'Quite by chance I passed the house three days later on my way to a book binder in Clipstone Street. Do you know the neighbourhood, Mis Lamb? It is not antique, but it is interesting. I had as yet no real intention of visiting her, but I must admit that I had been a good deal intrigued by her. I glanced into the ground floor window and, on a long table, what did I see but heaps of papers and rolls of manuscripts! There were files and boxes on the table, also, together with other documents that had been tied with string or tape. So she had been speaking no less than the truth about her husbands papers. I did not hesitate, but on an instinct climbed the steps and rang the bell; to my suprise, she answered the door herself. ''I hoped that you would come, Mr Ireland. I have been waiting for you.''
She took me into the ground-floor room that had the papers. I could see a long and narrow garden at the back, where there was one of those follies in the form of a rock pool. They have become quite a fashion.'

'The Lambs of London - A NOVEL' by Peter Acrkroyd
Found by Sarah, and posted under Shakespeare quote. Thank you!