Trifling as they might be in themselves, these particulars were of
serious importance to Magdalen, for they helped her to fix the limits
of the field of search. Assuming that the admiral was likely to keep all
his important documents within easy reach of his own hand, she might now
feel certain that the Secret Trust was secured in one or other of the
rooms in the north wing.
In which room? That question was not easy to answer.
Of the four inhabitable rooms which were all at the admiral's disposal
during the day--that is to say, of the dining-room, the library, the
morning-room, and the drawing-room opening out of the vestibule--the
library appeared to be the apartment in which, if he had a preference,
he passed the greater part of his time. There was a table in this room,
with drawers that locked; there was a magnificent Italian cabinet, with
doors that locked; there were five cupboards under the book-cases, every
one of which locked. There were receptacles similarly secured in the
other rooms; and in all or any of these papers might be kept.
She had answered the bell, and had seen him locking and unlocking,
now in one room, now in another, but oftenest in the library.
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