No trace could be found of the fugitives, and now, on Thursday morning, we are as ignorant as we were on Tuesday. Inquiry was, of course, made at once at Holdernesse Hall. It is only a few miles away, and we imagined that, in some sudden attack of homesickness, he had gone back to his father, but nothing had been heard of him. The Duke is greatly agitated, and, as to me, you have seen yourselves the state of nervous prostration to which the suspense and the responsibility have reduced me. Mr. Holmes, if ever you put forward your full powers, I implore you to do so now, for never in your life could you have a case which is more worthy of them.”
Sherlock Holmes had listened with the utmost intentness to the statement of the unhappy schoolmaster.
His drawn brows and the deep furrow between them showed that he needed no exhortation to concentrate all his attention upon a problem which, apart from the tremendous interests involved must appeal so directly to his love of the complex and the unusual.
He now drew out his notebook and jotted down one or two memoranda.
—Ha sido usted muy negligente al no venir a verme antes —dijo con severidad—. Me pone usted en marcha en mi investigación con una desventaja muy grave. Es inconcebible, por ejemplo, que esta hiedra y este césped no le hubieran aportado nada a un observador experto.
—Yo no tengo la culpa, mister Holmes. Su Gracia tenía un gran deseo de evitar todo escándalo público. Temía que la desdicha de su familia fuera aireada ante el mundo. Siente un profundo horror por cualquier cosa de ese estilo.
“Pero ¿ha habido alguna investigación oficial?”