Behind the bronze door

“Here it is; read that!” and handing her husband the _Evening Herald_ Mrs. Hartsilver indicated with her finger a paragraph in the “stoppress” headed: “Another Society Tragedy,”...

Jackson, the maid, went downstairs with a look of mild amusement in her eyes. She had been in the Hartsilvers’ service two years, and was fond of expressing her opinion to the o...

During the nine months which had passed since Henry Hartsilver had been found dead in his bath, many things had happened. The war was over, and people were already beginning to...

Though Archie La Planta had met Cora Hartsilver frequently since the Armistice, he did not know her intimately, and had therefore been rather surprised at her asking him to dine...

A tall, slim man of aristocratic appearance, dressed in a tweed suit and with his hat on, stood at the head of the stairs. He had a walking-stick in his right hand, in his left...

Though Yootha Hagerston had now inherited the little fortune left to her by her aunt, she had not thought it necessary to change her mode of living, or even to move from her fla...

Jessica Mervyn-Robertson was a remarkable woman. Tall, with a wonderful figure, she looked even taller than she actually was owing to her splendid bearing. Graceful in her every...

It was past four in the morning when Aloysius Stapleton got back to his flat in Sandringham Mansions, Maida Vale. After remaining with La Planta nearly an hour, he had gone back...

Though several weeks had passed, no trace had been discovered of Mrs. Mervyn-Robertson’s missing property. For reasons of her own she had prevented any mention of the robbery be...

“Fifty pounds easily earned,” Hopford murmured as he strolled along Maida Vale, looking about him for a taxi. “I thought all along that fellow was hot stuff, in spite of the way...

You would think, judging by the newspapers, that the great balls which take place periodically in London at the Albert Hall and elsewhere presented scenes of wild delight approa...

Meanwhile Yootha Hagerston was secretly becoming more and more enamored of Captain Preston. It was the first time in her life she had ever really cared for any man; until now sh...

Of all the balls that have been given at Albert Hall within the past ten or twelve years, none has approached in its splendor, or in the luxury of its appointment and setting “t...

“Why can’t you men keep sober?” she said, only partly in jest. They remained watching Levi and those assisting him until the group passed out of the box and was lost to sight.

During the week which followed the papers gave special prominence to two items of news which interested their readers greatly. One was the strange death of Levi Schomberg, with...

Captain Preston, an old blue, had made a point of attending the historic regatta ever since he had been at school; then had come a gap, due to the war, and then the regatta had...

But when an hour had passed, and still Preston did not return, he went outside and scanned the river with his master’s field-glasses. It was past seven, and he had dinner nearly...

There had been several rather startling suicides during the season which was now ending, of men and women of social standing, and in every case the usual verdict had been return...

Alix Stothert, the mysterious manager of the Metropolitan Secret Agency, lived in the house with the bronze face, on the top floor, and so did his partner, the woman known as Ma...

Preston had impatiently awaited the result of La Planta’s cross-examination, and the verdict disappointed him. For secretly he felt convinced still that even if the young man ha...

The re-opening of the Casino at Dieppe in 1919 was the signal, as some may remember, for an outbreak of gambling for very high stakes. This was attributed partly to the natural...

She was addressing Yootha, begging her to let her take the place of the aunt who had been detained at the eleventh hour, and act as her chaperone during Yootha’s stay at Dieppe.

While the events described in the preceding chapter were taking place in Dieppe, Cora Hartsilver was visiting friends who had a place in Jersey, near Gorey. They were people she...

Doctor Johnson’s optimism and words of encouragement set Cora’s mind at rest to some extent, but she still felt anxious. She did not expect to be back in England for several wee...

Paris has greatly changed since the war. The _bonhomie_ of the boulevards, so marked a feature before the year 1914, has subsided a good deal. The inhabitants, considered collec...

Perhaps one of the chief attractions of Jersey is that even during July, August and September, when most seaside resorts in England are so crowded with excursionists that anythi...

George Blenkiron wrote in his usual breezy style, and much of the news in his letter interested Johnson greatly, in view of what Hopford and Preston had told him, also in view o...

When Yootha awoke next morning, her head was aching badly. She had only a confused recollection of the events of the previous night, and the more she tried to remember exactly w...

“I am in great trouble. Can you possibly come to me? I am alone here and ill in bed. Jessica and the others have left Monte Carlo. Do please telegraph a reply as soon as this re...

London was now almost full again, after its two months of social stagnation, for October was close at hand. Already announcements were appearing in the newspapers of balls and d...

The two-column article which appeared in only one London morning newspaper created a profound sensation. Quoted in part in the evening newspapers throughout the country, it beca...