sloping part of my desk to dry, before putting it into my pocket.
"The paper on which I had taken the numbers of the notes was gone also!"
As my father-in-law spoke, I rose to my feet and tapped the glass over the document let into the oak above the fireplace, saying, "And this is the paper with the numbers of the stolen notes on it."
"And that is not the paper with the number of the stolen notes on it," said James Mayfield.
"From the moment I left the counting-house to show Grainly out that night, twenty years ago, no one has ever seen the list I made of the notes. Grainly must have destroyed it the moment he was out of Bread-street."
My father-in-law finished his glass of port and resumed his story:—
"Here was I, on the eve of my marriage, simply ruined.
"Grainly had my receipt for the two hundred and ninety-three pounds cash, and he had the two hundred and ninety-three pounds cash also, and Grainly was a thief who enjoyed the favour of his employer, while I was in no particular favour with the firm. I believe up to that time I was supposed to be honest.
"The forty-eight pounds in gold was, of course, gone as much as if it had been dropped into the crater of a burning mountain; and as the numbers of the notes could no longer be produced, and they had not come direct from a bank, but had been picked up here and there in the country, the two hundred and forty-five pounds were gone as though they had been blown overboard in the Atlantic Ocean.
"It was plain there would be no use in following Grainly, even if I knew the way he had gone when he gained Cheapside. It was plain no marriage could take place to-morrow morning. It was plain my course was to go without the loss of a moment to Mr. Strangway and tell him what had happened. Whether he would believe me or not, who could say? Not I, any way. He might reasonably order me into custody. Very well, if he did I must not grumble or feel aggrieved. Our wedding was fixed for eleven o'clock next morning. By eleven to-morrow I might be in jail, charged with stealing the money or being an accomplice in the robbery.
"I locked the office, telegraphed to Mary that I had been unexpectedly delayed, jumped into a hansom, and drove to Strangway's house in Clapham.
"Gracious Mr. Mayfield are you ill?"
"I told the servant to take in word that I wished to see Mr. Strangway most particularly. I suppose she had heard about my wedding; anyway she smiled very knowingly, and said: 'I hope you'll have fine weather and good luck on your holiday, Mr. Mayfield, though it is rather late in the year to expect fine weather. Gracious, Mr. Mayfield, are you ill?' she cried at the end. I daresay my face told tales.
"'Not ill,' I said, 'but very anxious to see Mr. Strangway at once, if you please.'
"She showed me into the library, hurried
