He took it up carelessly and opened it; his
carelessness soon vanished. The message was from Mlle. Girond, and it
was in French:
"DEAR MR. MOORE,--To-day Mrs. Grey and I have called twice at your
apartments, but in vain, and now I leave this letter for you. It is
frightful, what has happened. Nina has gone, no one knows where; we
can hear nothing of her. This morning when I came down to her room
she was gone; there was a letter for me, one for Mr. Lehmann, one
for Miss Constance, asking her to be ready to sing to-morrow night,
another for Mrs. Grey, with money for the apartments until the end
of the month, and also there was this little packet for you. In her
letter to me she asks me to see them all delivered. During the
night she must have made these arrangements; in the morning she is
gone! I am in despair; I know not what to do. Will you have the
goodness to come down to-morrow as soon as possible?
"ESTELLE."
And then mechanically he drew a chair to the table, and sat down and
pulled the small package towards him; perhaps the contents might help to
explain this extraordinary thing that had occurred.
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