He saw by the board, which was nailed in the front of the house, that all applications to see it were to be made to a Mr. Nash, residing close at hand; and, as Charles had the appearance of a respectable person, he thought he might possibly have the key entrusted to him, ostensibly to look at the house, preparatory possibly to taking it, and so he should, at all events, obtain admission.

He, accordingly, went at once to this Mr. Nash, and asked about the house; of course he had to affect an interest in its rental and accommodations, which he did not feel, in order to lull any suspicion, and, finally, he said,—­

“I should like to look over it if you will lend me the key, which I will shortly bring back to you.”

There was an evident hesitation about the agent when this proposal was communicated by Charles Holland, and he said,—­

“I dare say, sir, you wonder that I don’t say yes, at once; but the fact is there came a gentleman here one day when I was out, and got a key, for we have two to open the house, from my wife, and he never came back again.”

That this was the means by which Varney, the vampyre, had obtained the key, by the aid of which Charles had seen him effect so immediate an entrance to the house, there could be no doubt.

“How long ago were you served that trick?” he said.

“About two days ago, sir.”

“Well, it only shows how, when one person acts wrongly, another is at once suspected of a capability to do so likewise.  There is my name and my address; I should like rather to go alone to see the house, because I always fancy I can judge better by myself of the accommodation, and I can stay as long as I like, and ascertain the sizes of all the rooms without the disagreeable feeling upon my mind, which no amount of complaisance on your part, could ever get me over, that I was most unaccountably detaining somebody from more important business of their own.”

“Oh, I assure you, sir,” said Mr. Nash, “that I should not be at all impatient.  But if you would rather go alone—­”

“Indeed I would.”

“Oh, then, sir, there is the key.  A gentleman who leaves his name and address, of course, we can have no objection to.  I only told you of what happened, sir, in the mere way of conversation, and I hope you won’t imagine for a moment that I meant to insinuate that you were going to keep the key.”

“Oh, certainly not—­certainly not,” said Charles, who was only too glad to get the key upon any terms.  “You are quite right, and I beg you will say no more about it; I quite understand.”

He then walked off to the empty house again, and, proceeding to the avenue, he fitted the key to the lock, and had the satisfaction of finding the gate instantly yield to him.

When he passed through it, and closed the door after him, which he did carefully, he found himself in a handsomely laid-out garden, and saw the house a short distance in front of him, standing upon a well got-up lawn.