The Clock and the Key - new book

Purchase of this book includes free trial access to www.million-books.com where you can read more than a million books for free. This is an OCR edition with typos. Excerpt from book: I found myself in a. narrow chamber, hardly larger than a coat-closet. I struck a match. But before I could explore the interior, the tapestry was lifted once more, and Luigi appeared, the lighted candle in his hand. " What is the signore doing in there ? " he demanded with an anxiety that seemed to me rather uncalled for. " I thought that you had shown all the apartments, Luigi ? " " But his Excellency will be annoyed if he sees you here," persisted the old servant. " Not at all," said a cold voice, and the duke entered, followed by the others. " My dear Richard," laughed Jacqueline, " this is deliciously mysterious. So you have actually discovered a hidden chamber ? " " Quite what one might expect in an old Venetian palace," added Mrs. Gordon. " Now if you have found Mr. St. Hilary's jewels, it will be perfect." " I doubt if my friend Hume has wit enough to have made the discovery that it is nothing but a bare chamber," cried the dealer, darting at me a look of intense annoyance. " Oh, it is no discovery of mine," I said calmly. " I have merely followed where St. Hilary led." " As a dealer in antiquities I am naturally interested in curiosities, even in curious chambers." " All the same, your knowledge of my palace is rather extraordinary?even for a dealer in antiquities," cried the duke. St. Hilary took the lighted candle from the servant. " If you were a better Venetian," he retorted, " and were familiar with the archives of the Frari,you would know that the Inquisition of Venice had plans of every palace in the city. I happen to have examined them. That is all." " But your Excellency will observe," said old Luigi unconcernedly, " that the room is quite empty." " Yes, yes," agreed the dealer, pushing us gently without. " No, not qui...