“Some months ago a young lady was brought to England and placed at a ladies’ college at Cheltenham,” the minister went on, consulting the papers in his hand. “Her name was Signorina Contini. She was about eighteen years old, was sent here nominally to learn English—really to get her out of the way. I have not seen her, but I am told she is beautiful, which is possibly true since she appears to be a most disturbing influence in the minds of several people. A week ago she disappeared, and she has got to be found.”