Then he rose,
and his piercing eyes looked up at the colonel, who stood a good
head taller than himself.
"Is this the evidence of which you spoke?"
"By no means," was the answer. "The evidence I have secured is
much more palpable. I have it here." He produced a little wallet of
red morocco bearing the initial "S " surmounted by a coronet.
Opening it, he selected from it some papers, speaking the while.
"I thought it as well before I left last night to make an examination
of the body. This is what I found, and it contains, among other
lesser documents, these to which I would draw your lordship's
attention. First this." And he placed in Lord Wellington's hand a
holograph note from the Prince of Esslingen introducing the bearer,
M. de la Fleche, his confidential agent, who would consult with the
Count, and thanking the Count for the valuable information already
received from him.
His lordship sat down again to read the letter. "It is a full
confirmation of what you have told me," he said calmly.
"Then this," said Colonel Grant, and he placed upon the table a
note in French of the approximate number and disposition of the
British troops in Portugal at the time. "The handwriting is
Samoval's own, as those who know it will have no difficulty in
discerning.
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