He had placed it on his writing table. Now he took it
up. It was addressed:
"_To His Grace the Duke of Datchet_.
_Private!_
VERY PRESSING!!!"
The name was written in a fine, clear, almost feminine hand. The words in
the left-hand corner of the envelope were written in a different hand.
They were large and bold; almost as though they had been painted with the
end of the penholder instead of being written with the pen. The envelope
itself was of an unusual size, and bulged out as though it contained
something else besides a letter.
The duke tore the envelope open. As he did so something fell out of it on
to the writing table. It looked as though it was a lock of a woman's hair.
As he glanced at it the duke seemed to be a trifle startled. The duke read
the letter:
"Your grace will be so good as to bring five hundred pounds in
gold to the Piccadilly end of the Burlington Arcade within an
hour of the receipt of this. The Duchess of Datchet has been
kidnaped. An imitation duchess got into the carriage, which was
waiting outside Cane and Wilson's, and she alighted on the road.
Unless your grace does as you are requested, the Duchess of
Datchet's left-hand little finger will be at once cut off, and
sent home in time to receive the prince to dinner. Other portions
of her grace will follow.
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