"
"Ah!" the King said slowly, with a change of countenance and a
shudder which he could not repress; "and there was milk on the
floor in the morning."
"Yes, sire; on the floor, and beside the head of your bed."
But at this stage I was attacked by a fit of illness so severe
that I had to break in on the discussion, and beg the King to
withdraw. The sickness increased on me during the day, and by
noon I was prostrate, neither taking interest in anything, nor
allowing others, who began to fear for my life, to divert their
attention. After twenty-four hours I began to mend, but still
several days elapsed before I was able to devote myself to
business; and then I found that, the master-mind being absent,
and the King, as always, lukewarm in the pursuit, nothing had
been done to detect and punish the criminal.
I could not rest easy, however, with so abominable a suspicion
attaching to my house; and as soon as I could bend my mind to the
matter I began an inquiry. At the first stage, however, I came
to an IMPASSE; the butler, who had been long in my service,
cleared himself without difficulty, but a few questions
discovered the fact that a person who had been in his department
on the evening in question was now to seek, having indeed
disappeared from that time.
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