Propped up against the wall beside it there was the black bag that he had been carrying last night.
There was no need to look to see what it contained.
She then picked the black bag up and, going back into Mrs. Morgan’s room, she opened the door that she had locked.
There was no one in sight and yet she could hear some servants or it might be guests talking in a room two or three doors away.
Quietly she closed the door and then she ran down the passage and down the staircase and on to the library.
She had the key in her pocket and pulled it out.
When she entered, the curtains were drawn and it would have been impossible to get in even if the servants had tried to open up the room.
The copy of Holbein’s portrait lay just as the Earl had left it.
It took her only a few seconds to tak
