Ithad
alargeblackseal,bearingtheD——cipherveryconspicuously,and
wasaddressed,inadiminutivefemalehand,toD——,theminister,
himself.Itwasthrustcarelessly,andeven,asitseemed,
contemptuously,intooneoftheuppermostdivisionsoftherack.
“NosoonerhadIglancedatthisletter,thanIconcludedittobethat
ofwhichIwasinsearch.Tobesure,itwas,toallappearance,
radicallydifferentfromtheoneofwhichthePrefecthadread
ussominuteadescription.Herethesealwaslargeandblack,withthe
D——cipher;thereitwassmallandred,withtheducalarmsoftheS
——family.Here,theaddress,totheMinister,diminutiveand
feminine;therethesuperscription,toacertainroyalpersonage,was
markedlyboldanddecided;thesizealoneformedapoint
ofcorrespondence.But,then,theradicalnessofthesedifferences,
whichwasexcessive;thedirt;thesoiledandtornconditionofthe
paper,soinconsistentwiththetruemethodicalhabitsofD——,and
sosuggestiveofadesigntodeludethebeholderintoanideaofthe
worthlessnessofthedocument—thesethings,togetherwiththehyper-
obtrusivesituationofthisdocument,fullintheviewofeveryvisitor,
andthusexactlyinaccordancewiththeconclusionstowhichIhad
previouslyarrived;thesethings,Isay,werestronglycorroborative
ofsuspicion,inonewhocamewiththeintentiontosuspect.
“Iprotractedmyvisitaslongaspossible,and,whileImaintained
amostanimateddiscussionwiththeMinisteruponatopicwhich
Iknewwellhadneverfailedtointerestandexcitehim,Ikept
myattentionreallyrivetedupontheletter.Inthisexamination,
