Read "The Shadow of the Dead Hand" by Fred M. White online for free on Textopian. Full text with search, annotations, highlights, and AI-powered reading aids.
Alcie, listening half-dazedly to what the earl was saying, struggled to believe the evidence of her senses. The whole thing was so strangely inexplicable, so sudden and unexpected. An hour or two ago and she had regarded that unfortunate father of hers as being beyond reach of trouble and now here was a second individual who quietly told her, and seemed to take it for granted, that Rupert Glynn was still in the flesh. Moreover, the earl was assuring her that before 24 hours had elapsed she would find herself face to face with the man she had mourned so truly.
"But I don't understand," she gasped. "Oh, what does it all mean? And who is this Mr. Wren who comes out of nowhere and tells me that my father is still alive? I had never heard of him till this evening, but, all the same, I have no fear. Don't you think you could tell me just a little more?"