The Lindsays, Volume III by John K. Leys

It may easily be believed that Alec Lindsay passed a sleepless night after his visitor left him. In the early morning he sent for a cab, and drove through a choking fog to Theobald's Road.

An old woman, sweeping out the rooms and lighting the fires, was the only person in the office. Alec ran to his own room, and with feverish haste began opening drawers, and tossing about their contents, turning over bundles of old drafts, and peering behind the rows of books on the bookshelves. The draft he sought for was nowhere to be found. Then he began a more systematic search, going carefully over the whole ground again. Of course it was all in vain.