It had never reached his hands, but lay in a pocket of the dead woman's writing-portfolio, which Hylda had explored without discovering.

Only a few hours, however, before the Duchess of Snowdon came, Hylda had found again an empty envelope on which was written the name, James Fetherdon.

The writing on the envelope was that of Sybil Lady Eglington.
When she discovered the envelope, a sense of mystery and premonition possessed her.

What was the association between the Countess of Eglington and James Fetherdon, the father of David Claridge?
In vain she searched among the voluminous letters and papers, for it would seem that the dead woman had saved every letter she received, and kept copies of numberless letters she had written.

But she had searched without avail.
Even the diaries, curiously frank and without reserve, never mentioned the name, so far as she could find, though here and there were strange allusive references, hints of a trouble that weighed her down, phrases of exasperation and defiance.