'
'Then I shall give myself up to you. I killed the butler.'
'Oh, impossible, my lord!'
'No, it isn't. The beast, as I called him, was getting old, and one
morning he forgot to close the door behind him. I followed him
stealthily out, and at the head of the stair planted my foot in the
small of his back, which sent him headlong. There was an infernal
crash. I did not mean to kill the brute, but merely to escape, and
just as I was about to run down the stairway, I was appalled to see my
father looking like--looking like--well, I won't attempt to say what
he looked like; but all my old fear of him returned. As he strode
towards me, along the corridor, I was in such terror that I jumped
through the secret door and slammed it shut.'
'Where is the secret door?' I asked.
'The secret door is that fireplace. The whole fireplace moves inward
if you push aside the carved ornament at the left-hand corner.'
'Is it a dummy fireplace, then?'
'No, you may build a fire in it, and the smoke will escape up the
chimney. But I killed the butler, constable, though not intending it,
I swear.'
And now the constable shone forth like the real rough diamond he was.
'My lord, we'll say nothing about that.
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