'But
Elsie knows I am very proud of my family. My family's long
history is very important to me. She would never do anything to
upset me. Perhaps that's the reason she's afraid to tell me her
troubles.'
'Please
go
on,'
said Holmes.
'Well,'
continued Mr Cubitt,
'yesterday
morning, a strange
thing happened. I found this piece of paper lying on the
sundial
20
in the garden. At first, I thought it was a child's drawing.
'But
when I showed the paper to Elsie, she fainted. Since then,
she has seemed like someone in a dream, and there is terror in
her eyes.
'I
didn't know what to do. If I took the paper to the police,
they would laugh at me. So I came to you. Mr Holmes, please
help me. I'm not rich, but I'll spend all my money to protect my
wife from
danger.'
I was sorry for Mr Cubitt. He was a good man and I saw that he
loved his wife very much.
Holmes did not speak for some time.
'Mr
Cubitt, don't you
think,'
he said at last,
'you
should ask
your wife to tell you
everything.
7
'
'But
I promised Elsie I would never ask her about her
past,'
replied Hilton Cubitt.
'If
she wants to tell me something, she will.
But I will not ask her to tell
me.'