"You are right," I said. "I don't know where to look for them any more than the dead do." Then the conversation went on to other things.

"And now," he said at last, "tell me about London and of the house which you have procured for me." I apologised for not doing this earlier and I went into my own room to get the legal papers from my bag. Whilst I was placing them in order I heard a rattling of china and silver in the next room. When I came back I noticed that the table had been cleared and the lamp lit, for it was by now deep into the dark. The lamps were also lit in the library. There I found the Count lying on the sofa, reading, of all the things in the world, an English Bradshaw's Guide. When I came in he cleared the books and papers from the table, and together we read through plans and deeds and figures of all sorts. He was interested in everything, and asked me a myriad questions about the house and the area around it. He clearly had studied all he could find out about the neighbourhood, for he evidently knew very much more than I did. When I remarked on this, he answered.

Vocabulary:

Procure: Obtain, get
Rattle: Hard things banging quickly together
Bradshaw's Guide: A railway timetable
Deeds: Legal documents of ownership
Myriad: Ten thousand
Evidently: Obviously