“A cipher!” said Heideck.  “But we shall soon get to the bottom of it.  You have some capable interpreters at your disposal, and it might be a good thing if they set to work at once.”

He continued his examination, and suddenly the blood rushed to his face, for in his hands he held a letter, the handwriting of which he recognised at the first glance as Edith’s.  Its contents were as follows:—­

“Dear Beatrice,—­As you see, I am again in England.  You know that I have returned a widow, and you can believe that my experiences have been terrible.  Your brother met an honourable death at Lahore; with the utmost difficulty I myself succeeded in getting away from India under the protection of Attorney-General Kennedy and his family.  I should have to fill a book if I were to tell you all the horrors of our journey.  But this is not the proper time to complain of the melancholy lot of an individual.  We are all strangers and pilgrims on earth, and must bear the cross that is laid upon us.

“The immediate reason of my writing to-day is that I want your opinion on a certain matter.  When I arrived at my parents’ house, I heard that uncle Godfrey had died on the 16th of April.  I do not know whether you have already heard of this, as regular communication with the Continent is interrupted.  My uncle Godfrey has left a will, dividing his property equally between you as his niece and my deceased husband.  His property was larger than my husband thought.  After division, both you and my husband would have had a yearly income of 5,000 pounds.  Now your brother has died without having disposed of his property.  But my lawyer tells me that, as his sole heiress, I can claim his share of the inheritance.  To arrange about this I have come here to Dover; for I found that I could only get the letter forwarded to Antwerp with the assistance of Admiral Hollway, who is charged with the protection of our coast.  To my surprise the Admiral informed me that your name was known to him, and he willingly undertook to forward this letter to you.  Now please consent to uncle Godfrey’s property being divided between you and me.  I do not believe you will have any objection, but I consider it a duty to obtain your definite consent.  I shall be glad to hear from you that you are well.

“Yours truly,

“Edith Irwin.

“P.S.—­In India I made the acquaintance of a German officer who rendered me great service during the terrible times of the war and saved my life more than once.  He travelled with the Kennedys and myself on the Caledonia to Naples.  From there he went on to Berlin, while we continued our voyage on a man-of-war through the Straits of Gibraltar to Southampton.  This officer is a Captain Heideck of the Prussian General Staff.  I should be thankful to you if you would find out where he is at present.  I am very anxious to know his address.  For a time I am staying in Dover.  Letters addressed to Mrs. Jones, 7, St. Paul’s Street, will reach me.”