Saffron; in his right hand he grasped a scepter, obviously a theatrical
"property," but a handsome one, of black wood with gilt ornamentation;
his left arm he held close against his side. His eyes were turned up
towards the room; his lips were moving as though he were talking, but no
sound came.
Such was Doctor Mary's first impression of the scene; but the next moment
she took in another feature of it, not less remarkable. To the left of
the throne, to her right as she stood in the doorway facing it, there was
a fireplace; an empty grate, though the night was cold. Immediately in
front of it was, unmistakably, the excavation in the floor which Mr.
Penrose had described at the Christmas dinner-party at Old Place--six
feet in length by three in breadth, and about four feet deep. Against the
wall, close by, stood a sheet of cast iron, which evidently served to
cover and conceal the aperture; by it was thrown down, in careless
disorder, a strip of the same dull red baize as covered the rest of the
floor of the Tower. By the side of the sheet and the piece of carpet
there was an old brown leather bag.
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