Page:Robert Barr - Lord Stranleigh Philanthropist.djvu/318

 who was only twenty-four years of age, leaves many estates and great wealth, which now pass to a distant relative. General Goetz, of the Emperor's Staff in Vienna."

Stranleigh put the newspaper in his pocket, asked Blake to bring him all the letters and documents pertaining to the Baroness, drove to the Austrian Embassy, and sent in his card to the Ambassador. He found the Count very much perturbed about the death of the young lady.

"I cannot imagine," he said, "why she had been here for six months without ever communicating with me, for her father was one of my oldest friends."

He was still more astonished when Stranleigh showed him letters purporting to be his own, relating to the Baroness.

"These," he said, "were written by my secretary, Lieutenant Grunwald. I knew nothing of them."

"Could I see your secretary?" asked Stranleigh.

A shade of annoyance passed over the Ambassador's face.

"I regret to say that you cannot. The lieutenant is a nephew of mine, and I have been very patient with him, giving him every opportunity for advancement, but a short time since he left me, and has