49 Ellesmere Square is the London home associated with Lady Hesketh-Dubois, whose death connects the address to both Mark Easterbrook’s family history and Dr Corrigan’s investigations. The house first enters the story as a name and number in a telephone directory; later, it becomes the place where Mark collects three watercolors left to him under her will and meets Corrigan by chance on the doorstep.

Identity and First Appearance

Dr Corrigan finds the address while searching the directory for Lady Hesketh-Dubois. The listing gives the full form of her name and identifies the house as number forty-nine, Ellesmere Square, S.W.1. Until then, Corrigan has been considering names associated with the inquiry; the directory turns that process into a practical lead, prompting him to propose calling the house.

The number is confirmed when Corrigan telephones. A woman answers with a number, and Corrigan checks that he has reached Lady Hesketh-Dubois’s house. The exchange establishes 49 Ellesmere Square as an active point of contact, even though the person at the other end initially sounds uncertain. Corrigan disregards that hesitation and continues with the call.

Mark’s Connection to the House

The address acquires a personal significance for Mark when Mr Soames White, a solicitor, telephones about Lady Hesketh-Dubois’s will. Mark is entitled to choose three of her pictures. The bequest is modest in financial terms, as the solicitor makes clear, but it establishes that Mark knew the deceased and had previously admired some of her paintings. Mark identifies her Indian-scene watercolors as the pictures he liked.

Mark then goes to 49 Ellesmere Square to collect his choice. He leaves the house carrying all three watercolors under his arm, making the pictures tangible evidence of his connection to its former occupant. The visit is not presented as an investigative expedition: it follows from the arrangement under the will. That ordinary errand, however, places Mark at the same address toward which Corrigan’s inquiry has already led him.

A Meeting on the Doorstep

As Mark comes out of the house, he collides with someone ascending the steps. After they exchange apologies, he recognizes Corrigan and turns back to address him. The encounter brings together two separate approaches to Lady Hesketh-Dubois: Mark’s inheritance and Corrigan’s wish to learn more about her. Corrigan explains that he had hoped to find out something about the deceased and had expected to speak only to a caretaker; Mark replies that he can offer more, since Lady Hesketh-Dubois was his godmother.

The house therefore functions as a point of convergence rather than merely a residential setting. Corrigan’s directory search and telephone call lead toward it; the solicitor’s message brings Mark there for the watercolors; and their accidental meeting turns the visit into an opportunity to compare what each knows. The narrative gives the address significance through these linked actions, without supplying architectural description: its importance lies in who is connected to it and what the meeting makes possible.