“Shewasn’twhere？“
“Hergracewasn’tinthecarriage，yourgrace。“
“Whatonearthdoyoumean？“
“Hergracedidgetintothecarriage；youshutthedoor，didn’tyou？“
BarnesturnedtoMoysey。Moyseybroughthishanduptohisbrowinasortofmilitarysalute——hehadbeenasoldierintheregimentinwhich，onceuponatime，thedukehadbeenasubaltern。
“Shedid。Theduchesscameoutoftheshop。Sheseemedratherinahurry，Ithought。Shegotintothecarriage，andshesaid，’Home，Moysey！’Ishutthedoor，andBarnesdrovestraighthome。
Weneverstoppedanywhere，andwenevernoticednothinghappenontheway；andyetwhenwegothomethecarriagewasempty。“
Thedukestarted。
“Doyoumeantotellmethattheduchessgotoutofthecarriagewhileyouweredrivingfullpeltthroughthestreetswithoutsayinganythingtoyou，andwithoutyounoticingit？“
“Thecarriagewasemptywhenwegothome，yourgrace。“
“Waseitherofthedoorsopen？“
“No，yourgrace。“
“Youfellowshavebeenuptosomeinfernalmischief。Youhavemadeamessofit。Youneverpickeduptheduchess，andyou’retryingtopalmthistaleoffonmetosaveyourselves。“
Barneswasmovedtoadjuration:
“I’lltakemyBibleoath，yourgrace，thattheduchessgotintothecarriageoutsideCaneandWilson’s。“
Moyseysecondedhiscolleague。
“Iwillsweartothat，yourgrace。Shegotintothatcarriage，andIshutthedoor，andshesaid，’Home，Moysey！’“
Thedukelookedasifhedidnotknowwhattomakeofthestoryanditstellers。
“Whatcarriagedidyouhave？“
“Hergrace’sbrougham，yourgrace。“
Knowlesinterposed:
“ThebroughamwasorderedbecauseIunderstoodthattheduchesswasnotfeelingverywell，andthere’sratherahighwind，yourgrace。“
Thedukesnappedathim:
“Whathasthattodowithit？Areyousuggestingthattheduchesswasmorelikelytojumpoutofabroughamwhileitwasdashingthroughthestreetsthanoutofanyotherkindofvehicle？“
Theduke’sglancefellontheletterwhichKnowleshadbroughthimwhenhefirsthadentered。Hehadplaceditonhiswritingtable。
Nowhetookitup。Itwas，addressed:
“ToHisGracetheDukeofDatchet。
Private！
VERYPRESSING！！！“
Thenamewaswritteninafine，clear，almostfemininehand。Thewordsintheleft-handcorneroftheenvelopewerewritteninadifferenthand。Theywerelargeandbold；almostasthoughtheyhadbeenpaintedwiththeendofthepenholderinsteadofbeingwrittenwiththepen。Theenvelopeitselfwasofanunusualsize，andbulgedoutasthoughitcontainedsomethingelsebesidesaletter。
Theduketoretheenvelopeopen。Ashedidsosomethingfelloutofitontothewritingtable。Itlookedasthoughitwasalockofawoman’shair。Asheglancedatitthedukeseemedtobeatriflestartled。Thedukereadtheletter:
“YourgracewillbesogoodastobringfivehundredpoundsingoldtothePiccadillyendoftheBurlingtonArcadewithinanhourofthereceiptofthis。TheDuchessofDatchethasbeenkidnaped。Animitationduchessgotintothecarriage，whichwaswaitingoutsideCaneandWilson’s，andshealightedontheroad。Unlessyourgracedoesasyouarerequested，theDuchessofDatchet’sleft-handlittlefingerwillbeatoncecutoff，andsenthomeintimetoreceivetheprincetodinner。Otherportionsofhergracewillfollow。Alockofhergrace’shairisinclosedwiththisasanearnestofourgoodintentions。
“BEFORE5:30P。M。yourgraceisrequestedtobeatthePiccadillyendoftheBurlingtonArcadewithfivehundredpoundsingold。Youwilltherebeaccostedbyanindividualinawhitetophat，andwithagardeniainhisbuttonhole。Youwillbeentirelyatlibertytogivehimintocustody，ortohavehimfollowedbythepolice，inwhichcasetheduchess’sleftarm，cutoffattheshoulder，willbesenthomefordinner——nottomentionotherextremelypossiblecontingencies。ButyouareADVISEDtogivetheindividualinquestionthefivehundredpoundsingold，becauseinthatcasetheduchessherselfwillhehomeintimetoreceivetheprincetodinner，andwithoneofthebeststorieswithwhichtoentertainyourdistinguishedgueststheyeverheard。
“Remember！NOTLATERTHAN5:30，unlessyouwishtoreceivehergrace’slittlefinger。“
Thedukestaredatthisamazingepistlewhenhehadreaditasthoughhefounditdifficulttobelievetheevidenceofhiseyes。
Hewasnotademonstrativeperson，asarule，butthislittlecommunicationastonishedevenhim。Hereaditagain。Thenhishandsdroppedtohissides，andheswore。
Hetookupthelockofhairwhichhadfallenoutoftheenvelope。
Wasitpossiblethatitcouldbehiswife’s，theduchess？WasitpossiblethataDuchessofDatchetcouldbekidnaped，inbroaddaylight，intheheartofLondon，andbesenthome，asitwere，inpieces？Hadsacrilegioushandsalreadybeenplayingprankswiththatgreatlady’shair？Certainly，THAThairwassolikeHERhairthatthemereresemblancemadehisgrace’sbloodruncold。HeturnedonMessrs。BarnesandMoyseyasthoughhewouldhavelikedtorendthem。
“Youscoundrels！“
Hemovedforwardasthoughtheintentionhadenteredhisducalhearttoknockhisservantsdown。But，ifthatwereso，hedidnotactquiteuptohisintention。Instead，hestretchedouthisarm，pointingatthemasifhewereanaccusingspirit:
“WillyouswearthatitwastheduchesswhogotintothecarriageoutsideCaneandWilson’s？“
Barnesbegantostammer:
“I’llswear，yourgrace，thatI——Ithought——“
Thedukestormedaninterruption:
“Idon’taskwhatyouthought。Iaskyou，willyouswearitwas？“
Theduke’sangerwasmorethanBarnescouldface。Hewassilent。
Moyseyshowedalargercourage。
“Icouldhaveswornthatitwasatthetime，yourgrace。Butnowitseemstomethatit’sarummygo。“
“Arummygo！“Thepeculiarityofthephrasedidnotseemtostrikethedukejustthen——atleast，heechoeditasifitdidn’t。“Youcallitarummygo！DoyouknowthatIamtoldinthisletterthatthewomanwhoenteredthecarriagewasnottheduchess？Whatyouwerethinkingabout，orwhatcaseyouwillbeabletomakeoutforyourselves，youknowbetterthanI；butIcantellyouthis——thatinanhouryouwillleavemyservice，andyoumayesteemyourselvesfortunateif，to-night，youarenotbothofyousleepinginjail。“
Onemightalmosthavesuspectedthatthewordswerespokeninirony。Butbeforetheycouldanswer，anotherservantentered，whoalsobroughtaletterfortheduke。Whenhisgrace’sglancefellonitheutteredanexclamation。Thewritingontheenvelopewasthesamewritingthathadbeenontheenvelopewhichhadcontainedtheverysingularcommunication——likeitinallrespects，downtothebroomstick-endthicknessofthe“Private！“and“Verypressing！！！“inthecorner。
“Whobroughtthis？“stormedtheduke。
Theservantappearedtobealittlestartledbytheviolenceofhisgrace’smanner。
“Alady——or，atleast，yourgrace，sheseemedtobealady。“
“Whereisshe？“
“Shecameinahansom，yourgrace。Shegavemethatletter，andsaid，’GivethattotheDukeofDatchetatonce——withoutamoment’sdelay！’Thenshegotintothehansomagain，anddroveaway。“
“Whydidn’tyoustopher？“
“Yourgrace！“
Themanseemedsurprised，asthoughtheideaofstoppingchancevisitorstotheducalmansionvietarmishadnot，untilthatmoment，enteredintohisphilosophy。Thedukecontinuedtoregardthemanasifhecouldsayagooddeal，ifhechose。Thenhepointedtothedoor。Hislipssaidnothing，buthisgesturemuch。
Theservantvanished。
“Anotherhoax！“thedukesaidgrimly，ashetoretheenvelopeopen。
Thistimetheenvelopecontainedasheetofpaper，andinthesheetofpaperanotherenvelope。Thedukeunfoldedthesheetofpaper。
Onitsomewordswerewritten。These:
“Theduchessappearssoparticularlyanxioustodropyoualine，thatonereallyhasn’tthehearttorefuseher。
“Hergrace’scommunication——writtenamidstblindingtears！——youwillfindinclosedwiththis。“
“Knowles，“saidtheduke，inavoicewhichactuallytrembled，“Knowles，hoaxornohoax，Iwillbeevenwiththegentlemanwhowrotethat。“
HandingthesheetofpapertoMr。Knowles，hisgraceturnedhisattentiontotheenvelopewhichhadbeeninclosed。Itwasasmall，squareenvelope，ofthefinestquality，anditreekedwithperfume。
Theduke’scountenanceassumedanaddedfrown——hehadnofondnessforenvelopeswhichwerescented。Inthecenteroftheenvelopewerethewords，“TotheDukeofDatchet，“writteninthebig，bold，sprawlinghandwhichheknewsowell。
“Mabel’swriting，“hesaid，halftohimself，as，withshakingfingers，hetoretheenvelopeopen。
Thesheetofpaperwhichhetookoutwasalmostasstiffascardboard。It，too，emittedwhathisgracedeemedthenauseousodorsoftheperfumer’sshop。Onitwaswrittenthisletter:
“MYDEARHEREWARD——ForHeaven’ssakedowhatthesepeoplerequire！
Idon’tknowwhathashappenedorwhereIam，butIamnearlydistracted！Theyhavealreadycutoffsomeofmyhair，andtheytellmethat，ifyoudon’tletthemhavefivehundredpoundsingoldbyhalf-pastfive，theywillcutoffmylittlefingertoo。I
wouldsoonerdiethanlosemylittlefinger——and——Idon’tknowwhatelsebesides。
“BythetokenwhichIsendyou，andwhichhasnever，untilnow，beenoffmybreast，Iconjureyoutohelpme。
“Hereward——HELPME！“
Whenhereadthatlettertheduketurnedwhite——verywhite，aswhiteasthepaperonwhichitwaswritten。HepassedtheepistleontoKnowles。
“Isupposethatalsoisahoax？“
Mr。Knowleswassilent。Hestillyieldedtohisconstitutionaldisrelishtocommithimself。Atlastheasked:
“Whatisitthatyourgraceproposestodo？“
ThedukespokewithabitternesswhichalmostsuggestedapersonalanimositytowardtheinoffensiveMr。Knowles。
“Ipropose，withyourpermission，toreleasetheduchessfromthecustodyofmyestimablecorrespondent。Ipropose——alwayswithyourpermission——tocomplywithhismodestrequest，andtotakehimhisfivehundredpoundsingold。“Hepaused，thencontinuedinatonewhich，comingfromhim，meantvolumes:“Afterwards，Iproposetocryquitswiththeconcocterofthisprettylittlehoax，evenifitcostsmeeverypennyIpossess。Heshallpaymoreforthatfivehundredpoundsthanhesupposes。“