He was evidently anxious to oblige me, and accepted my explanation of my business in perfect good faith.

He conducted me from room to room, waiting patiently while I scrutinised the panelled walls and stared at the attenuated old furniture.

I was determined to observe George Sheldon's advice to the very letter, though I had little hope of making any grand melodramatic discovery in the way of documents hidden in old cabinets, or mouldering behind sliding panels.
I asked the rector if he had ever found papers of any kind in forgotten nooks and corners of the house or the furniture.

His reply was a decided negative.

He had explored and investigated every inch of the old dwelling-place, and had found nothing.
So much for Sheldon's idea.
Mr.Wendover led me from basement to garret, encountering bouncing daughters and boys in brown holland wherever we went; and from basement to garret I found that all was barren.