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+The Project Gutenberg eBook of The Castlecourt Diamond Mystery, by Geraldine
+Bonner
+
+This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere in the United States and
+most other parts of the world at no cost and with almost no restrictions
+whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or re-use it under the terms
+of the Project Gutenberg License included with this eBook or online at
+www.gutenberg.org. If you are not located in the United States, you will
+have to check the laws of the country where you are located before using
+this eBook.
+
+Title: The Castlecourt Diamond Mystery
+       Being a Compilation of the Statements Made by the Various Participants in This
+       Curious Case Now, For the First Time, Given to the Public
+
+Author: Geraldine Bonner
+
+Illustrator: Harrie F. Stoner
+
+Release Date: Mar 27, 2021 [eBook #64934]
+Most recently updated: June 30, 2022
+
+Language: English
+
+Produced by: D A Alexander, David E. Brown, and the Online Distributed
+             Proofreading Team at https://www.pgdp.net (This file was
+             produced from images generously made available by The
+             Internet Archive)
+
+*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE CASTLECOURT DIAMOND MYSTERY ***
+
+
+
+
+
+  THE CASTLECOURT
+  DIAMOND CASE
+
+
+[Illustration: _SHE MADE A SORT OF GRASP AT THE CASE_  [Page 30]
+
+
+
+
+  The Castlecourt
+  Diamond Case
+
+  BEING A COMPILATION OF THE STATEMENTS
+  MADE BY THE VARIOUS PARTICIPANTS IN
+  THIS CURIOUS CASE NOW, FOR THE FIRST
+  TIME, GIVEN TO THE PUBLIC :: :: ::
+
+  _By_
+
+  GERALDINE BONNER
+
+  _Author of “Hard Pan,” “The Pioneers,” etc._
+
+  _FRONTISPIECE ILLUSTRATION_
+
+  BY
+
+  HARRIE F. STONER
+
+  [Illustration]
+
+  FUNK & WAGNALLS COMPANY
+  NEW YORK AND LONDON
+  1906
+
+
+
+
+  COPYRIGHT, 1905
+  BY
+  GERALDINE BONNER
+
+  [_Printed in the United States of America_]
+  Published, December, 1905
+
+
+
+
+CONTENTS
+
+
+  Statement of Sophy Jeffers, lady’s maid
+    to the Marchioness of Castlecourt                   9
+
+  Statement of Lilly Bingham, known in
+    England as Laura Brice, in the
+    United States as Frances Latimer,
+    to the police of both countries as
+    Laura the Lady, besides having recently
+    figured as a housemaid at
+    Burridge’s Hotel, London, under
+    the alias of Sara Dwight                           47
+
+  Statement of Cassius P. Kennedy, formerly
+    of Necropolis City, Ohio, now
+    Manager of the London Branch of
+    the Colonial Box, Tub, and Cordage
+    Company (Ltd.) of Chicago and St.
+    Louis                                              95
+
+  Statement of John Burns Gilsey, private
+    detective, especially engaged on the
+    Castlecourt diamond case      127
+
+  The Statement of Daisy K. Fairweather
+    Kennedy, late of Necropolis City,
+    Ohio, at present a resident of 15
+    Farley Street, Knightsbridge, London              157
+
+  Statement of Gladys, Marchioness of
+    Castlecourt                                       189
+
+
+
+
+Statement of Sophy Jeffers, lady’s maid to the Marchioness of
+Castlecourt.
+
+
+
+
+Statement of Sophy Jeffers, lady’s maid to the Marchioness of
+Castlecourt.
+
+
+I had been in Lady Castlecourt’s service two years when the Castlecourt
+diamonds were stolen. I am not going to give an account of how I was
+suspected and cleared. That’s not the part of the story I’m here to set
+down. It’s about the disappearance of the diamonds that I’m to tell,
+and I’m ready to do it to the best of my ability.
+
+We were in London, at Burridge’s Hotel, for the season. Lord
+Castlecourt’s town house at Grosvenor Gate was let to some rich
+Americans, and for two years now we had stayed at Burridge’s. It was
+the third of April when we came to town--my lord, my lady, Chawlmers
+(my lord’s man), and myself. The children had been sent to my lord’s
+aunt, Lady Mary Cranbury--she who’s unmarried, and lives at Cranbury
+Castle, near Worcester.
+
+Lord Castlecourt didn’t like going to the hotel at all. Chawlmers used
+to tell me how he’d talk sometimes. Chawlmers has been with my lord ten
+years, and was born on the estate of Castlecourt Marsh Manor. But my
+lord generally did what my lady wanted, and she was not at all partial
+to the country. She’d say to me--she was always full of her jokes:
+
+“Yes, it’s an excellent place, the country--an excellent place to get
+away from, Jeffers. And the farther away you get the more excellent it
+seems.”
+
+My lady had been born in Ireland, and lived there till she was a woman
+grown. It’s not for me to comment on my betters, but I’ve heard it said
+she didn’t have a decent frock to her back till old Lady Bundy took
+her up and brought her to London. Her father was a clergyman, the Rev.
+McCarren Duffy, of County Clare, and they do say he hadn’t a penny to
+his fortune, and that my lady ran wild in cotton frocks and with holes
+in her stockings till Lady Bundy saw her. I’ve heard tell that Lady
+Bundy said of her she’d be the most beautiful woman in London since
+the Gunnings (whoever they were), and just brought her up to town and
+fitted her out from top to toe. In a month she was the talk of the
+season, and before it was over she was betrothed to the Marquis of
+Castlecourt, who was a great match for her.
+
+But she was the beggar on horseback you hear people talk about. Lord
+Castlecourt wasn’t what would be called a millionaire, but he gave her
+more in a month than she’d had before in five years, and she’d spend
+it all and want more. It seemed as if she didn’t know the value of
+money. If she’d see a pretty thing in a shop she’d buy it, and if she
+had not got the ready money they’d give her the credit; for, being the
+Marchioness of Castlecourt, all the shop people were on their knees to
+her, they were that anxious to get her patronage. Then when the bills
+would come in she would be quite surprised and wonder how she had come
+to spend so much, and hide them from Lord Castlecourt. Afterward she’d
+forget all about them, even where she’d put them.
+
+Lord Castlecourt was so fond of her he’d have forgiven her anything.
+They’d been married five years when I entered my lady’s service, and he
+was as much in love with her as if he’d been married but a month. And
+I don’t blame him. She was the prettiest lady, and the most coaxing,
+I ever laid eyes on. She might well be Irish: there was blarney on
+her tongue for all the world, and money ready to drop off the ends of
+her fingers into any palm that was held out. There was no story of
+misfortune but would bring the tears to her eyes and her purse to her
+hand: generous and soft hearted she was to every creature that walked.
+No one could be angry with her long. I’ve seen Lord Castlecourt begin
+to scold her, and end by laughing at her and kissing her. Not but what
+she respected him and loved him. She did both, and she was afraid of
+him too. No one knew better than my lady when it was time to stop
+trifling with my lord and be serious.
+
+It was Lord Castlecourt’s custom to go to Paris two or three times
+every year. He had a sister married there of whom he was very fond, and
+he and her husband would go off shooting boars to a place with a name
+I can’t remember. My lady was always happy to go to Paris. She’d say
+she loved it, and the theaters, and the shops--tho what she could see
+in it _I_ never understood. A dirty, messy city, and full of men ready
+to ogle an honest, Christian woman, as if she was what half the women
+look like that go prancing along the streets. My lady spent a good
+deal of her time at the dressmakers, and she and I were forever going
+up to top stories in little, silly lifts that go up of themselves. I’d
+a great deal rather have walked than trusted myself to such unsafe,
+French contrivances--underhand, dangerous things, that might burst at
+any moment, _I_ say.
+
+The year before the time I am writing of we went to Paris, as usual, in
+March. We stopped at the Bristol, and stayed one month. My lady went
+out a great deal, and between-whiles was, as usual, at what they call
+there “_couturières’_,” at the jewelers’, or the shops on the Rue de la
+Paix. She also bought from Bolkonsky, the furrier, a very smart jacket
+of Russian sable that I’ll be bound cost a pretty penny. When we went
+back to London for the season her beauty and her costumes were the
+talk of the town. Old Lady Bundy’s maid told me that Lady Bundy went
+about saying: “And but for me, she’d be the mother of the red-headed
+larrykins of an Irish squireen!” Which didn’t seem to me nice talk for
+a lady.
+
+We spent that summer at Castlecourt Marsh Manor very quietly, as was my
+lord’s wish. My lady did not seem in as good spirits as usual, which I
+set down to the country life that she always said bored her. Once or
+twice she told me that she felt ill, which I’d never known her to say
+before, and one day in the late summer I discovered her in tears. She
+did not seem to be herself again till we went to Paris in September.
+Then she brightened up, and was soon in higher spirits than ever. She
+was on the go continually--often would go out for lunch, and not be
+back till it was time to dress for dinner. She enjoyed herself in Paris
+very much, she told me. And I think she did, for I never saw her more
+animated--almost excited with high spirits and success.
+
+The following spring we left Castlecourt Marsh Manor, and, as I said
+before, came to Burridge’s on April the third. The season was soon
+in full swing, and my lady was going out morning, noon, and night.
+There was no end to it, and I was worn out. When she was away in the
+afternoon I’d take forty winks on the sofa, and have Sara Dwight, the
+housemaid of our rooms, bring me a cup of tea, when she’d sometimes
+take one herself, and we’d gossip a bit over it.
+
+If I’d known what an important person Sara Dwight was going to turn out
+I’d have taken more notice of her. But, unfortunately, thieves don’t
+have a mark on their brow like Cain, and Sara was the last girl any one
+would have suspected was dishonest. All that I ever thought about her
+was that she was a neat, civil-spoken girl, who knew her betters and
+her elders when she saw them. She was quick on her feet, modest and
+well-mannered--not what you’d call good-looking: too pale and small for
+my taste, and Chawlmers quite agreed with me. The one thing I noticed
+about her were her hands, which were white and fine like a lady’s. Once
+when I asked her how she kept them so well, she laughed, and said, not
+having a pretty face, she tried to have pretty hands.
+
+“Because a girl ought to have something pretty about her, oughtn’t she,
+Miss Jeffers?” she said to me, quiet and respectful as could be.
+
+I answered, as I thought it was my duty, that beauty was only skin
+deep, and if your character was honest your face would take care of
+itself.
+
+She looked down at her hands, and smiled a little and said:
+
+“Yes, I suppose that’s true, Miss Jeffers. I’ll try to remember it.
+It’s what every girl ought to feel, I’m sure.”
+
+Sara Dwight had the greatest admiration for Lady Castlecourt. She’d
+manage to be standing about in doorways and on the stairs when my lady
+passed down to go to dinner and to the opera. Then she’d come back
+and tell me how beautiful my lady was, and how she envied me being
+her maid. While she was talking she’d help me tidy up the room, and
+sometimes--because she admired my lady so--I’d let her look at the new
+clothes from Paris as they hung in the wardrobe. Sara would gape with
+admiration over them. She spoke a little about my lady’s jewels, but
+not much. I’d have suspected that.
+
+It was in the fifth week after we came to town--to be exact, on the
+afternoon of the fourth day of May--that the diamonds were stolen. As
+I’d been so badgered and questioned and tormented about it, I’ve got it
+all as clear in my head as a photograph--just how it was and just what
+time everything happened.
+
+That evening my lady was going to dinner at the Duke of Duxbury’s. It
+was to be a great dinner--a prince and a prime minister, and I don’t
+know what all besides. My lady was to wear a new gown from Paris and
+the diamonds. She told me when she went out what she would want and
+when she would be back. That was at four, and I was not to expect her
+in till after six.
+
+Some time before that I got her things ready, the gown laid out, and
+the diamonds on the dressing-table. They were kept in a leather case
+of their own, and then put in a despatch-box that shut with a patent
+lock. When we traveled I always carried this box--that is, when my
+lady used it. A good deal of the time it was at the bankers’. Lord
+Castlecourt was very choice about the diamonds. Some of them had been
+in his family for generations. The way they were set now--in a necklace
+with pendants, the larger stones surrounded by smaller ones--had been
+a new setting made for his mother. My lady wanted them changed, and I
+remember that Lord Castlecourt was vexed with her, and she couldn’t
+pet and coax him back into a good humor for some days.
+
+One of the last things that I did that afternoon while arranging the
+dressing-table was to open the despatch-box and take the leather case
+out. Tho it was May, and the evenings were very long, I turned on the
+electric lights, and, unclasping the case, looked at the necklace.
+
+I was standing this way when Chawlmers comes to the side door of the
+room (the whole suite was connected with doors), and asks me if I
+could remember the number of the bootmakers where my lady bought her
+riding-boots. Some friend of Chawlmers wanted to know the address. I
+couldn’t at first remember it, and I was standing this way, trying
+to recollect, when I heard the clock strike six. I told Chawlmers I’d
+get it for him. I was certain it was in my lady’s desk, and I put the
+case down on the bureau, and Chawlmers and I together went into the
+sitting-room (the door open between us and my lady’s room) and looked
+for it. We found it in a minute, and Chawlmers was writing it down in
+his pocket-book when I thought I heard (so light and soft you could
+hardly say you’d heard anything) a rustle like a woman’s skirt in the
+next room. For a second I thought it was my lady, and I jumped, for I’d
+no business at her desk, and I knew she’d be vexed and scold me.
+
+Chawlmers didn’t hear a thing, and looked at me astonished. Then I ran
+to the door and peeped in. There was no one there, and I thought, of
+course, I’d been mistaken.
+
+We didn’t leave the room directly, but stood by the desk talking for
+a bit. When I told this to the detectives, one of the papers said it
+showed “how deceptive even the best servants were.” As if a valet and
+a lady’s maid couldn’t stop for a moment of talk! Poor things! we
+work hard enough most of the time, I’m sure. And that we weren’t long
+standing there idle can be seen from the fact that I heard half-past
+six strike. I was for urging Chawlmers to go then--as Lady Castlecourt
+might be in at any moment--but he hung about, following me into my
+lady’s room, helping me draw the curtains and turn on all the lights,
+for my lady can’t bear to dress by daylight.
+
+It was nearly seven o’clock when we heard the sound of her skirts in
+the passage. Chawlmers slipped off into his master’s rooms, shutting
+the door quietly behind him. My lady was looking very beautiful. She
+had on a blue hat trimmed with blue and gray hydrangeas, and underneath
+it her hair was like spun gold, and her eyes looked soft and dark.
+It never seemed to tire her to be always on the go. But I’d thought
+lately she’d been going too much, for sometimes she was pale, and once
+or twice I thought she was out of spirits--the way she’d been in the
+country last summer.
+
+She seemed so to-night, not talking as much as usual. There were
+some letters for her on the corner of the dressing-table, and I could
+see her face in the glass as she read them. One made her smile, and
+then she sat thinking and biting her lip, which was as red as a
+cherry. She seemed to me to be preoccupied. When I was making the side
+“_ondulations_” of her hair--which everybody knows is a most critical
+operation--she jerked her head, and said suddenly she wondered how the
+children were. I never before knew my lady to think about the children
+when her hair was being attended to.
+
+She was sitting in front of the dressing-table, her toilet complete,
+when she stretched out her hand to the leather case of the diamonds.
+I was looking at the reflection in the mirror, thinking that she was
+as perfect as I could make her. She, too, had been looking at the back
+of her head, and still held the small glass in one hand. The other
+she reached out for the diamonds. The case had a catch that you had
+to press, and I saw, to my surprise, that she raised the lid without
+pressing this. Then she gave a loud exclamation. There were no diamonds
+there!
+
+She turned round and looked at me, and said:
+
+“How odd! Where are they, Jeffers?”
+
+I felt suddenly as if I was going to fall dead, and afterward, when
+my lady stood by me and said it was nonsense to suspect me, one of
+the things she brought up as a proof of my innocence was the color I
+turned and the way I looked at that moment.
+
+“Jeffers!” she said, suddenly rising up quick out of her chair. And
+then, without my saying a word, she went white and stood staring at me.
+
+“My lady, my lady,” was all I could falter out, “I don’t know--I don’t
+know!”
+
+“Where are they, Jeffers? What’s happened to them?”
+
+My voice was all husky like a person’s with a cold, as I stammered:
+
+“They were in the case an hour ago.”
+
+My lady caught me by the arm, and her fingers gripped tight into my
+flesh.
+
+“Don’t say they’re stolen, Jeffers!” she cried out. “Don’t tell me
+that! Lord Castlecourt would never forgive me. He’ll never forgive me!
+They’re worth thousands and thousands of pounds! They _can’t_ have been
+stolen!”
+
+She spoke so loud they heard her in the next room, and Lord Castlecourt
+came in. He was a tall gentleman, a little bald, and I can see him
+now in his black clothes, with the white of his shirt bosom gleaming,
+standing in the doorway looking at her. He had a surprised expression
+on his face, and was frowning a little; for he hated anything like loud
+talking or a scene.
+
+“What’s the matter, Gladys?” he said. “You’re making such a noise I
+heard you in my room. Is there a fire?”
+
+She made a sort of grasp at the case, and tried to hide it. Chawlmers
+was in the doorway behind my lord, and I saw him staring at her and
+trying not to. He told me afterward she was as white as paper.
+
+“The diamonds,” she faltered out--“your diamonds--your family’s--your
+mother’s.”
+
+Lord Castlecourt gave a start, and seemed to stiffen. He did not move
+from where he was, but stood rigid, looking at her.
+
+“What’s the matter with them?” he said, quick and quiet, but not as if
+he was calm.
+
+She threw the case she had been trying to hide on the dressing-table.
+It knocked over some bottles, and lay there open and empty. My lord
+sprang at it, took it up, and shook it.
+
+“Gone?” he said, turning to my lady. “Stolen, do you mean?”
+
+“Yes--yes--yes,” she said, like that--three times; and then she fell
+back in the chair and put her hands over her face.
+
+Lord Castlecourt turned to me.
+
+“What’s this mean, Jeffers? You’ve had charge of the diamonds.”
+
+I told him all I knew and as well as I could, what with my legs
+trembling that they’d scarce support me, and my tongue dry as a piece
+of leather. When I got toward the end, my lady interrupted me, crying
+out:
+
+“Herbert, it isn’t my fault, it isn’t! Jeffers will tell you I’ve taken
+good care of them. I’ve not been careless or forgetful about them, as
+I have about other things. I _have_ been careful of them! It isn’t my
+fault, and you mustn’t blame me!”
+
+Lord Castlecourt made a sort of gesture toward her to be still. I
+could see it meant that. He kept the case, and, going to the door,
+locked it.
+
+“How long have you been in these rooms?” he said, turning round on me
+with the key in his hand.
+
+I told him, trembling, and almost crying. I had never seen my lord look
+so terribly stern. I don’t know whether he was angry or not, but I was
+afraid of him, and it was for the first time; for he’d always been a
+kind and generous master to me and the other servants.
+
+“Oh, my lord,” I said, feeling suddenly weighed down with dread and
+misery, “you surely don’t think I took them?”
+
+“I’m not thinking anything,” he said. “You and Chawlmers are to stay
+in this room, and not move from it till you get my orders. I’ll send at
+once for the police.”
+
+My lady turned round in her chair and looked at him.
+
+“The police?” she said. “Oh, Herbert, wait till to-morrow! You’re not
+even sure yet that they are stolen.”
+
+“Where are they, then?” he says, quick and sharp. “Jeffers says she saw
+them in that case an hour ago. They are not in the case now. Do either
+you or she know where they are?”
+
+I was down on my knees, picking up the bottles that had been knocked
+over by the empty jewel-case.
+
+“Not I, God knows,” I said, and I began to cry.
+
+“The matter must be put in the hands of the police at once,” my
+lord said. “I’ll have the hotel policeman here in a few minutes, and
+the rooms searched. Jeffers and Chawlmers and their luggage will be
+searched to-morrow.”
+
+My lady gave a sort of gasp. I was close to her feet, and I heard her.
+But, for myself, I just broke down, and, kneeling on the floor with the
+overturned bottles spilling cologne all around me, cried worse than
+I’ve done since I was in short frocks.
+
+“Oh, my lady, I didn’t take them! I didn’t! You know I didn’t!” I
+sobbed out.
+
+My lady looked very miserable.
+
+“My poor Jeffers,” she said, and put her hand on my shoulder, “I’m sure
+you didn’t. If I’d only a sixpence in the world I’d stake that on
+your honesty.”
+
+Lord Castlecourt didn’t say anything. He went to the bell and pressed
+it. When the boy answered it he gave him a message in a low tone, and
+it didn’t seem five minutes before two men were in the room. I did
+not know till afterward that one was the manager, and the other the
+hotel policeman. I stopped my crying the best I could, and heard my
+lord telling them that the diamonds were gone, and that Chawlmers and
+I had been the only people in the room all the afternoon. Then he said
+he wanted them to communicate at once with Scotland Yard, and have a
+capable detective sent to the hotel.
+
+“Lady Castlecourt and I are going to dinner,” he said, looking at his
+watch. “We will have to leave, at the latest, within the next twenty
+minutes.”
+
+Lady Castlecourt cried out at that:
+
+“Herbert, I don’t see how I can go to that dinner. I am altogether too
+upset, and, besides, it will be too late. It’s eight o’clock now.”
+
+“We can make the time up in the carriage,” my lord said; and he went
+into the next room with the policeman, where they talked together in
+low voices. I helped my lady on with her cloak, and she stood waiting,
+her eyebrows drawn together, looking very pale and worried. When my
+lord came back he said nothing, only nodded to my lady that he was
+ready, and, without a word, they left the room.
+
+I tried to tidy the bureau and pick up the bottles as well as I could,
+and every time I looked at the door into the sitting-room I saw that
+policeman’s head peering round the door-post at me.
+
+That was an awful night. I did not know it till afterward, but both
+Chawlmers and I were under what they call “surveillance.” I did not
+know either that Lord Castlecourt had told the policeman he believed us
+to be innocent; that we were of excellent character, and nothing but
+positive proof would make him think either of us guilty. All I felt, as
+I tossed about in bed, was that I was suspected, and would be arrested
+and probably put in jail. Fifteen years of honest service in noble
+families wouldn’t help me much if the detectives took it into their
+heads I was guilty.
+
+The next morning we heard about the disappearance of Sara Dwight, and
+things began to look brighter. Sara had left the hotel at a little
+after seven the evening before, speaking to no one, and carrying a
+small portmanteau. When they came to examine her room and her box
+they found a jacket and skirt hanging on the wall, some burnt papers
+in the grate, and the box almost empty, except for some cheap cotton
+underclothes and a dirty wadded quilt put in to fill up. Sara had given
+no notice, and had not at any time told any of her fellow servants
+that she was dissatisfied with her place or wanted to leave.
+
+That morning Mr. Brison, the Scotland Yard detective, had us up in the
+sitting-room asking us questions till I was fair muddled, and didn’t
+know truth from lies. Lord Castlecourt and my lady were both present,
+and Mr. Brison was forever politely asking my lady questions till she
+got quite angry with him, and said she wasn’t at all sure the diamonds
+were stolen; they might have been mislaid, and would turn up somewhere.
+Mr. Brison was surprised, and asked my lady if she had any idea where
+they were liable to turn up; and my lady looked annoyed, and said it
+was a silly question, and that she “wasn’t a clairvoyant.”
+
+Three days after this Mr. John Gilsey, who is a detective, and, I have
+heard since, a very famous gentleman, was engaged by Lord Castlecourt
+to “work upon the case.” Mr. Gilsey was very soft-spoken and pleasant.
+He did not muddle you, as Mr. Brison did, and it was very easy to tell
+him all you knew or could remember, which he always seemed anxious to
+hear. He had me up in the sitting-room twice, once alone and once with
+Mr. Brison, and they asked me a host of questions about Sara Dwight. I
+told them all I could think of; and when I came to her hands, and how
+they were white and fine, like a lady’s, I saw Mr. Brison look at Mr.
+Gilsey and raise his eyebrows.
+
+“Does it seem to you,” he says, scribbling words in his note-book,
+“that this sounds like Laura the Lady?”
+
+And Mr. Gilsey answered:
+
+“The manner of operating sounds like her, I must admit.”
+
+“She was in Chicago when last heard of,” says Mr. Brison, stopping in
+his scribbling, “but we’ve information within the last week that she’s
+left there.”
+
+“Laura the Lady is in London,” Mr. Gilsey remarked, looking at his
+finger nails. “I saw her three weeks ago at Earlscourt.”
+
+Mr. Brison got red in the face and puffed out his lips, as if he was
+going to say something, but decided not to. He scribbled some more,
+and then, looking at what he had written as if he was reading it over,
+says:
+
+“If that’s the case, there’s very little doubt as to who planned and
+executed this robbery.”
+
+“That’s a very comfortable state of affairs to arrive at,” says Mr.
+Gilsey, “and I hope it’s the correct one.” And that was all he said
+that time about what he thought.
+
+After this we stayed on at Burridge’s for the rest of the season, but
+it was not half as cheerful or gay as it had been before. My lord was
+often moody and cross, for he felt the loss of the diamonds bitterly;
+and my lady was out of spirits and moped, for she was very fond of him,
+and to have him take it this way seemed to upset her. Mr. Brison or Mr.
+Gilsey were constantly popping in and murmuring in the sitting-room,
+but they got no further on--at least, there was no talk of finding the
+diamonds, which was all that counted.
+
+This is all I know of the theft of the necklace. What happened at that
+time, and what Mr. Gilsey calls “the surrounding circumstances of the
+case,” I have tried to put down as clearly and as simply as possible. I
+have gone over them so often, and been forced to be so careful, that I
+think they will be found to be quite correct in every particular.
+
+
+
+
+Statement of Lilly Bingham, known in England as Laura Brice, in the
+United States as Frances Latimer, to the police of both countries as
+Laura the Lady, besides having recently figured as a housemaid at
+Burridge’s Hotel, London, under the alias of Sara Dwight.
+
+
+
+
+Statement of Lilly Bingham, known in England as Laura Brice, in the
+United States as Frances Latimer, to the police of both countries as
+Laura the Lady, besides having recently figured as a housemaid at
+Burridge’s Hotel, London, under the alias of Sara Dwight.
+
+
+I never was so glad of anything in my life as to get out of that
+beastly hole, Chicago. I’ll certainly never go back there unless there
+is an inducement big enough to compensate for the elevated railroad,
+the lake, the noise, the winds, the restaurants, the climate, and the
+people. Ugh, what a nightmare!
+
+England’s the country for me, and London is the focus of it. You can
+live like a Christian here, and enjoy all the refinements and decencies
+of life for a reasonable consideration. How my heart leaped when I
+saw the old, gray, sooty walls looming up through the river haze--I
+thought it best to sneak by the back way, because if I go up the front
+stairs and ring the bell there may be loiterers round who had seen
+Laura the Lady before, and might become impertinently curious about
+her future movements. And then when I saw Tom waiting for me--my own
+Tom, that I lawfully married, in a burst of affection, three years ago,
+at Leamington--I shouted out greetings, and danced on the deck, and
+waved my handkerchief. It was worth while having lived in Chicago for
+a year to come back to London and Tom and a little furnished flat in
+Knightsbridge.
+
+We were very respectable and quiet for a month--just a few callers
+climbing up the front stairs, and demure female tea-parties at
+intervals. I bought plants to put in the windows, and did knitting in a
+conspicuous solitude which the neighbors could overlook. When I saw the
+maiden lady opposite scrutinizing me through an opera-glass I felt like
+sending her my marriage certificate to run her eye over and return.
+We even hired a maid of all work from an agency as a touch of local
+color on this worthy domestic picture. But when the Castlecourt diamond
+scheme began to ripen I nagged at her till she was impudent and bundled
+her off. Maud Durlan came in then, put on a cap and apron, and played
+her part a good deal better than she used to when she acted soubrettes
+in the vaudeville.
+
+We were two weeks lying low, maturing our plans, tho when I left
+Chicago I knew what I was coming back for. Outwardly all was the same
+as usual--the decent callers still climbed the front stairs, and
+elderly ladies who, without any stretch of imagination, might have
+been my mother and aunts, dropped in for tea. I used to wonder how
+the people on the floor below--they were the family of a man who made
+rubber tires for bicycles--would have felt if they could have seen
+Maud, our neat and respectable slavy, sitting with the French heels
+of her slippers caught on the third shelf of the bookcase, dropping
+cigarette ashes into the waste-paper basket.
+
+When all was ready, Tom and I left for a “business” trip on the
+Continent. We went away in a four-wheeler, driven by Handsome Harry,
+the top piled with luggage, my face at the window smiling a last,
+cautioning good-by at Maud. Five days later, under the name of Sara
+Dwight, I was installed as housemaid on the third floor of Burridge’s
+Hotel.
+
+I had done work of that kind before--once in New York, and at another
+time in Paris; having been born and spent my childhood in that cheerful
+city, my French is irreproachable. The famous robbery of the Comtesse
+de Chateaugay’s rubies was my work--but I mustn’t brag about past
+exploits. I had never been engaged in a hotel theft of the importance
+of the Castlecourt one. The necklace was valued at between eight
+thousand and nine thousand pounds. The stones were not so remarkable
+for size as for quality. They were of an unusually even excellence and
+pure water.
+
+After I had been in the hotel for a few days and watched the
+Castlecourt party, all apprehension left me, and I felt confident and
+cool. They were an extremely simple layout. Lady Castlecourt was a
+beauty--a seductive, smiling, white and gold person, without any sense
+at all. Her husband adored her. Being a man of some brains, that was
+what might have been expected. What might not have been expected was
+that she appeared to reciprocate his affection. Having made a careful
+study of the manners and customs of the upper classes, I was not
+prepared for this. I note it as one of those exceptions to rule which
+occur now and then in the animal kingdom.
+
+Besides the marquis and his lady, there were a maid and a valet to be
+considered. The former was a dense, honest woman named Sophy Jeffers,
+close on to forty, and of the unredeemed ugliness of the normal lady’s
+maid. Such being the case, it was but natural to find that she was in
+love with Chawlmers, the valet, who was twenty-seven and good-looking.
+Jeffers was too truthful to tamper with her own age, but she did not
+feel it necessary to keep up the same rigid standard when it came to
+Chawlmers. It was less of a lie to make him ten years older than
+herself ten years younger. From these facts I drew my deductions as to
+the sort of adversary Jeffers might be, and I found that, by a modest
+avoidance of Chawlmers’ society, I could make her my lifelong friend.
+
+The evening of the Duke of Duxbury’s dinner was the time I decided upon
+as the most convenient for taking the stones. I had heard from Jeffers
+that the marquis and marchioness were going. When her ladyship left
+her rooms that afternoon I heard her tell Jeffers that she would not
+be back till after six, and to have everything ready at that hour. Off
+and on for the next two hours I was doing work about the corridor with
+a duster. It was near six when I heard the two servants talking in the
+sitting-room. A bird’s-eye view through the keyhole showed me where
+they were, and that they were engaged in searching for something in
+the desk. It was my chance. With my housemaid’s pass-key I opened the
+door a crack, and peeped in. The leather case of the diamonds stood on
+the dressing-table not twenty feet from the door. It did not take five
+minutes to enter, open the case, take the necklace, and leave. Jeffers
+heard me. She was in the room almost as I closed the door. Before she
+could have got into the hall I was in the broom-closet hunting for a
+dust-pan. But she evidently suspected nothing, for the door did not
+open and there was no indication of disturbance.
+
+Two days later Tom and I returned from our “business trip” to the
+Continent. I quite prided myself on the way our luggage was labeled.
+It had just the right knock-about, piebald look. We drove up in a
+four-wheeler, Handsome Harry on the box, and Maud opened the door for
+us. For the next few days we were quiet and kept indoors. We spent the
+time peacefully in the kitchen, breaking the settings of the diamonds
+and reading about the robbery in the papers. As soon as things simmered
+down, Tom was to take the stones across to Holland, where they would
+be distributed. We threw away the settings, and put the diamonds in a
+small box of chamois-skin that I pinned to my corset with a safety-pin.
+
+That was the way things were--untroubled as a summer sea--till ten
+days after our return, when I began to get restive. I had had what
+they call in America “a strenuous time” at Burridge’s, working like a
+slave all day, with not a soul to speak to but a parcel of ignorant
+servant women, and I wanted livening up. I longed for the light and
+noise of Piccadilly, the crowd and the restaurants; but what I wanted
+particularly was to go to the theater and see a play called “The
+Forgiven Prodigal.”
+
+Maud and Tom raised a clamor of disapproval: What was the use of
+running risks? did I think, because I’d been in Chicago for nearly a
+year, that I was forgotten? did I think the men in Scotland Yard who
+knew me were all dead? did I think the excitement of the Castlecourt
+robbery was over and done? I yawned at them, and then told them, with
+a gentle smile, that they were a “pusillanimous pair.” There might
+be many men in Scotland Yard who knew me, and that, as they say in
+Chicago, “is all the good it would do them.” They couldn’t arrest
+me for sitting peacefully at a theater looking at a play. As for
+connecting me with Sara Dwight, I would give any one a hundred pounds
+who, when I was dressed and had my war-paint on, would find in me a
+single suggestion of the late housemaid at Burridge’s. So I talked
+them down; and if I didn’t convince them of the reasonableness of my
+arguments, I at least managed to soothe their fears.
+
+I dressed myself with especial care, and when the last rite of my
+toilet was accomplished looked critically in the glass to see if
+anything of Sara Dwight remained. The survey contented me. Sara’s
+mother, if there be such a person, would have denied me. I was all in
+black, a sweeping, spangly dress I had bought in New York, cut low, and
+my neck is not my weak point, especially when _crême des violettes_
+has been rubbed over it. My hair was waved (Maud does it very well,
+much better than she cooks, I regret to say), and dressed high, with a
+small red wreath of geraniums round it. Nose powdered to a probable,
+ladylike whiteness, a touch of rouge, a tiny _mouche_ near the corner
+of one eye, and long, black gloves--and, presto change! I wore no
+jewels--their owners might recognize them. One could hardly say I
+“wore” the Castlecourt diamonds, which were fastened to my corset with
+a safety-pin. They were rather uncomfortable, but they were the only
+thing about me that were.
+
+As I stood in front of the glass putting on finishing touches, Maud
+left the room, and went to the drawing-room to watch for Handsome
+Harry, who was to drive our hansom. I did not like taking a hired
+driver, and, thank goodness, I didn’t! I was putting a last _soupçon_
+of scarlet on my lips, when she came back, stepping softly, and with
+her eyes round and uneasy looking.
+
+“I don’t know whether I’m nervous,” she says, “but there’s a man just
+gone by in a hansom, and he leaned out and looked hard at our windows.”
+
+“I hope it amused him,” I said, looking critically at my lips, to see
+if they were not a little too incredibly ruddy. “It’s a harmless and
+innocent way of passing the time, so we mustn’t be hard on him if it
+doesn’t happen to be very intellectual. Come, help me on with my cloak,
+and don’t stand there like Patience on a monument staring at thieves.”
+
+I was irritated with Maud, trying to upset my peace of mind that way.
+She’d had any amount of good times while I’d been at Burridge’s with
+my nose to the grindstone. And here she was, the first time I’d got a
+chance to have a spree, looking like a depressed owl and talking like
+the warning voice of Conscience! As she silently held up my cloak and I
+thrust my hand in the sleeve, I said, over my shoulder:
+
+“And you needn’t go upsetting Tom by telling him about strange men in
+hansoms who stare up at our front windows. I want to have a good time
+this evening, not feel that I’m sitting by a guilty being who jumps
+every time he’s spoken to as if the curse of Cain was on him.”
+
+Maud said nothing, and I shook myself into my cloak and swept out to
+the hall, where Tom was waiting.
+
+There had been a slight fog all afternoon, and now it was thick; not a
+“pea-soup” one, but a good, damp, obscuring fog--a regular “burglar’s
+delight.” As we came down the steps we saw the two hansom lamps making
+blurs, like lights behind white cotton screens. Tom was grumbling about
+it and about going out generally as he helped me in. And just at that
+minute, still and quick, like a picture going across a magic-lantern
+slide, I saw a man on the other side of the street step out of the
+shadow of a porch, and glide swiftly and softly past the light of the
+lamp and up the street, to where the form of a waiting hansom loomed.
+It was all very simple and natural, but his walk was odd--so noiseless
+and stealthy.
+
+I got in, and Tom followed me. He hadn’t seen anything. For the moment
+I didn’t speak of it, because I wasn’t sure. But I’ve got to admit
+that my heart beat against the Castlecourt diamonds harder than was
+comfortable. We started, and I listened, and faintly, some way behind
+us, I heard the _ker-lump!--ker-lump!--ker-lump!_ of another horse’s
+hoofs on the asphalt. I leaned forward over the door, and tried to look
+back. Through the mist I saw the two yellow eyes of the hansom behind
+us. Tom asked me what was the matter, and I told him. He whistled--a
+long, single note--then leaned back very steady and still. We didn’t
+say anything for a bit, but just sat tight and listened.
+
+It kept behind us that way for about ten minutes. Then I pushed up the
+trap, and said to Harry:
+
+“What’s this hansom behind us up to, Harry?”
+
+“That’s what I want to know,” he says, quiet and low.
+
+“Lose it, if you can, without being too much of a Jehu,” I answered,
+and shut the trap.
+
+He tried to lose it, and we began a chase, slow at first, and then
+faster and faster, down one street and up the other. The fog by this
+time was as thick and white as wool, and we seemed to break through
+it like a ship, as if we were going through something dense and
+hard to penetrate. It seemed to me, too, a maddeningly quiet night.
+There was no traffic, no noise of wheels to get mixed with ours. The
+_ker-lump!--ker-lump!_ of our horse’s hoofs came back as clear as
+sounds in a calm at sea from the long lines of house fronts. And that
+devilish hansom never lost us. It kept just the same distance behind
+us. We could hear its horse’s hoofs, like an echo of our own, beating
+through the fog. It got no nearer; it went no faster. It did not seem
+in a hurry, it never deviated from our track. There was something
+hideously unagitated and cool about it--a sort of deadly, sinister
+persistence. I saw it in imagination, like a live monster with bulging
+yellow eyes, staring with gloating greediness at us as we ran feebly
+along before it.
+
+Tom didn’t say much. He doesn’t in moments like this. He’s got the
+nerve all right, but not the brain. There’s no inventive ability in
+Tom, he’s not built for crises. Handsome Harry now and then dropped
+some remark through the trap, which was like a trickle of icy water
+down one’s spine. I began to realize that my lips were dry, and that
+the insides of my gloves were damp. I knew that whatever was to be
+done had to come from me. I’d got them into this, and, as they say in
+Chicago, “it was up to me” to get them out.
+
+I leaned over the doors, and looked at the street we were going
+through. I know that part of London like a book--the insides of some
+of the houses as well as the outsides; it’s a part of our business in
+which I’m supposed to be quite an expert. The street was a small one
+near Walworth Crescent, the houses not the smartest in the locality,
+but good, solid, reliable buildings inhabited by good, solid, reliable
+people. The lower floors were all alight. It was the heart of the
+season, and in many of them there were dinners afoot. I thought, with
+a flash of longing--such as a drowning man might feel if he thought
+of suddenly finding himself on terra firma--of serene, smiling people
+sitting down to soup. I’d have given the Castlecourt diamonds at that
+moment to have been sitting down with them to cold soup, sour soup,
+greasy soup, any kind of soup--only to be sitting down to soup!
+
+We turned a corner sharp, going now at a tearing pace, and I saw
+before us a length of street wrapped in fog, and blurred at regular
+intervals by the lights of lamps. It looked ghostlike--so white, so
+noiseless, lined on either side by dim house fronts blotted with an
+indistinct sputter of lights. There was not a sound but our own horse’s
+hoof-beats, and far off, like a noise muffled by cotton wool, the echo
+of our pursuer’s. Through the opaque, motionless atmosphere I saw that
+the vista into which I stared was deserted. There was not a human
+figure or a vehicle in sight. It was a lull, a brief respite, a moment
+of incalculable value to us!
+
+My mind was as clear as crystal, and I felt a sense of cool, high
+exhilaration. I have only felt this way in desperate moments, and this
+was a truly desperate moment--a pursuer on our heels and the diamonds
+in my possession!
+
+I leaned over the doors, and looked up the line of houses. It was
+Farley Street. Who lived in Farley Street? Suddenly I remembered that
+I knew all about the people who lived in No. 15. They were Americans
+named Kennedy--a man, his wife, and a little girl. He was manager of
+the London branch of a Chicago concern called the “Colonial Box, Tub,
+and Cordage Company,” that I had often heard of in America. We had
+marked the house, and made extensive investigations before I left,
+intending to add it to our list, as Mrs. Kennedy had some handsome
+jewelry and silver. Since my return I had seen her name in the papers
+at various entertainments, and Maud had told me a lot about her
+social successes. She was pretty, and people were taking her up. All
+this--that it takes me some minutes to tell--flashed through my mind
+in a revolution of the wheels.
+
+I could see now that the windows of No. 15 were lit up. The Kennedys
+were evidently at home, perhaps had a dinner on. They, along with the
+rest of the world, would in a minute be sitting down to soup. They
+might be sitting down now; it was close on to half-past eight. Why
+could not we sit down with them?
+
+I lifted the top, and said to Harry:
+
+“Is the hansom round the corner yet?”
+
+“No,” he answered, “it’s our only chance. They’re still a bit behind
+us. I can tell by the sound.”
+
+“Drive to No. 15, second from the corner,” I said, “and go as if the
+devil was after you.”
+
+I dropped the trap, and as we tore down to No. 15 I spoke in a series
+of broken sentences to Tom.
+
+“We’re going in here to dinner. You must look as if it was all right.
+If we carry it off well, they won’t dare to question. We’re Major
+and Mrs. Thatcher, of the Lancers, that arrived Saturday from India.
+They’re Americans, and won’t know anything, so you can say about what
+you like. Give them India hot from the pan. I’ve been living in London
+while you’ve been away. That’s how I come to know them and you don’t.
+My Christian name’s Ethel. Do the dull, heavy, haw-haw style. Americans
+expect it.”
+
+We brought up at the curb with a jerk, threw back the doors, and dashed
+up the steps. I caught a vanishing glimpse of Handsome Harry leaning
+far forward to lash the horse as the hansom went bounding off into the
+fog. As we stood pressed against the door, Tom whispered:
+
+“What the devil is their name?”
+
+“Kennedy,” I hissed at him--“Cassius P. Kennedy. Came originally from
+Necropolis City, Ohio; lived in Chicago as a clerk in the Colonial
+Box, Tub, and Cordage Company, and then was made manager of the London
+branch. Their weak point is society. If any people are there, keep your
+mouth shut. Be dense and unresponsive.”
+
+We heard the rattle of the pursuing hansom at the end of the street,
+then through the ground glass of the door saw a man servant’s
+approaching figure.
+
+“Only stay a few minutes over the coffee. We’re going on to the opera,”
+I whispered, as the door opened.
+
+I swept in, Tom on my heels. We came as fast as we could without
+actually falling in and dashing the servant aside, for the noise of
+our pursuer was loud in our ears, and we knew we were lost if we were
+seen entering. As Tom somewhat hastily shut the door, I was conscious
+of the expression of surprise on the face of the solemn butler. He did
+not say anything, but looked it. I slid out of my cloak, and handed it,
+languidly, to him.
+
+“No, I won’t go up-stairs,” I said, in answer to his glare of growing
+amaze.
+
+Then I turned to the glass in the hat-rack, and began to arrange my
+hair. I could see, reflected in it, a pair of portières, half open, and
+affording a glimpse of a room beyond, bathed in the subdued rosy light
+of lamps. I was conscious of movement there behind the portières--a
+stir of skirts, a sort of hush of curiosity.
+
+There had been the sound of voices when we came in. Now I noticed the
+stealthy, occasional sibilant of a whisper. There was no dinner-party.
+We were going to dine _en famille_. So much the better. My hair neat,
+I turned to the butler, and, touching the jet of my corsage with an
+arranging hand, murmured:
+
+“Major and Mrs. Thatcher.”
+
+The man drew back the curtain, and, with our name going before us in
+loud announcement, I rustled into the room, Tom behind me.
+
+Standing beside an empty fireplace, and facing the entrance in
+attitudes of expectancy, were a young man and woman. In the soft pink
+lamplight I had an impression of their two astonished faces, or,
+rather, astonished eyes, for they were making a spirited struggle to
+obliterate all surprise from their faces. The woman was succeeding
+the best. She did it quite well. When she saw me she smiled almost
+naturally, and came forward with a fair imitation of a hostess’
+welcoming manner. She was young and very pretty--a fine-featured,
+delicate woman, in a floating lace tea-gown. Her hand was thin and
+small, a real American hand, and gleamed with rings. I could see her
+husband, out of the tail of my eye, battling with his amazement and
+staring at Tom. Tom was behind me, looming up bulkily, not saying
+anything, but looking blankly through the glass wedged in his eye and
+pulling his mustache.
+
+“My dear Mrs. Kennedy,” I said, in my sweetest and most languid drawl,
+“are we late? I hope not. There is such a fog, really I thought we’d
+never get here.”
+
+My fingers touched her hand, and my eyes looked into hers. She was
+immensely curious and upset, but she smiled boldly and almost easily. I
+could see her inward wrestlings to place me, and to wonder if she could
+possibly have asked us, and had forgotten that too.
+
+“And at last,” I continued, glibly, “I am able to present my husband.
+I was afraid you were beginning to think he was a sort of Mrs. Harris.
+Harry, dear, Mrs. and Mr. Kennedy.”
+
+They all bowed. Tom held out his big paw, and took her little hand for
+a moment, and then dropped it. He had just the stolid, awkward, owlish
+look of a certain kind of army man.
+
+“Awfully glad to get here, I’m sure,” he boomed out. And then he said
+“What?” and looked at Mr. Kennedy.
+
+Mr. Kennedy was not as much master of the situation as his wife. He
+wasn’t exactly frightened, but he was inwardly distracted with not
+knowing what to do.
+
+“Pleased to meet you,” he said, loudly, to Tom, quite forgetting his
+English accent. “Glad you could get around here. Foggy night, all
+right!”
+
+I looked at the clock. Tom stood solemnly on the hearth-rug, staring at
+the fire. The Kennedys, for a moment, could think of nothing to say,
+and I had to look at the clock again, screw up my eyes, and remark:
+
+“Just half-past. We’re not really late at all. You know, Harry is
+_such_ a punctual person, and he’s afraid I’ve got into unpunctual
+habits while he’s been away.”
+
+“He _has_ been away for some time, hasn’t he?” said Mrs. Kennedy,
+looking from one to the other with piquant eyes that yearned for
+information.
+
+“Four years with the Lancers in India,” Tom boomed out again.
+
+The Kennedys were relieved. They’d got hold of something. They both sat
+down, and it was obvious that they gathered themselves together for new
+efforts.
+
+I did likewise. I realized that I must be biographical to a reasonable
+extent--just enough to satisfy curiosity, without giving the impression
+that I was sitting down to tell my life-story the way the heroine does
+in the first act of a play.
+
+“He arrived only last Saturday,” I said, “and you may imagine how
+pleased I was to be able to bring him to-night, in answer to your kind
+invitation.”
+
+“Only too glad he could come,” murmured Mrs. Kennedy, oblivious of the
+terrified side-glance that her husband cast in her direction. “Very
+fortunate that you had this one evening disengaged.”
+
+“I’m taking him about everywhere,” I continued, with girlish loquacity.
+“People had begun to think that Major Thatcher was a myth, and I’m
+showing them that there’s a good deal of him and he’s very much alive.
+For four years, you know, I’ve been living here, first in those
+miserable lodgings in Half Moon Street, and after that in my flat--you
+know it--on Gower Street. A nice little place enough, but much nicer
+now, with Harry in it.”
+
+“Of course,” said Mrs. Kennedy, as sympathetically as was compatible
+with her eagerness to pounce upon such crumbs of information as I let
+drop. “How dull these four years have been for you!”
+
+“Dull!” I echoed, “dull is not the word!” And I gave my eyes an
+expressive, acrobatic roll toward the ceiling.
+
+“She couldn’t have stood it out there,” said Tom, in an unexpected bass
+growl. “Too hot! Ethel can’t stand the heat--never could.”
+
+Then he lapsed into silence, staring at the fire under Mr. Kennedy’s
+fascinated gaze. Dinner was just then announced, and I heard him saying
+as he walked in behind us:
+
+“Is India very hot, Mrs. Kennedy? Once in Delhi I sat for four days in
+a cold bath, and read the Waverley novels.”
+
+To which Mrs. Kennedy answered, brightly:
+
+“I should think that would have put you to sleep, and you might have
+been drowned.”
+
+That was one of the most remarkable dinners I ever sat through. Of the
+two couples, the Kennedys were the least at ease. They were more afraid
+of being found out than we were. The cold sweat would break out on
+Mr. Kennedy’s brow when the conversation edged up toward the subject
+of previous meetings, and Mrs. Kennedy would begin to talk feverishly
+about other things. She was the kind of woman who hates to be unequal
+to any social emergency; and I am bound to confess, considering how
+unprepared she was, she held her own this time with tact and spirit.
+She had the copious flow of small talk so many Americans seem to have
+at command, and it rippled fluently and untiringly on from the soup to
+the savory. I added to the impression I had already made by alluding
+to various titled friends of mine, letting their names drop carelessly
+from my lips as the pearls and diamonds fell from the mouth of the
+virtuous princess.
+
+Tom did well, too--excellently well. When the conversation showed signs
+of languishing, he began about India. He gave us some strange pieces
+of information about that distant land that I think he invented on the
+spur of the moment, and he told several anecdotes which were quite
+deadly and without point. When they were concluded, he gave a short,
+deep laugh, let his eye-glass fall out, looked at us one after the
+other, and said, “What?”
+
+I would have enjoyed myself immensely if a sense of heavy uneasiness
+had not continued to weigh on me. What troubled me was the uncertainty
+of not knowing whether we really had escaped our pursuers. There was
+the horrible possibility that they had seen us enter the house, and
+were waiting to grab us as we came out. If they were there, and I was
+caught with the diamonds in my possession, it would be a pretty dark
+outlook for Laura the Lady--so dark I could not bear to picture it,
+even in thought. As I talked and laughed with my hosts, my mind was
+turning over every possible means by which I could get rid of the
+stones before I left the house, trying to think up some way in which I
+could dispose of them, and yet which would not place them quite beyond
+reclaiming. I think my nerves had been shaken by that spectral pursuit
+in the fog. Anyway, I wasn’t willing to risk a second edition of it.
+
+We sat over dinner a little more than an hour. It was not yet ten when
+Mrs. Kennedy and I rose, and with a reminder to Tom that we were to “go
+to the opera,” I trailed off in advance of my hostess across the hall
+into the drawing-room. Here we sat down by a little gilt table, and
+disposed ourselves to endure that dreary period when women have to put
+up with one another’s society for ten minutes. It was my opportunity of
+getting rid of the diamonds, and I knew it.
+
+We had sipped our coffee for a few minutes, and dodged about with the
+usual commonplaces, when I suddenly grew grave, and, leaning toward
+Mrs. Kennedy, said:
+
+“Now that we are alone, my dear Mrs. Kennedy, I must ask you about a
+matter of which I am particularly anxious to hear more.”
+
+She looked at me with furtive alarm. I could see she was nerving
+herself for a grapple with the unknown.
+
+“What matter?” she said.
+
+I lowered my voice to the key of confidences that are dire if not
+actually tragic:
+
+“How about poor Amelia?” I murmured.
+
+She dropped her eyes to her cup, frowning a little. I was thrilling
+with excitement, waiting to hear what she was going to say. After a
+moment she lifted her face, perfectly calm and grave, to mine, and said:
+
+“Really, the subject is a very painful one to me. I’d rather not talk
+about it.”
+
+It was a master-stroke. I could not have done better myself. I eyed
+her with open admiration. You never would have thought it of her; she
+seemed so young. After she had spoken she gave a sigh, and again looked
+down at her cup, with an expression on her face of pensive musing. At
+that moment the voices of the men leaving the dining-room struck on my
+ear.
+
+I put my hand into the front of my dress, and undid the safety-pin. My
+manner became furtive and hurried.
+
+“Mrs. Kennedy,” I said, leaning across the table, and speaking almost
+in a whisper, “I entirely sympathize with your feelings, but I am _very
+much_ worried about Amelia. You know the--the--circumstances.” She
+raised her eyes, looked into mine, and nodded darkly. “Well, I have
+something here for her. It’s nothing much,” I said, in answer to a look
+of protest I saw rising in her face--“just the merest trifle I would
+like you to give her. _She_ will understand.”
+
+I drew out the bag, and I saw her looking at it with curious, uneasy
+eyes. The men were approaching through the back drawing-room. I rose
+to my feet, and still with the secret, hurried air, I said:
+
+“Don’t give yourself any trouble about it. It’s just from me to her.
+Our husbands, of course, mustn’t know. I’ll put it here. Poor Amelia!”
+
+There was a crystal and silver bowl on the table, and I put the bag
+into it and placed a book over it.
+
+“Mrs. Thatcher,” she said, quickly, “really, I--”
+
+“Hush!” I said, dramatically, “it’s for Amelia! _We_ understand!”
+
+And then the men entered the room.
+
+We left a few minutes later. The butler called a cab for us, and even
+if a person had never been a thief he ought to have had some idea
+of how we felt as we issued out of that house and walked down the
+steps. We neither of us spoke till we got inside the hansom and drove
+off--safe for that time, anyway.
+
+We went to Handsome Harry’s place for that night, and sent him back for
+Maud, with the message she must get out immediately with what things
+she could bring. By eleven she was with us with her trunk and mine on
+top of a four-wheeler. The next morning we had scattered--I for Calais
+_en route_ for Paris, Tom for Edinburgh. Maud went to join a vaudeville
+company that she acts with “between-whiles.” We had to leave a good
+many things in the flat; but I felt we’d got out cheaply, and had no
+regrets.
+
+That is the history of my connection with the Castlecourt diamond
+robbery. Of course, it was not the end of the connection of our gang
+with the case, but my actual participation ended here. I was simply an
+interested spectator from this on. My statement is merely the record of
+my own personal share in the theft, and as such is written with as much
+clearness and fulness as I, who am unused to the pen, have got at my
+command.
+
+
+
+
+Statement of Cassius P. Kennedy, formerly of Necropolis City, Ohio,
+now Manager of the London Branch of the Colonial Box, Tub, and Cordage
+Company (Ltd.) of Chicago and St. Louis.
+
+
+
+
+Statement of Cassius P. Kennedy, formerly of Necropolis City, Ohio,
+now Manager of the London Branch of the Colonial Box, Tub, and Cordage
+Company (Ltd.) of Chicago and St. Louis.
+
+
+We had been in London two years when a series of extraordinary events
+took place which involved us, through no fault of our own, in the most
+unpleasant predicament that ever overtook two honest, respectable
+Americans in a foreign country.
+
+I had been sent over to start the English branch of the Colonial Box,
+Tub, and Cordage Company, one of the biggest concerns of the Middle
+West, and it wasn’t two months before I realized that the venture was
+going to catch on, and I was going to be at the head of a booming
+business. I’d brought my wife and little girl along with me. We’d
+been married five years--met in Necropolis City, and lived there and
+afterward in Chicago, where I got my first big promotion. She was Daisy
+K. Fairweather, of Buncumville, Indiana, and had been the belle of the
+place. She’d also attracted considerable attention in St. Louis and
+Kansas City, where she’d visited round a good deal. There was nothing
+green about Daisy K. Fairweather--never had been.
+
+Daisy and I didn’t know many people when we first came over, but
+that little woman wasn’t here six months before she’d sized up the
+situation, and made up her mind just how and where she was going to
+butt in. The first thing she did was to conform to those particular
+ones among the local customs that seemed to her the most high-toned. In
+Chicago we’d always dined at half-past six, and given the hired girls
+every Thursday off. In London we dined the first year at half-past
+seven, and the second at half-past eight. We had four servants and a
+butler called Perkins, who ran everything in sight--myself included. I
+always dressed for dinner after Perkins came, and tried to look as if
+it was my lifelong custom. I’d have sunk out of sight in a sea of shame
+rather than have had Perkins think I had not been brought up to it.
+
+Daisy caught on to everything, and then passed the word on to me. She
+was always springing innovations on me, and I did the best I could to
+keep my end up. She stopped talking the way she used to in Necropolis
+City, and made Elaine--that’s our little girl--quit calling me “Popper”
+and call me “Daddy.” She called her front hair her “fringe” and her
+shirt-waist her “bloos,” and she made me careful of what I said before
+the servants. “Servants talk so!” she’d say, just as if she’d heard
+them. In Necropolis City, or even Chicago, we never bothered about the
+“help” talking. They said what they wanted and we said what we wanted,
+and that was all there was to it. But I supposed it was all right.
+Whatever Daisy K. Fairweather Kennedy says goes with me.
+
+By the second season Daisy’d broken quite a way into society, and knew
+a bishop and two lords. We were asked out a good deal, and we’d some
+worthy little dinners at our own shack--15 Farley Street, near Walworth
+Crescent, a thirty-five foot, four-story, high-stooped edifice that
+we paid the same rent for you’d pay for a seven-room flat in Chicago.
+Daisy by this time was in with all kinds of push. She was what she
+called a “success.” Nights when we didn’t go out she’d sit with me and
+say:
+
+“Well, I don’t really see how I’ll ever be able to live in Chicago
+again, and Necropolis City would certainly kill me.”
+
+This same season Lady Sara Gyves dined with us twice (it was a great
+step, Daisy said, and I took it for granted she knew), and once at a
+reception Daisy stood right up close to the Marchioness of Castlecourt,
+the greatest beauty in London, and watched her drink a cup of tea.
+Daisy didn’t meet her that time, but she said to me:
+
+“Next season I’ll know her, and the season after that, if we’re
+careful, I’ll dine with her. Then, Cassius P. Kennedy, we will have
+arrived!”
+
+I said “Sure!” That’s what I mostly say to her, because she’s mostly
+right. You don’t often find that little woman making breaks.
+
+It was in our third season in London, the time the middle of May, when
+the things occurred of which I have made mention at the beginning of
+my statement. It was this way:
+
+We’d been going out a good deal, pretty nearly every night, and we
+were glad to have, for once, a quiet evening at home. Of course, that
+doesn’t mean the same as it does in Necropolis City or even Chicago.
+We dine, just the same, at half-past eight, and both of us dress for
+dinner. We have to, Daisy says, no matter how we feel, because of the
+servants. The servants in London are good servants all right, but the
+way you have to avoid shocking their sensitive feelings sometimes
+makes a free-born American rebellious. I like to think I’m an object
+of interest to my fellow creatures, but it’s a good deal of a bother
+to have it on your mind that you mustn’t destroy the illusions of the
+butler or upset the ideals of the cook.
+
+As we were waiting for dinner to be announced we heard a cab rattle
+up and stop, as it seemed, at our door. We looked at each other with
+inquiring eyes, and then heard the cab go off--on the full jump, I
+should say, by the noise it made--and a minute later the bell rang
+sharp and quick. Perkins opened the door, and Daisy and I heard a
+lady’s voice, very sweet and sort of drawling, say something in the
+vestibule. I peeped through the curtains, and there were a man and
+a woman--a distinguished-looking pair--taking off their coats and
+primping themselves up at the hall mirror. I’d never seen either of
+them before, as far as I could remember, but I could tell by their
+general make-up that they were the real thing--the kind Daisy was
+always cultivating and asking to dinner.
+
+I stepped back, and said to her, in a whisper:
+
+“Somebody’s come to dinner, and you’ve forgotten all about it.”
+
+She shook her head, and whispered back:
+
+“I haven’t asked any one to dinner; I’m sure I haven’t.”
+
+“Well, they’re here, whether we’ve asked them or not,” I hissed, “and
+you can’t turn ’em out. They expect to be fed.”
+
+“Who are they?”
+
+“Search me! Friends of yours I’ve never seen.”
+
+“For pity’s sake, don’t look surprised! Try and pretend it’s all
+right.”
+
+We lined up by the fireplace, and got our smiles all ready. The
+portière was drawn, and Perkins announced:
+
+“Major and Mrs. Thatcher.”
+
+They sailed smilingly into the room, the woman ahead, rustling in a
+long, sparkly, black dress. To my certain knowledge, I’d never seen
+either of them before. The woman was very pretty; not pretty in the
+sense that Daisy is, with beautiful features and a perfect complexion,
+but slim, and pale, and aristocratic-looking. She had black hair with
+a little wreath of red flowers in it, and the whitest neck I ever saw.
+She evidently thought she was all right as far as herself and the
+house and the dinner were concerned, for she was perfectly serene,
+and easy as an old shoe. The man behind her was a big, handsome, dense
+chap--just home from India, they said, and he looked it. He’d that dull
+way those dead swell army fellows sometimes have; it goes with a long
+mustache and an eye-glass.
+
+I looked out of the tail of my eye at Daisy, and I knew by her face she
+couldn’t remember either of them. But they were the genuine article,
+and she wasn’t going to be feazed by any situation that could boil up
+out of the society pool. She was just as easy as they were. She’d a
+smile on her face like a child, and she said the little, mild, milky
+things women say just as milkily and mildly as tho she was greeting
+her lifelong friends.
+
+Well, it went along as smoothly as a summer sea. They located
+themselves as Major and Mrs. Thatcher, and told a lot about their life
+and their movements--all of which I could see Daisy greedily gathering
+in. I didn’t know whether she remembered them or not, but I didn’t
+think she did, she was so careful about alluding to places where
+she had met them. They seemed to know her all right--Mrs. Thatcher,
+especially. She’d allude to smart houses where Daisy had been asked,
+and tony people that were getting to be friends of Daisy’s. She seemed
+to be right in the best circles herself. I wouldn’t like to say how
+many times she mentioned the names of earls and lords; one of them,
+Baron--some name like Fiddlesticks--she said was her cousin.
+
+She didn’t stay long after dinner. I don’t think I sat ten minutes
+with the major--and it was a dull ten minutes, and no mistake. There
+was nothing light and airy about him. He asked me about Chicago (which
+he pronounced “Chick-ago”), and said he had heard there was good
+sport in the Rocky Mountains, and thought of going there to hunt the
+Great Auk. I didn’t know what the Great Auk was, and I asked him. He
+looked blankly at me, and said he believed a “large form of bird,”
+which surprised me, as I had an idea it was a preadamite beast, like a
+behemoth.
+
+I was glad to have the major go, not only because he was so dull, but
+because I was so dying to find out from Daisy if she’d placed them and
+who they were. They were hardly on the steps and the front door shut on
+them before I was back in the parlor.
+
+“Who are they, for heavens’ sake?” I burst out.
+
+She shook her head, laughing a little, and looking utterly bewildered.
+
+“My dear boy,” she said, “I haven’t the least idea. It’s the most
+extraordinary thing I ever knew.”
+
+“Isn’t there anything about them you remember? Didn’t they say
+something that gave you a clew?”
+
+“Not a word, and yet they seem to know me so well. The queerest thing
+of all was that, when you were in the dining-room with the man, the
+woman, in the most confidential tone, began to ask me about some one
+called Amelia. It was _too_ dreadful! I hadn’t the faintest notion what
+she meant.”
+
+“What did you say? I’ll lay ten to one you were equal to it.”
+
+“I realized it was desperate, and, after going through the dinner so
+creditably, I wasn’t going to break down over the coffee. She said:
+‘How about poor Amelia?’ I knew by that ‘poor’ and by the expression of
+her face it was something unusual and queer. I thought a minute, and
+then looked as solemn as I could, and answered: ‘Really, the subject is
+a very painful one to me. I’d rather not talk about it.’”
+
+We both roared. It was so like Daisy to be ready that way!
+
+“And then--this is the strangest part of all--she put her hand in the
+front of her dress and drew out some little thing of chamois leather,
+and told me to give it to Amelia from her. I tried to stop her, but it
+was too late. She put it here in the crystal bowl.”
+
+Daisy went to the bowl, and took out a little limp sack of chamois
+leather.
+
+“It feels like pebbles,” she said, pinching it.
+
+And then she opened it and shook the “pebbles” into her hand. I bent
+down to look at them, my head close to hers. The palm of her hand was
+covered with small, sparkling crystals of different sizes and very
+bright. We looked at them, and then at one another. They were diamonds!
+
+For a moment we didn’t either of us say anything. Daisy had been
+laughing, and her laugh died away into a sort of scared giggle. Her
+hand began to shake a little, and it made the diamonds send out gleams
+in all directions.
+
+“What--what--does it mean?” she said, in a low sort of gasp.
+
+I just looked at them and shook my head. But I felt a cold sinking in
+that part of my organism where my courage is usually screwed to the
+sticking-place.
+
+“Are they real, do you think?” she said again, and she took the evening
+paper and poured them out on it.
+
+Spread out that way, they looked most awfully numerous and rich. There
+must have been more than a hundred of them of different sizes, and
+shaking around on the surface of the paper made them shine and sparkle
+like stars.
+
+“It’s a fortune, Cassius,” she said, almost in a whisper; “it’s a
+fortune in diamonds. Why did she leave them?”
+
+“Didn’t she say they were for Amelia?” I said, in a hollow tone.
+
+“Yes; but who is Amelia? How will we ever find her? What shall we do?
+It’s too awful!”
+
+We stood opposite one another with the paper between us, and tried to
+think. In the lamplight the diamonds winked at us with what seemed
+human malice. I turned round and picked up the bag they had come from,
+looked vaguely into it, and shook it. A last stone fell out on the
+paper, quite a large one, and added itself to the pile.
+
+“Why did she leave them here?” Daisy moaned. “What did she bother us
+for? Why didn’t she take them to Amelia herself?”
+
+“Because she was afraid,” I said, in the undertone of melodrama.
+“They’re stolen, Daisy.”
+
+I had voiced the fear in both our hearts. We sat down opposite one
+another on either side of the table, with the newspaper full of
+diamonds between us. I don’t know whether I was as pale as Daisy, but
+I felt quite as bad as she looked. And sitting thus, each staring into
+the other’s scared face, we ran over the events of the evening.
+
+We couldn’t make much of it; it was too uncanny. But from the first we
+both decided we’d felt something to be wrong. Why or how they’d come?
+who they were? what they wanted?--we couldn’t answer a single question.
+We were in a maze. The only thing that seemed certain was that they had
+one hundred and fifty diamonds of varying sizes that they had wanted,
+for some reason, to get rid of, and they’d got rid of them to us. And
+so we talked and talked till, by slow degrees, we got to the point
+where suddenly, with a simultaneous start, we looked at one another,
+and breathed out:
+
+“The Castlecourt diamonds!”
+
+We had read it all in the papers, and we had talked it over, and here
+we were with a pile of gems in a newspaper that might be the very
+stones.
+
+“And next year I’d hoped to know Lady Castlecourt. I’d been sure I
+would!” Daisy wailed. “And now--”
+
+“But you haven’t stolen the diamonds, dearest,” I said, soothingly.
+“You needn’t get in a fever about that.”
+
+“But, good heavens, I might just as well! Do you suppose there’s any
+one in the world fool enough to believe the story of what happened here
+to-night? People say it’s hard to believe everything in the Bible! Why,
+Jonah and the whale is a simple every-day affair compared to it!”
+
+It did look bad; the more we talked of it the worse it looked. We
+didn’t sleep all night, and when the dawn was coming through the
+blinds we were still talking, trying to decide what to do. At
+breakfast we sat like two graven images, not eating a thing, and all
+that day in the office I found it impossible to concentrate my mind,
+but sat thinking of what on earth we’d do with those darned diamonds.
+
+I’d suggested, the first thing, to go and give them up at the nearest
+police station. But Daisy wouldn’t hear of that. She said that no
+one would believe a word of our story--it was too impossible. And
+when I came to think of it I must say I agreed with her. I saw myself
+telling that story in a court of justice, and I realized that a look
+of conscious guilt would be painted on my face the whole time. I’d
+have felt, whether it was true or not, that nobody really ought to
+believe it, and as an honest, self-respecting citizen I ought not to
+expect them to. Here we were, strangers that nobody knew a thing about,
+anyway! Daisy said they’d take us for accomplices; and when I said
+to her we’d be a pretty rank pair of accomplices to give up the swag
+without a struggle, she said they’d think we got scared, and decided to
+do what she calls “turn State’s evidence.”
+
+She thought the best thing to do was to keep the stones till we could
+think up a more plausible story. We tried to do that, and the night
+after our meeting with Major and Mrs. Thatcher we stayed awake till
+three, thinking up “plausible stories.” We got a great collection of
+them, but it seemed impossible to get a good one without implicating
+somebody. I invented a corker, but it cast a dark suspicion on Daisy;
+and she had an even better one, but it would have undoubtedly resulted
+in the arrest of Perkins and the housemaid, and possibly myself.
+
+It was a horrible situation. Even if we could possibly have escaped
+suspicion ourselves, it would have ruined us socially and financially.
+Would the Colonial Box, Tub, and Cordage Company have retained as the
+head of its London branch a man who had got himself mixed up with a
+sensational diamond robbery? Not on your life! That concern demands a
+high standard and unspotted record in all its employees. I’d have got
+the sack at the end of the month.
+
+And Daisy! How would the bishop and two lords have felt about it? Had
+no more use for that little woman, you can bet your bottom dollar! Even
+Lady Sara Gyves, who, they say, will go anywhere to get a dinner, would
+have given her the Ice-house Laugh. _I_ know them. And I saw my Daisy
+sitting at home all alone on her reception day, and taking dinner with
+me every night. No, sir! That wouldn’t happen if Cassius P. Kennedy had
+to take those diamonds to the Thames and throw them off London Bridge
+in a weighted bag.
+
+So there we were! It was a dreadful predicament. Every morning we
+read the papers with our hearts thumping like hammers. Every ring at
+the bell made us jump, and we had a deadly fear that each time the
+portière was lifted and a caller appeared we’d see the buttons and
+helmet of a policeman with a warrant of arrest concealed upon his
+person. I began to have awful dreams and Daisy didn’t sleep at all,
+and got pale and peaked. We thought up more “plausible stories,” but
+they seemed to get less probable every time, and all our spare moments
+together, which used to be so happy and care free, were now dark and
+harassed as the meetings of conspirators.
+
+Even concealing the miserable things was a wearing anxiety. First we
+decided to divide them, Daisy to wear her half in the chamois bag hung
+around her neck, while I concealed mine in a money-belt worn under
+my clothes. We had about decided on that and I’d bought the belt,
+when we got the idea that if we were killed in an accident they’d be
+found on us, and then our memoirs would go down to posterity blackened
+with shame. So we just put them back in the bag and locked them up in
+Daisy’s jewel-case, round which we hovered as they say a murderer does
+round the hiding-place of his victim.
+
+I never knew before how burglars felt; but if it was anything like
+the way Daisy and I did, I wonder anybody ever takes to that perilous
+trade. We were the most unhappy creatures in London, feeling ourselves
+a pair of thieves, and our unpolluted, innocent home no better than a
+“fence.” There was less in the papers about the Castlecourt diamonds
+robbery, but that did not give us any peace; for, in the first place,
+we didn’t know for certain that we had the Castlecourt diamonds, and,
+in the second, when we now and then did see dark allusions to the
+sleuths being “on a new and more promising scent,” we modestly supposed
+that we might be the quarry to which it led. Daisy began to talk of
+“going to prison” as a termination of her career that might not be so
+far distant, and to the thought of which she was growing reconciled.
+
+This about covers the ground of my immediate connection with the stolen
+diamonds. Their subsequent disposition is a matter in which my wife
+is more concerned than I am. She also will be able to tell her part
+of the story with more literary frills than I can muster up. I’m no
+writing man, and all I’ve tried to do is to state my part of the affair
+honestly and clearly.
+
+
+
+
+Statement of John Burns Gilsey, private detective, especially engaged
+on the Castlecourt diamond case.
+
+
+
+
+Statement of John Burns Gilsey, private detective, especially engaged
+on the Castlecourt diamond case.
+
+
+At a quarter before eight on the evening of May fourth a telephone
+message was sent to Scotland Yard that a diamond necklace, the property
+of the Marquis of Castlecourt, had been stolen from Burridge’s Hotel.
+Brison, one of the best of their men, was detailed upon the case,
+and three days later my services were engaged by the marquis. After
+investigations which have occupied several weeks, I have become
+convinced that the case is an unusual and complicated one. The reasons
+which have led me to this conclusion I will now set down as briefly and
+clearly as possible.
+
+As has already been stated in the papers, the diamonds, on the
+afternoon of the robbery, were standing in a leather jewel-case on
+the bureau in Lady Castlecourt’s apartment. To this room access was
+obtained by three doors--that which led into Lord Castlecourt’s room,
+that which led into the sitting-room, and that which led into the hall.
+
+Lord Castlecourt’s valet, James Chawlmers, and Lady Castlecourt’s maid,
+Sophy Jeffers, had been occupied in this suite of apartments throughout
+the afternoon. At six Jeffers had laid out her ladyship’s clothes,
+taken the diamonds from the metal despatch-box in which they were
+usually carried, and set them on the bureau. She had then withdrawn
+into the sitting-room with Chawlmers, where they had remained for half
+an hour talking. During this period of time Jeffers deposes that she
+heard the rustle of a skirt in the sitting-room, and went to the door
+to see if any one had entered. No one was to be seen. She returned
+to the sitting-room, and resumed her conversation with Chawlmers. It
+is the general supposition--and it would appear to be the reasonable
+one--that the diamonds were then taken. According to Jeffers, they
+were in the case at six o’clock, and on the testimony of Lord and Lady
+Castlecourt they were gone at half-past seven. The person toward whom
+suspicion points is a housemaid, going by the name of Sara Dwight, who
+had a pass-key to the apartment.
+
+The suspicions of Sara Dwight were strengthened by her actions. At
+quarter past seven that evening she left the hotel without giving
+warning, and carrying no further baggage than a small portmanteau.
+Upon examination of her room, it was discovered that she had left a
+gown hanging on the pegs, and her box, which contained a few articles
+of coarse underclothing and a wadded cotton quilt. She had been
+uncommunicative with the other servants, but had had much conversation
+with Sophy Jeffers, who described her as a brisk, civil-spoken girl,
+whose manner of speech was above her station.
+
+The natural suspicions evoked by her behavior were intensified in the
+mind of Brison by the information that the celebrated crook Laura the
+Lady had returned to London. I myself had seen the woman at Earlscourt,
+and told Brison of the occurrence. It had appeared to Brison that
+Jeffers’ description of the housemaid had many points of resemblance
+with Laura the Lady. The theft reminded us both of the affair of the
+Comtesse de Chateaugay’s rubies, when this particular thief, who speaks
+French as well as she does English, was supposed to have been the
+moving spirit in one of the most daring jewel robberies of our time.
+
+Brison, confident that Sara Dwight and Laura the Lady were one and
+the same, concentrated his powers in an effort to find her. He was
+successful to the extent of locating a woman closely resembling Laura
+the Lady living quietly in a furnished flat in Knightsbridge with a
+man who passed as her husband. He discovered that this couple had left
+for a “business trip” on the Continent shortly before Sara Dwight’s
+appearance at Burridge’s, and had returned shortly after her departure
+therefrom.
+
+He regarded the pair and their movements as of sufficient importance
+to be watched, and for a week after their return from the Continent
+had the flat shadowed. One foggy night, while he himself was watching
+the place, the man and woman came out in evening dress, and took a
+hansom that was waiting for them. Brison followed them, and the fog
+being dense and their horse fresh, lost them in the maze of streets
+about Walworth Crescent. He is positive that the occupants of the cab
+realized they were followed and attempted to escape. He assures me that
+he saw the driver turn several times and look at his hansom, and then
+lash his horse to a desperate speed.
+
+One of the points in this nocturnal pursuit that he thinks most
+noteworthy is the manner in which the occupants of the cab disappeared.
+After keeping it well in sight for over half an hour, he lost it
+completely and suddenly in the short street that runs from Walworth
+Crescent, north, into Farley Street; ten minutes later he is under
+the impression that he sighted it again near the Hyde Park Hotel. But
+if it was the same cab it was empty, and the driver was looking for
+fares. For some hours after this Brison patrolled the streets in the
+neighborhood, but could find no trace of the suspected pair. It was
+midnight when he returned to his surveillance of the flat. The next
+morning he heard that its occupants had left. A search-warrant revealed
+the fact that they had gone with such haste that they had left many
+articles of dress, etc., behind them. There was every evidence of a
+hurried flight.
+
+All this was so much clear proof, in Brison’s opinion, of the guilt
+of Sara Dwight. Upon this hypothesis he is working, and I have not
+disturbed his confidence in the integrity of his efforts. The result
+of my investigations, which I have been quietly and systematically
+pursuing for the last three weeks, has led me to a different and
+much more sensational conclusion. That Sara Dwight may have taken the
+diamonds I do not deny. But she was merely an accomplice in the hands
+of another. The real thief, in my opinion, is Gladys, Marchioness of
+Castlecourt!
+
+My reasons for holding this theory are based upon observations taken at
+the time, upon my large and varied experience in such cases, and upon
+information that I have been collecting since the occurrence. Let me
+briefly state the result of my deductions and researches.
+
+Lady Castlecourt, who was the daughter of a penniless Irish clergyman,
+was a young girl of great beauty brought up in the direst poverty. Her
+marriage with the Marquis of Castlecourt, which took place seven years
+ago this spring, lifted her into a position of social prominence and
+financial ease. Society made much of her; she became one of its most
+brilliant ornaments. Her husband’s infatuation was well known. During
+the first years of their marriage he could refuse her nothing, and he
+stinted himself--for, tho well off, Lord Castlecourt is by no means a
+millionaire peer--in order to satisfy her whims. The lady very quickly
+developed great extravagances. She became known as one of the most
+expensively dressed women in London. It had been mentioned in certain
+society journals that Lord Castlecourt’s revenues had been so reduced
+by his wife’s extravagance that he had been forced to rent his town
+house in Grosvenor Gate, and for two seasons take rooms in Burridge’s
+Hotel.
+
+This is a simple statement of certain tendencies of the lady. Now let
+me state, with more detail, how these tendencies developed and to what
+they led.
+
+I will admit here, before I go further, that my suspicions of Lady
+Castlecourt were aroused from the first. It was, perhaps, with a
+predisposed mind that I began those explorations into her life during
+the past five years which have convinced me that she was the moving
+spirit in this theft of the diamonds.
+
+For the first two years of her married life Lady Castlecourt lived most
+of the time on the estate of Castlecourt Marsh Manor. During this
+period she became the mother of two sons, and it was after the birth
+of the second that she went to London and spent her first season there
+since her marriage. She was in blooming health, and even more beautiful
+than she had been in her girlhood. She became the fashion: no gathering
+was complete without her; her costumes were described in the papers;
+royalty admired her.
+
+I have discovered that at this time her husband gave her six hundred
+pounds per annum for a dressing allowance. During the first two years
+of her married life she lived within this. But after that she exceeded
+it to the extent of hundreds, and finally thousands, of pounds. The
+fifth year after her marriage she was in debt three thousand pounds,
+her creditors being dressmakers, furriers, jewelers, and milliners
+in London and Paris. She made no attempt to pay these debts, and the
+tradesmen, knowing her high social position and her husband’s rigid
+sense of pecuniary obligations, did not press her, and she went on
+spending with an unstinted hand.
+
+It was last year that she finally precipitated the catastrophe by
+the purchase of a coat of Russian sable for the sum of one thousand
+pounds, and a set of turquoise ornaments valued at half that amount.
+Each of these purchases was made in Paris. The two creditors, having
+been already warned of her disinclination to meet her bills, had, it
+is said, laid wagers with other firms to which she was deeply in debt,
+that they would extract the money from her within the year.
+
+It was in the summer of the past year that Lady Castlecourt was first
+threatened by Bolkonsky, the furrier, with law proceedings. In the end
+of September she went to Paris and visited the man in his own offices,
+and--I have it from an eyewitness--exhibited the greatest trepidation
+and alarm, finally begging, with tears, for an extension of a month’s
+time. To this Bolkonsky consented, warning her that, at the end of that
+time, if his account was not settled, he would acquaint his lordship
+with the situation and institute legal proceedings.
+
+Before the month was up--that was in October of the past year--his
+account was paid in full by Lady Castlecourt herself. At the same
+time other accounts in Paris and London were entirely settled or
+compromised. I find that, during the months of October and November,
+Lady Castlecourt paid off debts amounting to nearly four thousand
+pounds. In most instances she settled them personally, paying them in
+bank-notes. A few claims were paid by check. I have it from those with
+whom she transacted these monetary dealings that she seemed greatly
+relieved to be able to discharge her obligations, and that in all
+cases she requested silence on the subject as the price of her future
+patronage.
+
+I now come to a feature of the case that I admit greatly puzzles me.
+Lady Castlecourt was still wearing the diamonds when this large sum
+was disbursed by her. As far as can be ascertained, she had made no
+effort to sell them, and I can find no trace of a frustrated attempt to
+steal them. She had suddenly become possessed of four thousand pounds
+without the aid of the diamonds. They were not called into requisition
+till nearly six months later.
+
+The natural supposition would be that “some one”--an unknown donor--had
+put up the four thousand pounds; in fact, that Lady Castlecourt had a
+lover, to whom, in a desperate extremity, she had appealed. But the
+most thorough examination of her past life reveals no hint of such a
+thing. Frivolous and extravagant as she undoubtedly was, she seems to
+have been, as far as her personal conduct goes, a moral and virtuous
+lady. Her name has been associated with no man’s, either in a foolish
+flirtation or a scandalous and compromising intrigue; in fact, her
+devotion to Lord Castlecourt appears to have been of an absolutely
+genuine and sincere kind. While she did not scruple to deceive him
+as to her pecuniary dealings, she unquestionably seems to have been
+perfectly upright and honest in the matter of marital fidelity.
+
+Where, then, did Lady Castlecourt secure this large sum of money? My
+reading of the situation is briefly this:
+
+Her creditors becoming rebellious and Lady Castlecourt becoming
+terrified, she appealed to some woman friend for a loan. Who this is
+I have no idea, but among her large circle of acquaintances there
+are several ladies of sufficient means and sufficiently intimate with
+Lady Castlecourt to have been able to advance the required sum. This
+was done, as I have shown above, in the month of October, when Lady
+Castlecourt was in Paris, where she at once began to pay off her debts.
+After this she continued wearing the diamonds, and, in my opinion--such
+is her shallowness and irresponsibility of character--forgot the
+obligations of the loan, which had probably been made under a promise
+of speedy repayment, either in full or in part.
+
+It was then--this, let it be understood, is all surmise--that Lady
+Castlecourt’s new and unknown debtor began to press for a repayment.
+There might be many reasons why this should so closely have followed
+the loan. With a woman of Lady Castlecourt’s lax and unbusinesslike
+methods, unusual conditions could be readily exacted. She is of the
+class of persons that, under a pressing need for money, would agree
+to any conditions and immediately forget them. That she did agree
+to a speedy reimbursement I am positive; that once again she found
+herself confronted by an angry and threatening creditor; and that,
+in desperation and with the assistance of Sara Dwight, she stole the
+diamonds, intending probably to pawn them, is the conclusion to which
+my experience and investigations have led me.
+
+How she came to select Sara Dwight as an accomplice I am not qualified
+to state. In my opinion, fear of detection made her seek the aid of a
+confederate. Sara’s flight, with its obviously suspicious surroundings,
+has an air of prearrangement suggestive of having been carefully
+planned to divert suspicion from the real criminal. Sophy Jeffers
+assured me that Lady Castlecourt had never, to her knowledge, conversed
+at any length with the housemaid. But Jeffers is a very simple-minded
+person, whom it would be an easy matter to deceive. That Sara Dwight
+was her ladyship’s accomplice I am positive; that she took the jewels
+and now has them is also my opinion.
+
+Being convinced of her need of ready money, and of the rashness and
+lack of balance in her character, I have been expecting that Lady
+Castlecourt would make some decisive move in the way of selling the
+diamonds. With this idea agents of mine have been on the watch, but
+without so far finding any evidence that she has attempted to place the
+stones on the market. We have found no traces of them either in London
+or Paris, or the usual depots in Holland or Belgium. It is true that
+the Castlecourt diamonds, not being remarkable for size, would be easy
+to dispose of in small, separate lots, but our system of surveillance
+is so thorough that I do not see how they could escape us. I am of the
+opinion that the stones are still in the hands of Sara Dwight, who,
+whether she is an accomplished thief or not, is probably more wary and
+more versed in such dealings than Lady Castlecourt.
+
+That her ladyship should have been the object of my suspicions from
+the start may seem peculiar to those to whom she appears only as a
+person of rank, wealth, and beauty. Before the case came under my
+notice at all, I had heard her uncontrolled extravagance remarked upon,
+and that alone, coupled with the fact that Lord Castlecourt is not a
+peer of vast wealth, and that the lady’s moral character is said to be
+unblemished, would naturally arouse the suspicion of one used to the
+vagaries and intricacies of the evolution of crime.
+
+During my first interview with her ladyship I watched her closely, and
+was struck by her pallor, her impatience under questioning, her hardly
+concealed nervousness, and her indignant repudiation of the suspicions
+cast upon her servants. All the domestics in her employment agree that
+she is a kind and generous mistress, and it would be particularly
+galling to one of her disposition to think that her employees were
+suffering for her faults. Her answers to many of my questions were
+vague and evasive, and to both Brison and myself, at two different
+times, she suggested the possibility of the jewels not being stolen at
+all, but having been “mislaid.” Even Brison, whose judgment had been
+warped by her beauty and rank, was forced to admit the strangeness of
+this remark.
+
+The description given me by Sophy Jeffers of her ladyship’s deportment
+when the theft was discovered still further strengthened my suspicions.
+Lady Castlecourt’s behavior at this juncture might have passed as
+natural by those not used to the very genuine hysteria which often
+attacks criminals. That she was wrought up to a high degree of nervous
+excitement is acknowledged by all who saw her. It is alleged by
+Jeffers--quite innocently of any intention to injure her mistress,
+to whom she appears devoted--that her ladyship’s first emotion on
+discovering the loss was a fear of her husband; that when he entered
+the room she instinctively tried to conceal the empty jewel-case behind
+her, and that almost her first words to him were assurances that she
+had not been careless, but had guarded the jewels well.
+
+Fear of Lord Castlecourt was undoubtedly the most prominent feeling she
+then possessed, and it showed itself with unrestrained frankness in
+the various ways described above. Afterward she attempted to be more
+reticent, and adopted an air of what almost appeared indifference,
+surprising not only myself and Brison, but Jeffers, by her remarks,
+made with irritated impatience, that they still might “turn up
+somewhere,” and “that she did not see how we could be so sure they were
+stolen.” This change of attitude was even more convincing to me than
+her former exhibition of alarm. The very candor and childishness with
+which she showed her varying states of mind would have disarmed most
+people, but were to me almost conclusive proofs of her guilt. She is a
+woman whose shallow irresponsibility of mind is even more unusual than
+her remarkable beauty. No one but an old and seasoned criminal, or a
+creature of extraordinary simplicity, could have behaved with so much
+audacity in such a situation.
+
+Having arrived at these conclusions, I am not reduced to a passive
+attitude. I will wait and watch until such time as the diamonds
+are either pawned or sold. This may not occur for months, tho I am
+inclined to think that her ladyship’s need of money will force her to
+a recklessness which will be her undoing. Sara Dwight may be able to
+control her to a certain point, but I am under the impression that her
+ladyship, frightened and desperate, will be a very difficult person to
+handle.
+
+This brings my statement up to date. At the present writing I am simply
+awaiting developments, confident that the outcome will prove the verity
+of my original proposition and the exactitude of my subsequent line of
+argument.
+
+
+
+
+The Statement of Daisy K. Fairweather Kennedy, late of Necropolis City,
+Ohio, at present a resident of 15 Farley Street, Knightsbridge, London.
+
+
+
+
+The Statement of Daisy K. Fairweather Kennedy, late of Necropolis City,
+Ohio, at present a resident of 15 Farley Street, Knightsbridge, London.
+
+
+I believe it is not necessary for me to state how a chamois-skin bag
+containing one hundred and sixty-two diamonds came into my hands on the
+evening of May 14th. That it did come into my possession was enough for
+me. I never before thought that the possession of diamonds could make
+a woman so perfectly miserable. When I was a young girl in Necropolis
+City I used to think to own a diamond--even one small one--would be
+just about the acme of human joy. But Necropolis City is a good way
+behind me now, and I have found that the owning of a handful of them
+can be about the most wearing form of misery.
+
+I suppose there are fearless, upright people in the world who would
+have taken those diamonds straight back to the police station and
+braved public opinion. It would have been better to have had your word
+doubted, to be tried for a thief, put in jail, and probably complicated
+the diplomatic relations between England and the United States, than
+to conceal in your domicile one hundred and sixty-two precious stones
+that didn’t belong to you. I hope every one understands--and I’m sure
+every one does who knows me--that I did not want to keep the miserable
+things. What good did they do me, anyway, locked up in my jewel-box,
+in the upper right-hand bureau drawer?
+
+We knew no peace from that tragic evening when Major and Mrs.
+Thatcher dined with us. First we tried to think of ways of getting
+rid of them--of the diamonds, I mean. Cassius, who’s just a simple,
+uncomplicated man, wanted to take them right to the nearest police
+station and hand them in. I soon showed him the madness of _that_. Was
+there a soul in London who would have believed our story? Wouldn’t the
+American ambassador himself have had to bow his crested head and tame
+his heart of fire, and admit it was about the fishiest tale he had ever
+heard?
+
+It would have ruined us forever. Even if Cassius hadn’t been deposed
+from his place as the head of the English branch of the Colonial
+Box, Tub, and Cordage Company (Ltd), of Chicago and St. Louis, who
+would have known me? The trail of the diamonds would have been over
+us forever. Lady Sara Gyves would have gone round saying she always
+thought I had the face of a thief, and the bishop and the two lords
+I’ve collected with such care would have cut me dead in the Park. I
+would have received my social quietus forever. And, I just tell you,
+when I’ve worked for a thing as hard as I have for that bishop and the
+two lords and Lady Sara Gyves, I’m not going to give them up without a
+struggle.
+
+Cassius and I spent two feverish, agonized weeks trying to think what
+we would do with the diamonds. I never knew before I had so much
+inventive ability. It was wonderful the things we thought of. One of
+our ideas was to put a personal in the papers advertising for “Amelia.”
+We spent five consecutive evenings concocting different ones that would
+have the effect of rousing “Amelia’s” curiosity and deadening that of
+everybody else. It did not seem capable of construction. Twist and turn
+it as you would, you couldn’t state that you had something valuable
+in your possession for “Amelia” without making the paragraph bristle
+with a sort of mysterious importance. It was like a trap set and
+baited to catch the attention of a detective. We did insert one--“Will
+Amelia kindly publish her present address, and oblige Major and Mrs.
+Thatcher?”--which, after all, didn’t involve us. And for two weeks we
+read the papers with beating, hopeful hearts, but there was no reply. I
+thought “Amelia” never saw it. Cassius thought there was no such person.
+
+A month dragged itself away, and there we were with those horrible gems
+locked in my jewel-box. I began to look pale and miserable, and Cassius
+told me he thought the diamonds were becoming a “fixed idea” with me,
+and he’d have to take me away for a change. Once I told him I felt as
+if I’d never have any peace or be my old gay self again while they were
+in my possession. He said, that being the case, he’d take them out some
+night and throw them in the Serpentine, the pond where the despondent
+people commit suicide. But I dissuaded him from it.
+
+“Perhaps they’ll never be claimed,” I said. “And some day when we’re
+old we can have them set and Elaine can wear them.”
+
+“You might even wear them yourself,” Cassius said, trying to cheer me
+up.
+
+“What would be the good?” I answered, gloomily. “I’d be at least sixty
+before I’d dare to.”
+
+All through June I lived under this wearing strain, and I grew thinner
+and more nervous day by day. The season which is always so lovely and
+gay was no longer an exciting and joyous time for me. I drove down
+Bond Street with a frowning face, and it did not cheer me up at all
+to see how many people I seemed to know. Looking down the vistas of
+quiet, asphalted streets, where the lines of sedate house fronts are
+brightened by polished brasses on the doors and flower-boxes at the
+windows, I was no longer filled with an exhilarating determination to
+some day be an honored guest in every house that was worth entering.
+When I drove by the green ovals of the little parks, which you can’t
+enter without a private key, I experienced none of my old ambition to
+have a key too, and go in and mingle with the aristocracy sitting on
+wooden benches.
+
+Even meeting the Countess of Belsborough at a reception, and being
+asked by her, in a sociable, friendly way, if I knew her cousin
+John, who was mining somewhere in Mexico or Honduras--she wasn’t sure
+which--did not cheer me up at all. The change in me was extraordinary.
+When I first came to London, if even a curate or a clerk from the city
+had asked me such a question, I’d have made an effort to remember John,
+as if Mexico had been my front garden and I’d played all round Honduras
+when I was a child. Now I said to Lady Belsborough that neither Mexico
+nor Honduras were part of the United States quite snappishly, as if I
+thought she was stupid. And all because of those accursed diamonds!
+
+It was toward the end of June, and the days were getting warm, when the
+climax came.
+
+The pressure of the season was abating. The rhododendrons were dead in
+the Park, and there was dust on the trees. In St. James’ the grass was
+quite worn and patchy, and strangely clad people lay on it, sleeping in
+the sun. One met a great many American tourists in white shirt-waists
+and long veils. I thought of the time when I, too, innocently and
+unthinkingly, had worn a white shirt-waist, and it didn’t seem to me
+such a horrible time, after all--at least, I did not then have one
+hundred and sixty-two stolen diamonds in my jewel-box. My heart was
+lighter in those days, even if my shirt-waist had only cost a dollar
+and forty-nine cents at a department store in Necropolis City.
+
+The month ended with a spell of what the English call “frightful
+heat.” It was quite warm weather, and we sat a good deal on the little
+balcony that juts out from my window over the front door. Farley
+Street is quiet and rather out of the line of general traffic, so we
+had chairs and a table there, and used to have tea served under the
+one palm, which was all there was room for. We could not have visitors
+there, for it opened out of my bedroom. So our tea-parties on the
+balcony were strictly family affairs--just Cassius, and Elaine, and I.
+
+The last day of the month was really very warm. Every door in the
+house was open, and the servants went about gasping, with their faces
+crimson. I dined at home alone that evening, as one of the members of
+the Box, Tub, and Cordage Company was in London, at the Carlton, and
+Cassius was dining with him. I did not expect him home till late, as
+there would be lots to talk over.
+
+I had not felt well all day. The heat had given me a headache, and
+after dinner I lay on the sofa in the sitting-room, feeling quite
+miserable. Only a few of the lamps were lit, and the house was dim
+and extremely quiet. Being alone that way in the half dark got on my
+nerves, and I decided I’d go up-stairs and go to bed early. I always
+did hate sitting about by myself, and now more than ever, with the
+diamonds on my conscience.
+
+Our stairs are thickly carpeted, and as I had on thin satin slippers
+and a crêpe tea-gown I made no noise at all coming up. I always have
+a light burning in my room, so when I saw a yellow gleam below the
+door I did not think anything of it, but just softly pushed the door
+open and went in. Then I stopped dead where I stood. A man with a soft
+felt-hat on, and a handkerchief tied over the lower part of his face,
+was standing in front of the bureau!
+
+He had not heard me, and for a moment I stood without making a sound,
+watching him. The two gas-jets on either side of the bureau were lit,
+and that part of the room was flooded with light. Very quickly and
+softly he was turning over the contents of the drawers, taking out
+laces, gloves, and veils, throwing them this way and that out of his
+way, and opening every box he found. My heart gave a great leap when I
+saw him seize upon the jewel-box, and my mouth, unfortunately, emitted
+some kind of a sound--I think it was a sort of gasp of relief, but I’m
+not sure.
+
+Whatever it was, he heard. He gave a start as if he had been
+electrified, raised his head, and saw me. For just one second he
+stood staring, and then he said something--of a profane character, I
+think--and ran for the balcony.
+
+And I ran too. There was something in the way--a little table, I
+believe--and he collided with it. That checked him for a moment, and I
+got to the window first. I threw myself across it with my arms spread
+out, in an attitude like that assumed by Sara Bernhardt when she is
+barring her lover’s exit in “Fedora.” But I don’t think any actress
+ever barred her lover’s exit with as much determination and zeal as I
+barred the exit of that burglar.
+
+“You can’t go!” I cried, wildly. “You’ve forgotten something!”
+
+He paused just in front of me, and I cried again:
+
+“You haven’t got them; they’re in the jewelry-box.”
+
+He moved forward and laid his hand on my arm, to push me aside. I felt
+quite desperate, and wailed:
+
+“Oh, don’t go without opening the jewelry-box. There are some things in
+it I know you will like.”
+
+He tried to push me out of the way--gently, it is true, but with
+force. But I clung to him, clasped him by the arm with what must have
+appeared quite an affectionate grip, and continued, imploringly:
+
+“Don’t be in such a hurry. I’m sorry I interrupted you. If you’ll
+promise not to go till you’ve looked through my things and taken what
+you want, I’ll leave the room. It was quite by accident that I came in.”
+
+The burglar let go my arm, and looked at me over the handkerchief with
+a pair of eyes that seemed quite kind and pleasant.
+
+“Really,” he said, in a deep, gentlemanly voice that seemed
+familiar--“really, I don’t quite understand--”
+
+“I know you don’t,” I interrupted, impulsively. “How could you be
+expected to? And I can’t explain. It’s a most complicated matter, and
+would take too long. Only don’t be frightened and run away till you’ve
+taken something. You’ve endangered your life and risked going to prison
+to get in here; and wouldn’t it be too foolish, after that, to go
+without anything? Now, in the jewelry-box”--I indicated it, and spoke
+in what I hoped was a most insinuating tone--“there are some things
+that I think you’d like. If you’d just look at them--”
+
+“You’re a most persuasive lady,” said the burglar, “but--”
+
+He moved again toward the window. A feeling of absolute anguish that
+he was going without the diamonds pierced me. I threw myself in front
+of him again, and in some way, I can’t tell you how, caught the
+handkerchief that covered his face and pulled it down. There was the
+handsome visage and long mustache of Major Thatcher!
+
+I backed away from him in the greatest confusion. He too blushed and
+looked uncomfortable.
+
+“Oh, Major Thatcher,” I murmured, “I beg your pardon! I’m so sorry. I
+don’t know how it happened. I think the end of the handkerchief caught
+in my bracelet.”
+
+“Pray don’t mention it,” answered the major, “nothing at all.”
+
+Then we were both silent, standing opposite one another, not knowing
+what to say. It is not easy to feaze me, but it must be admitted that
+the situation was unusual.
+
+“How is Mrs. Thatcher?” I said, desperately, when the silence had
+become unbearable. And the major replied, in his deepest voice, and
+with his most abrupt military air:
+
+“Ethel’s very fit. Never was better in her life, thank you. Mr. Kennedy
+is quite well, I hope?”
+
+“Cassius is enjoying the best of health,” I answered. “He’s out
+to-night, I’m sorry to say.”
+
+“Just fancy,” said Major Thatcher. Then there was a pause, and he
+added: “How tiresome!”
+
+I could think of nothing more to say, and again we were silent. It was
+really the most uncomfortable position I ever was in. The major was a
+burglar beyond a doubt, but he looked and talked just like a gentleman;
+besides, he’d dined with us. That makes a great difference. When a man
+has broken bread at your table as a respectable fellow creature, it’s
+hard to get your mind round to regarding him severely as a criminal. I
+felt that the only thing to do was to graciously ignore it all, as you
+do when some one spills the claret on your best table-cloth. At the
+same time, there were the diamonds! I could not let the chance escape.
+
+“Oh, Major Thatcher!” I said, with an air of suddenly remembering
+something. “I don’t know whether you know that your wife left a little
+package here that evening when you dined with us. It was for Amelia.”
+
+Major Thatcher looked at me with the most heavily solemn expression.
+
+“To be sure,” he murmured, “for Amelia.”
+
+“Well,” I went on, trying to impart to my words a light society tone,
+“you know we can’t find her. Very stupid of us, I have no doubt. But
+we’ve tried, and we can’t, anywhere.”
+
+Major Thatcher stared blankly at the dressing-table.
+
+“Strange, ’pon my word!” he said.
+
+“So, Major Thatcher, if you don’t mind, I’ll give it back to you. I
+think, all things considered, it will be best for you to give it to
+Amelia yourself.”
+
+I went toward the dressing-table.
+
+“You don’t mind, do you?” I said, over my shoulder, as I opened the
+jewelry-box.
+
+“Not at all, not at all,” answered the major. “Anything to oblige a
+lady.”
+
+I drew out the sack of chamois-skin. “Here it is,” I said, holding it
+out to him. “You’ll find it in perfect condition and quite complete.
+I’m so sorry that we couldn’t seem to locate Amelia. Not knowing the
+rest of her name was rather inconvenient. There were dozens of Amelias
+in the directory.”
+
+The major took the sack, and put it in his breast-pocket.
+
+“Dozens of Amelias,” he repeated, slapping his pocket. “Who’d have
+thought it!”
+
+“We even advertised,” I continued. “Perhaps you saw the personal; it
+was in the morning _Herald_, and was very short and noncommittal, but
+no one answered it.”
+
+“We saw it,” said the major. “Yes, I recollect quite distinctly seeing
+it. It--it--indicated to us--aw--aw--”
+
+The major reddened and paused, pulling his mustache.
+
+“That we hadn’t found Amelia and still had the present,” I answered, in
+a sprightly tone. “That was just it. And so you came to get it? Very
+kind of you, indeed, Major Thatcher.”
+
+The major bowed. He was really a very fine-looking, well-mannered man.
+If he only had been the honest, respectable person we first thought him
+I would have liked to add him to my collection. I’m sure if you knew
+him better he would have been much more interesting than the bishop and
+the lords.
+
+“The kindness is on your side,” he said. “And now, Mrs. Kennedy, I
+think--I think, perhaps”--he looked at the window that gave on the
+balcony--“I think I’d better--”
+
+“You must be going!” I cried, just as I say it to the bishop when he
+puts down his cup and looks at the clock. “How unfortunate! But, of
+course, your other engagements--”
+
+I checked myself, suddenly realizing that it wasn’t just the thing to
+say to the major. When you’re talking to a burglar it doesn’t seem
+delicate or thoughtful to allude to his “other engagements.” That I
+made such a break is due to the fact that I’d never talked to a burglar
+before, and was bound to be a little green.
+
+The major did not seem to mind.
+
+“Exactly so,” he said. “My time is just now much occupied. I--er--I--”
+
+He looked again at the window.
+
+“I--er--entered that way,” he said, “but perhaps--”
+
+“I don’t think I’d go out that way if I were you,” I answered,
+hurriedly, “it would look so queer if any one saw you.”
+
+“Would the other and more usual exit be safe?” he asked. His eye, as it
+met mine, was charged with a keener intelligence than I had seen in it
+before.
+
+“It would have to be,” I answered, with spirit. “What do you suppose
+the servants would think if they saw you coming out of here? This,
+Major Thatcher, is my room.”
+
+“Dear me!” said the major, “I suppose it is. I never thought of that.”
+
+“Wait here till I see if it is all right,” I said, “and then I’ll come
+back and tell you.”
+
+I went into the hall and looked over the banister. The gas was burning
+faintly, and a bar of pink lamplight fell out from the half-drawn
+portières of the drawing-room. There was not a sound. I knew the
+servants were all in the back part of the house, quite safe till eleven
+o’clock, when, if we were home, they turned out the lights and locked
+up. I stole softly back into my room. The major was standing in front
+of the mirror untying the handkerchief that hung round his neck.
+
+“It’s all right,” I assured him, in an unconsciously lowered voice.
+“You can go quite easily; I’ll let you out. Only you mustn’t make the
+least bit of noise.”
+
+He thrust the handkerchief in his pocket and put on his hat, pulling
+the brim down over his eyes. I must confess he didn’t look half so
+distinguished this way. When the handkerchief was gone, I saw he wore
+a flannel shirt with a turned-down collar, and with his hat shading
+his face he certainly did seem a strange sort of man for me to be
+conducting down the stairs at half-past ten at night. If Perkins,
+who’d come to us bristling with respectability from a distinguished,
+evangelical, aristocratic family, should meet us, I would never hold up
+my head again.
+
+“Now, if you hear Perkins,” I whispered, “for heavens’ sake, hide
+somewhere. Run back to my room, if you can’t go anywhere else. Perkins
+_must not_ see you!”
+
+The major growled out some reply, and we tiptoed breathlessly across
+the hall to the stair-head. I was much more frightened than he was. I
+know, as I stole from step to step, my heart kept beating faster and
+faster. Such awful things might have happened: Perkins suddenly appear
+to put out the lights; Cassius come home early from the dinner, and
+open the front door just as I was about to let the major out! When we
+reached the door I was quite faint, while the major seemed as cool as
+if he’d been paying a call.
+
+“Very kind of you, I’m sure,” he said, trying to take off his hat. “I
+shan’t forget it.”
+
+“Oh, never mind being polite,” I gasped. “You’ve got the diamonds.
+That’s all that matters. Good-night. Give my regards to Mrs. Thatcher.”
+
+And he was gone! I shut the door and crept up-stairs. First I felt
+faint, and then I felt hysterical. When Cassius came home at eleven I
+was lying on the sofa in tears, and all I could say to him was to sob:
+
+“The diamonds are gone! The diamonds are gone!”
+
+He thought I’d gone mad at first, and then when I finally made him
+understand he was nearly as excited as I. He went down-stairs and
+brought up a bottle of champagne, and we celebrated at midnight up in
+our room. We had to tell lies to Perkins afterward to explain how we
+came to be one bottle short. But what did lies matter, or even Perkins’
+opinion of us? We were no longer crushed under the weight of one
+hundred and sixty-two diamonds that didn’t belong to us!
+
+That is the history of my connection with the case. From that night
+I’ve never seen or heard of the stones, nor have I seen Major or
+Mrs. Thatcher. The diamonds entered our possession and departed from
+them exactly as I have told, and tho my statement may call for great
+credulity on the part of my readers, all I can say is that I am willing
+to vouch for the truth of every word of it.
+
+
+
+
+Statement of Gladys, Marchioness of Castlecourt.
+
+
+
+
+Statement of Gladys, Marchioness of Castlecourt.
+
+
+I am sure if any one was ever punished for their misdeeds it was I. I
+suppose I ought to say sins, but it is such an unpleasant word! I can
+not imagine myself committing sins, and yet that is just what I seem
+to have done. I couldn’t have been more astonished if some one had
+told me I was going to commit a murder. One thing I have learned--you
+do not know what you may do till you have been tried and tempted. And
+then you do wrong before you realize it, and all of a sudden it comes
+upon you that you are a criminal quite unexpectedly, and no one is more
+surprised than you. I certainly know I was the most surprised person
+in London when I realized that I-- But there, I am wandering all about,
+and I want to tell my story simply and shortly.
+
+Everybody knows that when I married Lord Castlecourt I was poor.
+What everybody does not know is that I was a natural spend-thrift.
+Extravagance was in my blood, as drinking or the love of cards is in
+the blood of some men. I had never had any money at all. I used to wear
+the same gloves for years, and always made my own frocks--not badly,
+either. I’ve made gowns that Lady Bundy said-- But that has nothing to
+do with it; I’m getting away from the point.
+
+As I said before, I was poor. I didn’t know how extravagant I was
+till I married and Lord Castlecourt gave me six hundred pounds a year
+to dress on. It was a fortune to me. I’d never thought one woman
+could have so much. The first two years of our married life I did not
+run over it, because we lived most of the time in the country, and
+I was unused to it, and spent it slowly and carefully. I was still
+unaccustomed to it when, after my second boy was born, Herbert brought
+me to town for my first season since our marriage.
+
+Then I began to spend money, quantities of it, for it seemed to me that
+six hundred pounds a year was absolutely inexhaustible. When I saw
+anything pretty in a shop I bought it, and I generally forgot to ask
+the price. The shop people were always kind and agreeable, and seemed
+to have forgotten about it as completely as I.
+
+After I had bought one thing they would urge me to look at something
+else, which was put away in a drawer or laid out in a cardboard box,
+and if I liked it I bought that too. If I ever paused to think that I
+was buying a great deal, I contented myself with the assurance that I
+had six hundred pounds a year, which was so much I would never get to
+the end of it.
+
+After that first season a great many bills came in, and I was quite
+surprised to see I’d spent already, with the year hardly half gone,
+more than my six hundred pounds. I could not understand how it had
+happened, and I asked Herbert about it and showed him some of my
+bills, and for the first time in our married life he was angry with
+me. He scolded me quite sharply, and told me I must keep within
+my allowance. I was hurt, and also rather muddled, with all these
+different accounts--most of which I could not remember--and I made up
+my mind not to consult Herbert any more, as it only vexed him and made
+him cross to me, and that I can not bear. All the world must love me.
+If there is a servant-maid in the house who does not like me--and I can
+feel it in a minute if she doesn’t--I must make her, or she must go
+away. But my husband, the best and finest man in the world, to have him
+annoyed with me and scolding me over stupid bills! Never again would
+that happen. I showed him no more of them; in fact, I generally tore
+them up as they came in, for fear I should leave them lying about and
+he would find them. If I could help it, nothing in the world was ever
+going to come between Herbert and me.
+
+I also made good resolutions to be more careful in my expenditures. And
+I really tried to keep them. I don’t know how it happened that they
+did not seem to get kept. But both in London and in Paris I certainly
+did spend a great deal--I’m sure I don’t know how much. I did little
+accounts on the back of notes, and they were so confusing, and I seemed
+to have spent so much more than I thought I had, that I gave up doing
+them. After I’d covered the back of two or three notes with figures, I
+became so low-spirited I couldn’t enjoy anything for the rest of the
+day. I did not see that that did anybody any good, so I ceased keeping
+the accounts. And what was the use of keeping them? If I had not the
+money to pay them with, why should I make myself miserable by thinking
+about them? I thought it much more sensible to try to forget them, and
+most of the time I did!
+
+It went on that way for two years. When I got bills with things written
+across the bottom in red ink I paid part of them--never all; I never
+paid all of anything. Once or twice tradesmen wrote me letters, saying
+they must have their money, and then I went to see them, and told
+them how kind it was of them to trust me, and how I would pay them
+everything soon, and they seemed quite pleased and satisfied. I always
+intended doing it. I don’t know where I thought the money was coming
+from, but you never can tell what may happen. Some friends of Herbert
+had a place near the Scotch border, and found a coal-mine in the
+forest. Herbert has no lands near Scotland, but he has in other places,
+and he may find a coal-mine too. I merely cite this as an example of
+the strange ways things turn out. I didn’t exactly expect that Herbert
+would find a coal-mine, but I did expect that money would turn up in
+some unexpected way and help me out of my difficulties.
+
+The beginning of the series of really terrible events of which I am
+writing was the purchase of a Russian sable jacket from a furrier in
+Paris called Bolkonsky. It was in the early spring of last year. I had
+had no dealings with Bolkonsky before. A friend told me of the jacket,
+and took me there. It was a real _occasion_. I knew the moment that I
+saw it that it was one of those chances with which one rarely meets.
+It fitted me like a charm, and I bought it for a thousand pounds. That
+miserable Bolkonsky told me the payments might be made in any way I
+liked, and at “madame’s own time.” I also bought some good turquoises,
+that were going for nothing, from a jeweler up-stairs somewhere near
+the Rue de La Paix, who was selling out the jewels of an actress. It
+was these two people who wrecked me.
+
+Not that they were my only debtors. I knew by this time that I owed a
+great deal. When I thought about it I was frightened, and so I tried
+not to think. But sometimes when I was awake at night, and everything
+looked dark and depressed, I wondered what I would do if something
+did not happen. In these moments I thought of telling my husband,
+and I buried my head in the pillow and turned cold with misery. What
+would Herbert say when he found out his wife was thousands of pounds
+in debt--the Marquis of Castlecourt, who had never owed a penny and
+considered it a disgrace.
+
+Perhaps he would be so horrified and disgusted he would send me away
+from him--back to Ireland, or to the Continent. And what would happen
+to me then?
+
+That summer we went to Castlecourt Marsh Manor, and there my anxieties
+became almost unbearable. Bolkonsky began to dun me most cruelly. Other
+creditors wrote me letters, urging for payments. The jeweler from whom
+I had bought the turquoises sent me a letter, telling me if I didn’t
+settle his account by September he would sue me. And finally Bolkonsky
+sent a man over, whom I saw in London, and who told me that unless the
+sable jacket was paid for within two months he would “lay the matter
+before Lord Castlecourt.”
+
+We went across to Paris in September, and there I saw those dreadful
+people. My other French and English creditors I could manage, but I
+could do nothing with either Bolkonsky or the jeweler. They spoke
+harshly to me--as no one has ever spoken to me before; and Bolkonsky
+told me that “it was known Lord Castlecourt was honest and paid his
+debts, whatever his wife was.” I prayed him for time, and finally
+wept--wept to that horrible Jew; and there was another man in the
+office, too, who saw me. But I was lost to all sense of pride or
+reserve. I had only one feeling left in me--terror, agony, that they
+would tell my husband, and he would despise me and leave me.
+
+My misery seemed to have some effect on Bolkonsky, and he told me he
+would give me a month to pay up. It was then the tenth of September.
+I waited for a week in a sort of frenzy of hope that a miracle would
+occur, and the money come into my hands in some unexpected way. But,
+of course, nothing did occur. By the first of October the one thousand
+pounds was no nearer. It was then that the desperate idea entered my
+mind which has nearly ruined me, and caused me such suffering that the
+memory of it will stay with me forever.
+
+The Castlecourt diamonds, set in a necklace and valued at nine thousand
+pounds, were in my possession. I often wore them, and they were carried
+about by my maid--a faithful and honest creature called Sophy Jeffers.
+On one of my first trips to Paris a friend of mine had taken me to the
+office of a well-known dealer in precious and artificial stones who,
+without its being generally known, did a sort of pawnbroking business
+among the upper classes. My friend had gone there to pawn a pearl
+necklace, and had told me all about it--how much she obtained on the
+necklace, and how she hoped to redeem it within the year, and how she
+was to have it copied in imitation pearls. The idea that came to me
+was to go to this place and pawn the Castlecourt diamonds, having them
+duplicated in paste.
+
+I went there on the second day of October. How awful it was! I wore
+a heavy veil, and gave a fictitious name. Several men looked at the
+diamonds, and I noticed that they looked at me and whispered together.
+Finally they told me they would give me four thousand pounds on them,
+at some interest--I’ve forgotten what it was now--and that they
+would replace them with paste, so that only an expert could tell the
+difference. The next day I went back, and they gave me the money. I do
+not think they had any idea who I was. At any rate, while the papers
+were full of speculations about the Castlecourt diamonds, they made no
+sign.
+
+I paid off all my debts, both in Paris and London; I even paid a year’s
+interest on the diamonds. For a short time I breathed again, and was
+gay and light-hearted. My husband would never know that I had not paid
+my bills for five years and had been threatened with a lawsuit. It was
+delightful to get rid of this fear, and I was quite my old self. I
+suppose I ought to have felt more guilty; but when one is relieved of
+a great weight, one’s conscience is not so sensitive as it gets when
+there is really nothing to be sensitive about.
+
+It was after I had grown accustomed to feeling free and unworried
+that I began to realize what I had done. I had stolen the diamonds.
+I was a thief! It did not comfort me much to think that no one might
+ever find it out; in fact, I do not think it comforted me at all, and
+I know in the beginning I expected it would. It was what I had done
+that rankled in me. I felt that I would never be peaceful again till
+they were redeemed and put back in their old settings. That was what I
+continually dreamed of. It seemed to me if I could see them once more
+in their own case I would be happy and care free, as I had been in
+those first perfect years of my married life.
+
+The fear that at this time most haunted me and was most terrifying
+was that my husband might discover what I had done. His wife, that he
+had so loved and trusted, had become a thief! No one who has not gone
+through it knows how I felt. I did not know any one could suffer so.
+I went out constantly, to try and forget; and, when things were very
+cheerful and amusing, I sometimes did. And then I remembered--I was a
+thief; I had stolen my husband’s diamonds, and, if he ever found it
+out, what would happen to me?
+
+This was the position I was in when the false diamonds were taken.
+It was the last thing in the world I had thought could happen. When,
+that night of the Duke of Duxbury’s dinner, I saw the empty case and
+Jeffers’ terrified face, the world reeled around me. I could not for
+a moment take it in. Only, in my mind, the diamonds had become a sort
+of nightmare; anything to do with them was a menace, and I followed an
+instinct that had possession of me when I tried to hide the empty case
+from my husband.
+
+Then, when my mind had cleared and I had time to think, I saw that if
+they recovered the paste necklace they might find out that it was not
+real, and all would be lost. It was a horrible predicament. I really
+did not know what I wanted. If the diamonds were found, and seen to be
+false, it would all come out, and Herbert would know I was a thief.
+When I thought of this I tried to divert the detectives from hunting
+for them, and I told that silly, sheepish Mr. Brison that I did not see
+how he could be so sure they were stolen, that they might have been
+mislaid. Mr. Brison seemed surprised, and that made me angry, because,
+after all, a diamond necklace is not the sort of thing that gets
+mislaid, and I felt I had been foolish and had not gained anything by
+being so.
+
+The days passed, and nothing was heard of the necklace. I wished
+desperately now that it would be found. For how, unless it was, could
+I eventually redeem the real diamonds, and once more feel honest and
+respectable? If I suddenly appeared with them, how could I explain it?
+Everybody would say I had stolen them, unless I invented some story
+about their being lost and then found, and I am not clever at inventing
+stories. As to where I should get the money to redeem them, I often
+thought of that; but never could think of any way that sounded possible
+and reasonable. I have always waited for “things to turn up,” and they
+generally did; but in this case nothing that I wanted or expected
+turned up. Besides, four thousand pounds is a good deal of money to
+come into one’s hands suddenly and unexpectedly. If it were a smaller
+sum it might, but four thousand pounds was too much. There was nobody
+to die and leave it to me, and I certainly could not steal it, or make
+it myself.
+
+So, as one may see, I was beset with troubles on all sides. The season
+wore itself away, and I was glad to be done with it. For the first
+time, there had been no pleasure in it. Anxieties that no one guessed
+were always with me, and always I found myself surreptitiously watching
+my husband to see if he suspected, to see if he showed any symptoms of
+growing cold to me and being indifferent. As I drove through the Park
+in the carriage these dreary thoughts were always at my heart, and it
+was heavy as lead. I forgot the passers-by who were so amusing, and,
+with my head hanging, looked into my lap. Suppose Herbert guessed?
+Suppose Herbert found out? These were the questions that went circling
+through my brain and never stopped. Sometimes, when Herbert was beside
+me, I suddenly wanted to cry out:
+
+“Herbert, _I_ took the diamonds! _I_ was the thief! I can’t hide it any
+more, or live in this uncertainty. All I want to know is, do you hate
+me and are you going to leave me?”
+
+But I never did it. I looked at Herbert, and was afraid. What would I
+do if he left me? Go back to Ireland and die.
+
+We went to Castlecourt Marsh Manor in the end of June. By this time I
+had begun to feel quite ill. Herbert insisted on my consulting a doctor
+before I left town, and the doctor said my heart was all wrong and
+something was the matter with my nerves. But it was only the sense
+of guilt, that every day grew more oppressive. I thought I might feel
+better in the country. I had always disliked it, and now it seemed like
+a harbor of refuge, where I could be quiet with my children. I had
+grown to hate London. It was London that had played upon my weaknesses
+and drawn me into all my trouble. I had not run into debt in the
+country, and, after all, I had never been as happy as I was the two
+years after our marriage, when we had lived at Castlecourt Marsh Manor.
+Those were my _beaux jours_! How bright and beautiful they seemed now,
+when I looked back on them from these dark days of fear and disgrace!
+
+It was not much better in the country. A change of scene can not make
+a difference when the trouble is a dark secret. And that dark secret
+kept growing darker every day. I feared to speak of the diamonds to
+Herbert, and yet every letter that came for him filled me with alarm,
+lest it was either to say that they were found or that they were not
+found. Herbert went up to London at intervals and saw Mr. Gilsey, and
+at night when he came home I trembled so that I found it difficult to
+stand till he had told me all that Mr. Gilsey had said. Once when he
+was beginning to tell me that Mr. Gilsey had some idea they had traced
+the diamonds to Paris I fainted, and it was some time before they could
+bring me back.
+
+July was very hot, and I gave that as the cause of my changed
+appearance and listless manner. I was really in wretched health, and
+Herbert became exceedingly worried about me. He suggested that we
+should go on the Continent for a trip, but I shrank from the thought of
+it. I felt as if the sight of Paris, where the diamonds were waiting
+to be redeemed, would kill me outright. I did not want to leave
+Castlecourt Marsh Manor to go anywhere. I only wanted to be happy
+again--to be the way I was before I had taken the diamonds.
+
+And I knew now that this could never be till I told my husband. I knew
+that to win back my peace of mind I had to confess all, and hear him
+say he forgave me. I tried to several times, but it was impossible.
+As the moment that I had chosen for confession approached, my heart
+beat so that I could scarcely breathe, and I trembled like a person in
+a chill. With Herbert looking at me so kindly, so tenderly, the words
+died away on my lips, or I said something quite different to what I
+had intended saying. It was useless. As the days went by I knew that I
+would never dare tell, that for the rest of my life I would be crushed
+under the sense of guilt that seemed too heavy to be borne.
+
+It was late one afternoon in the middle of July that the crash came.
+Never, never shall I forget that day! So dark and awful at first, and
+then-- But I must follow the story just as it happened.
+
+Herbert and I had had tea in the library. It was warm weather, and the
+windows that led to the terrace were wide open. Through them I could
+see the beautiful landscape--rolling hills with great trees dotted over
+them, all the colors brighter and deeper than at midday, for the sun
+was getting low. I was sitting by one of the windows looking out on
+this, and thinking how different had been my feelings when I had come
+here as a bride and loved it all, and been so full of joy. My hands
+hung limp over the arms of the chair. I had no desire to move or speak.
+It is so agonizing, when you are miserable, looking back on days that
+were happy!
+
+As I was sitting this way, Thomas, one of the footmen, came in with the
+letters. I noticed that he had quite a packet of them. Some were mine,
+and I laid them on the table at my elbow. Idly and without interest I
+saw that in Herbert’s bunch there was a small box, such as jewelry is
+sent about in. Thomas left the room, and I continued looking out of the
+window until I suddenly heard Herbert give a suppressed exclamation. I
+turned toward him, and saw that he had the open box in his hand.
+
+“What does this mean?” he said. “What an extraordinary thing! Look
+here, Gladys.”
+
+And he came toward me, holding out the box. It was full of cotton wool,
+and lying on this were a great quantity of unset diamonds of different
+sizes. My heart gave a leap into my throat. I sat up, clutching the
+arms of the chair.
+
+“What are they?” I said, hearing my voice suddenly high and loud.
+“Where did they come from?”
+
+“I don’t know anything about them! It’s too odd! See what’s written on
+this piece of paper that was inside the box.”
+
+He held out a small piece of paper, on which the creases of several
+folds were plainly marked. Across it, in typing, ran two sentences. I
+snatched the paper and read the words:
+
+  We don’t want _your_ diamonds. You can keep them, and with them
+  accept our kind regards.
+
+The paper fluttered to my feet. I knew in a moment what it all meant.
+The thieves had discovered that the diamonds were paste, and had
+returned them. I was conscious of Herbert’s startled face suddenly
+charged with an expression of sharp anxiety as he cried:
+
+“Why, Gladys, what is it? You’re as white as death!”
+
+He came toward me, but I motioned him away and rose to my feet. I knew
+then that the hour had come, and tho I suspect I _was_ very white, I
+did not feel so frightened as I had done in the past.
+
+“Those _are_ your diamonds, Herbert,” I said, quietly and distinctly,
+“or, perhaps, I ought to say those are the substitutes for them. _Your_
+diamonds are in Paris, at Barriere’s, _au quatrème_, on the Rue Croix
+des Petits Champs.”
+
+“Gladys!” he exclaimed, “what do you mean? What are you talking about?
+You look so white and strange! Sit down, darling, and tell me what you
+mean.”
+
+“Oh, Herbert,” I cried, with my voice suddenly full of agony, “let me
+tell you! Don’t stop me. If you’re angry with me and hate me, wait till
+I’ve finished before you say so. I’ve got to confess it all. I’ve got
+to, dear. You must listen to me, and not frighten me till I have done;
+for if I don’t tell you now, I shall certainly die.”
+
+And then I told--I told it all. I didn’t leave out a single thing. My
+first bills, and Bolkonsky, and the jeweler, and the pawnbroking place,
+and everything was in it. Once I was started, it was not so hard, and I
+poured it out. I didn’t try to make it better, or ask to be forgiven.
+But when it was all finished, I said, in a voice that I could hear was
+suddenly husky and trembling:
+
+“And now I suppose you’ll not like me any more. It’s quite natural that
+you shouldn’t. I only ask one thing, and I know, of course, I have
+no right to ask it--that is, that you won’t send me away from you. I
+have been very wicked. I suppose I ought to be put in prison. But, oh,
+Herbert, no matter what I’ve been, I’ve loved you! That’s something.”
+
+I could not go any further, and there was no need; for my dear husband
+did not seem angry at all. He took me, all weeping and trembling, into
+his arms, and said the sweetest things to me--the sort of things one
+doesn’t write down with a pen--just between him and me.
+
+And I?--I turned my face into his shoulder and cried feebly. No
+one knows how happy I felt except a person who has been completely
+miserable and suddenly finds her misery ended. It is really worth being
+miserable to thoroughly appreciate the joy of being happy again.
+
+Well, that is really the end of the statement. Herbert went to Paris a
+few days later and redeemed the diamonds, and they are now being set in
+imitation of the old settings, which are lost. I would not go to Paris
+with him. Nor will I go to London next season. Both places are too full
+of horrible memories. Perhaps some day I shall feel about them as I
+did before the diamonds were taken, but now I do not want to leave the
+country at all. Besides, we can economize here, and the four thousand
+pounds necessary to get back the stones was a good deal for Herbert to
+have to pay out just now. And then it is so sweet and peaceful in the
+country. Nothing troubles one. Oh, how delightful a thing it is to have
+an easy conscience! One does not know how good it is till one has lost
+it.
+
+This finishes my statement. I dare say it is a very bad one, for I am
+not clever at all. But it has the one merit of being entirely truthful,
+and I have told everything--just how wicked I was, and just why I was
+so wicked. Nothing has been held back, and nothing has been set down
+falsely. It is an unprejudiced and accurate account of my share in the
+Castlecourt diamond case.
+
+
+
+
+TRANSCRIBER’S NOTES:
+
+
+  Italicized text is surrounded by underscores _italics_.
+
+  Obvious typographical errors have been corrected.
+
+  Inconsistencies in hyphenation have been standardized.
+
+  Archaic or alternate spelling has been retained from the original.
+
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+<body>
+<div style='text-align:center; font-size:1.1em; font-weight:bold; margin-bottom:1em;'>
+The Project Gutenberg EBook of The Castlecourt Diamond Mystery, by Geraldine Bonner
+</div>
+
+<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'>
+This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere in the United States and
+most other parts of the world at no cost and with almost no restrictions
+whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or re-use it under the terms
+of the Project Gutenberg License included with this eBook or online
+at <a href="https://www.gutenberg.org">www.gutenberg.org</a>. If you
+are not located in the United States, you will have to check the laws of the
+country where you are located before using this eBook.
+</div>
+
+<div style='display:table;margin-bottom:1em;margin-top:1em;'>
+  <div style='display:table-row;'>
+    <div style='display:table-cell;padding-right:0.5em;'>Title:</div>
+    <div style='display:table-cell;'>The Castlecourt Diamond Mystery</div>
+  </div>
+  <div style='display:table-row;'>
+    <div style='display:table-cell;padding-right:0.5em;'></div>
+    <div style='display:table-cell;'>Being a Compilation of the Statements Made by the Various Participants in This Curious Case Now, For the First Time, Given to the Public</div>
+  </div>
+</div>
+  <div style='display:table-row;'>
+    <div style='display:table-cell;padding-right:0.5em;'>Author: </div>
+    <div style='display:table-cell;'>Geraldine Bonner</div>
+  </div>
+
+<div style='height:10px'></div>
+
+  <div style='display:table-row;'>
+    <div style='display:table-cell;padding-right:0.5em;'>Illustrator: </div>
+    <div style='display:table-cell;'>Harrie F. Stoner</div>
+  </div>
+
+<div style='height:10px'></div>
+
+<div style='margin-bottom:1em;'>
+Release Date: Mar 27, 2021 [eBook #64934]<br />
+Most recently updated: June 30, 2022
+</div>
+
+<div style='margin-bottom:1em;'>
+Language: English
+</div>
+
+<div style='display:table;margin-bottom:1em;'>
+  <div style='display:table-row;'>
+    <div style='display:table-cell;vertical-align:top;'>Produced&nbsp;by:&nbsp;</div>
+    <div style='display:table-cell;'>D A Alexander, David E. Brown, and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team at https://www.pgdp.net (This file was produced from images generously made available by The Internet Archive)</div>
+  </div>
+</div>
+
+<div style='margin-top:1em;margin-bottom:1.5em;'>*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG BOOK OF THE CASTLECOURT DIAMOND MYSTERY ***</div>
+
+
+<div class="figcenter"><img src="images/cover.jpg" width="40%" alt="" /></div>
+
+<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop" />
+
+<h1>THE CASTLECOURT<br />
+DIAMOND CASE</h1>
+
+<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop" />
+<div class="chapter">
+<div class="figcenter"><img src="images/i_frontispiece.jpg" alt="" /></div>
+<p class="caption"><i>SHE MADE A SORT OF GRASP AT THE CASE</i><br />
+
+<span class="gap">[Page <a href="#Page_30">30</a></span></p>
+</div>
+
+<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop" />
+
+<div class="titlepage">
+
+<p><span class="xlarge">The Castlecourt<br />
+Diamond Case</span></p>
+
+<p>BEING A COMPILATION OF THE STATEMENTS<br />
+MADE BY THE VARIOUS PARTICIPANTS IN<br />
+THIS CURIOUS CASE NOW, FOR THE FIRST<br />
+TIME, GIVEN TO THE PUBLIC :: :: ::</p>
+
+<p><i>By</i><br />
+
+<span class="large">GERALDINE BONNER</span><br />
+
+<i>Author of &#8220;Hard Pan,&#8221; &#8220;The Pioneers,&#8221; etc.</i></p>
+
+<p><i>FRONTISPIECE ILLUSTRATION</i><br />
+
+BY<br />
+
+HARRIE F. STONER</p>
+
+<div class="figcenter"><img src="images/i_title.jpg" alt="" /></div>
+
+<p><span class="large">FUNK &amp; WAGNALLS COMPANY</span><br />
+NEW YORK AND LONDON<br />
+1906</p>
+</div>
+<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop" />
+
+
+<p class="center"><span class="smcap">Copyright, 1905</span><br />
+BY<br />
+GERALDINE BONNER<br />
+<br />
+[<i>Printed in the United States of America</i>]<br />
+Published, December, 1905</p>
+
+
+<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop" />
+
+<div class="chapter">
+<span class="pagenum" id="Page_5">[5]</span>
+<h2 class="nobreak">CONTENTS</h2>
+</div>
+
+<table border="0" cellpadding="2" cellspacing="2" summary="table">
+
+<tr><td class="tdhi">Statement of Sophy Jeffers, lady&#8217;s maid<br />
+to the Marchioness of Castlecourt</td><td class="tdr" valign="bottom"><a href="#Page_9">      9</a></td></tr>
+
+<tr><td class="tdhi">Statement of Lilly Bingham, known in<br />
+England as Laura Brice, in the<br />
+United States as Frances Latimer,<br />
+to the police of both countries as<br />
+Laura the Lady, besides having recently<br />
+figured as a housemaid at<br />
+Burridge&#8217;s Hotel, London, under<br />
+the alias of Sara Dwight</td><td class="tdr" valign="bottom"><a href="#Page_47">      47</a></td></tr>
+
+<tr><td class="tdhi">Statement of Cassius P. Kennedy, formerly<br />
+of Necropolis City, Ohio, now<br />
+Manager of the London Branch of<br />
+the Colonial Box, Tub, and Cordage<br />
+Company (Ltd.) of Chicago and St.<br />
+Louis</td><td class="tdr" valign="bottom"><a href="#Page_95">      95</a></td></tr>
+
+
+<tr><td class="tdhi">Statement of John Burns Gilsey, private<span class="pagenum" id="Page_6">&nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; [6]</span><br />
+detective, especially engaged on the<br />
+Castlecourt diamond case</td><td class="tdr" valign="bottom"><a href="#Page_127">      127</a></td></tr>
+
+<tr><td class="tdhi">The Statement of Daisy K. Fairweather<br />
+Kennedy, late of Necropolis City,<br />
+Ohio, at present a resident of 15<br />
+Farley Street, Knightsbridge, London</td><td class="tdr" valign="bottom"><a href="#Page_157">      157</a></td></tr>
+
+<tr><td class="tdhi">Statement of Gladys, Marchioness of<br />
+Castlecourt</td><td class="tdr" valign="bottom"><a href="#Page_189">      189</a></td></tr>
+</table>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_7">[7]</span></p>
+
+<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop" />
+
+<div class="chapter">
+<span class="pagenum" id="Page_8">[8]</span>
+<p class="ph1">Statement of Sophy Jeffers, lady&#8217;s<br />
+maid to the Marchioness of Castlecourt.</p>
+</div>
+
+<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop" />
+
+<div class="chapter">
+<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_9">[9]</span></p>
+
+<h2 class="nobreak">Statement of Sophy Jeffers, lady&#8217;s<br />
+maid to the Marchioness of Castlecourt.</h2>
+</div>
+
+
+<p class="drop-cap">I &nbsp; HAD been in Lady Castlecourt&#8217;s
+service two years when the Castlecourt
+diamonds were stolen. I am
+not going to give an account of how
+I was suspected and cleared. That&#8217;s
+not the part of the story I&#8217;m here
+to set down. It&#8217;s about the disappearance
+of the diamonds that I&#8217;m
+to tell, and I&#8217;m ready to do it to the
+best of my ability.</p>
+
+<p>We were in London, at Burridge&#8217;s
+Hotel, for the season. Lord
+Castlecourt&#8217;s town house at Grosvenor
+Gate was let to some rich
+Americans, and for two years now
+we had stayed at Burridge&#8217;s. It was<span class="pagenum" id="Page_10">[10]</span>
+the third of April when we came to
+town&mdash;my lord, my lady, Chawlmers
+(my lord&#8217;s man), and myself. The
+children had been sent to my lord&#8217;s
+aunt, Lady Mary Cranbury&mdash;she
+who&#8217;s unmarried, and lives at Cranbury
+Castle, near Worcester.</p>
+
+<p>Lord Castlecourt didn&#8217;t like going
+to the hotel at all. Chawlmers used
+to tell me how he&#8217;d talk sometimes.
+Chawlmers has been with my lord
+ten years, and was born on the estate
+of Castlecourt Marsh Manor.
+But my lord generally did what my
+lady wanted, and she was not at all
+partial to the country. She&#8217;d say
+to me&mdash;she was always full of her
+jokes:</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Yes, it&#8217;s an excellent place, the
+country&mdash;an excellent place to get
+away from, Jeffers. And the farther<span class="pagenum" id="Page_11">[11]</span>
+away you get the more excellent it
+seems.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>My lady had been born in Ireland,
+and lived there till she was a woman
+grown. It&#8217;s not for me to comment
+on my betters, but I&#8217;ve heard it said
+she didn&#8217;t have a decent frock to her
+back till old Lady Bundy took her
+up and brought her to London. Her
+father was a clergyman, the Rev.
+McCarren Duffy, of County Clare,
+and they do say he hadn&#8217;t a penny
+to his fortune, and that my lady ran
+wild in cotton frocks and with holes
+in her stockings till Lady Bundy saw
+her. I&#8217;ve heard tell that Lady Bundy
+said of her she&#8217;d be the most beautiful
+woman in London since the Gunnings
+(whoever they were), and just
+brought her up to town and fitted her
+out from top to toe. In a month she<span class="pagenum" id="Page_12">[12]</span>
+was the talk of the season, and before
+it was over she was betrothed
+to the Marquis of Castlecourt, who
+was a great match for her.</p>
+
+<p>But she was the beggar on horseback
+you hear people talk about.
+Lord Castlecourt wasn&#8217;t what would
+be called a millionaire, but he gave
+her more in a month than she&#8217;d had
+before in five years, and she&#8217;d spend
+it all and want more. It seemed as
+if she didn&#8217;t know the value of
+money. If she&#8217;d see a pretty thing
+in a shop she&#8217;d buy it, and if she had
+not got the ready money they&#8217;d give
+her the credit; for, being the Marchioness
+of Castlecourt, all the shop
+people were on their knees to her,
+they were that anxious to get her
+patronage. Then when the bills
+would come in she would be quite<span class="pagenum" id="Page_13">[13]</span>
+surprised and wonder how she had
+come to spend so much, and hide
+them from Lord Castlecourt. Afterward
+she&#8217;d forget all about them,
+even where she&#8217;d put them.</p>
+
+<p>Lord Castlecourt was so fond of
+her he&#8217;d have forgiven her anything.
+They&#8217;d been married five years when
+I entered my lady&#8217;s service, and he
+was as much in love with her as if
+he&#8217;d been married but a month. And
+I don&#8217;t blame him. She was the
+prettiest lady, and the most coaxing,
+I ever laid eyes on. She might well
+be Irish: there was blarney on her
+tongue for all the world, and money
+ready to drop off the ends of her
+fingers into any palm that was held
+out. There was no story of misfortune
+but would bring the tears to
+her eyes and her purse to her hand:<span class="pagenum" id="Page_14">[14]</span>
+generous and soft hearted she was
+to every creature that walked. No
+one could be angry with her long.
+I&#8217;ve seen Lord Castlecourt begin to
+scold her, and end by laughing at her
+and kissing her. Not but what she
+respected him and loved him. She
+did both, and she was afraid of him
+too. No one knew better than my
+lady when it was time to stop trifling
+with my lord and be serious.</p>
+
+<p>It was Lord Castlecourt&#8217;s custom
+to go to Paris two or three times
+every year. He had a sister married
+there of whom he was very fond,
+and he and her husband would go
+off shooting boars to a place with
+a name I can&#8217;t remember. My lady
+was always happy to go to Paris.
+She&#8217;d say she loved it, and the theaters,
+and the shops&mdash;tho what she<span class="pagenum" id="Page_15">[15]</span>
+could see in it <i>I</i> never understood.
+A dirty, messy city, and full of men
+ready to ogle an honest, Christian
+woman, as if she was what half the
+women look like that go prancing
+along the streets. My lady spent a
+good deal of her time at the dressmakers,
+and she and I were forever
+going up to top stories in little, silly
+lifts that go up of themselves. I&#8217;d a
+great deal rather have walked than
+trusted myself to such unsafe, French
+contrivances&mdash;underhand, dangerous
+things, that might burst at any moment,
+<i>I</i> say.</p>
+
+<p>The year before the time I am
+writing of we went to Paris, as usual,
+in March. We stopped at the Bristol,
+and stayed one month. My lady
+went out a great deal, and between-whiles
+was, as usual, at what they<span class="pagenum" id="Page_16">[16]</span>
+call there &#8220;<i>couturi&egrave;res&#8217;</i>,&#8221; at the jewelers&#8217;,
+or the shops on the Rue de la
+Paix. She also bought from Bolkonsky,
+the furrier, a very smart
+jacket of Russian sable that I&#8217;ll be
+bound cost a pretty penny. When
+we went back to London for the
+season her beauty and her costumes
+were the talk of the town. Old
+Lady Bundy&#8217;s maid told me that
+Lady Bundy went about saying:
+&#8220;And but for me, she&#8217;d be the mother
+of the red-headed larrykins of an
+Irish squireen!&#8221; Which didn&#8217;t seem
+to me nice talk for a lady.</p>
+
+<p>We spent that summer at Castlecourt
+Marsh Manor very quietly, as
+was my lord&#8217;s wish. My lady did
+not seem in as good spirits as usual,
+which I set down to the country life
+that she always said bored her. Once<span class="pagenum" id="Page_17">[17]</span>
+or twice she told me that she felt ill,
+which I&#8217;d never known her to say
+before, and one day in the late summer
+I discovered her in tears. She
+did not seem to be herself again
+till we went to Paris in September.
+Then she brightened up, and was
+soon in higher spirits than ever.
+She was on the go continually&mdash;often
+would go out for lunch, and not be
+back till it was time to dress for
+dinner. She enjoyed herself in
+Paris very much, she told me. And
+I think she did, for I never saw her
+more animated&mdash;almost excited with
+high spirits and success.</p>
+
+<p>The following spring we left Castlecourt
+Marsh Manor, and, as I said
+before, came to Burridge&#8217;s on April
+the third. The season was soon in full
+swing, and my lady was going out<span class="pagenum" id="Page_18">[18]</span>
+morning, noon, and night. There
+was no end to it, and I was worn
+out. When she was away in the
+afternoon I&#8217;d take forty winks on
+the sofa, and have Sara Dwight, the
+housemaid of our rooms, bring me
+a cup of tea, when she&#8217;d sometimes
+take one herself, and we&#8217;d gossip a
+bit over it.</p>
+
+<p>If I&#8217;d known what an important
+person Sara Dwight was going to
+turn out I&#8217;d have taken more notice
+of her. But, unfortunately, thieves
+don&#8217;t have a mark on their brow like
+Cain, and Sara was the last girl
+any one would have suspected was
+dishonest. All that I ever thought
+about her was that she was a neat,
+civil-spoken girl, who knew her betters
+and her elders when she saw
+them. She was quick on her feet,<span class="pagenum" id="Page_19">[19]</span>
+modest and well-mannered&mdash;not
+what you&#8217;d call good-looking: too
+pale and small for my taste, and
+Chawlmers quite agreed with me.
+The one thing I noticed about her
+were her hands, which were white
+and fine like a lady&#8217;s. Once when I
+asked her how she kept them so well,
+she laughed, and said, not having a
+pretty face, she tried to have pretty
+hands.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Because a girl ought to have
+something pretty about her, oughtn&#8217;t
+she, Miss Jeffers?&#8221; she said to me,
+quiet and respectful as could be.</p>
+
+<p>I answered, as I thought it was
+my duty, that beauty was only skin
+deep, and if your character was honest
+your face would take care of
+itself.</p>
+
+
+
+<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_20">[20]</span>She looked down at her hands, and
+smiled a little and said:</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Yes, I suppose that&#8217;s true, Miss
+Jeffers. I&#8217;ll try to remember it.
+It&#8217;s what every girl ought to feel,
+I&#8217;m sure.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>Sara Dwight had the greatest admiration
+for Lady Castlecourt.
+She&#8217;d manage to be standing about
+in doorways and on the stairs when
+my lady passed down to go to dinner
+and to the opera. Then she&#8217;d
+come back and tell me how beautiful
+my lady was, and how she envied
+me being her maid. While she was
+talking she&#8217;d help me tidy up the
+room, and sometimes&mdash;because she
+admired my lady so&mdash;I&#8217;d let her look
+at the new clothes from Paris as
+they hung in the wardrobe. Sara
+would gape with admiration over<span class="pagenum" id="Page_21">[21]</span>
+them. She spoke a little about my
+lady&#8217;s jewels, but not much. I&#8217;d
+have suspected that.</p>
+
+<p>It was in the fifth week after we
+came to town&mdash;to be exact, on the
+afternoon of the fourth day of May&mdash;that
+the diamonds were stolen. As
+I&#8217;d been so badgered and questioned
+and tormented about it, I&#8217;ve got it
+all as clear in my head as a photograph&mdash;just
+how it was and just
+what time everything happened.</p>
+
+<p>That evening my lady was going
+to dinner at the Duke of Duxbury&#8217;s.
+It was to be a great dinner&mdash;a prince
+and a prime minister, and I don&#8217;t
+know what all besides. My lady was
+to wear a new gown from Paris and
+the diamonds. She told me when she
+went out what she would want and
+when she would be back. That was<span class="pagenum" id="Page_22">[22]</span>
+at four, and I was not to expect her
+in till after six.</p>
+
+<p>Some time before that I got her
+things ready, the gown laid out, and
+the diamonds on the dressing-table.
+They were kept in a leather case of
+their own, and then put in a despatch-box
+that shut with a patent
+lock. When we traveled I always
+carried this box&mdash;that is, when my
+lady used it. A good deal of the
+time it was at the bankers&#8217;. Lord
+Castlecourt was very choice about
+the diamonds. Some of them had
+been in his family for generations.
+The way they were set now&mdash;in a
+necklace with pendants, the larger
+stones surrounded by smaller ones&mdash;had
+been a new setting made for his
+mother. My lady wanted them
+changed, and I remember that Lord<span class="pagenum" id="Page_23">[23]</span>
+Castlecourt was vexed with her, and
+she couldn&#8217;t pet and coax him back
+into a good humor for some days.</p>
+
+<p>One of the last things that I did
+that afternoon while arranging the
+dressing-table was to open the despatch-box
+and take the leather case
+out. Tho it was May, and the evenings
+were very long, I turned on
+the electric lights, and, unclasping
+the case, looked at the necklace.</p>
+
+<p>I was standing this way when
+Chawlmers comes to the side door
+of the room (the whole suite was
+connected with doors), and asks me
+if I could remember the number of
+the bootmakers where my lady
+bought her riding-boots. Some
+friend of Chawlmers wanted to know
+the address. I couldn&#8217;t at first remember
+it, and I was standing this<span class="pagenum" id="Page_24">[24]</span>
+way, trying to recollect, when I
+heard the clock strike six. I told
+Chawlmers I&#8217;d get it for him. I was
+certain it was in my lady&#8217;s desk,
+and I put the case down on the bureau,
+and Chawlmers and I together
+went into the sitting-room (the door
+open between us and my lady&#8217;s
+room) and looked for it. We found
+it in a minute, and Chawlmers was
+writing it down in his pocket-book
+when I thought I heard (so light
+and soft you could hardly say you&#8217;d
+heard anything) a rustle like a woman&#8217;s
+skirt in the next room. For
+a second I thought it was my lady,
+and I jumped, for I&#8217;d no business
+at her desk, and I knew she&#8217;d be
+vexed and scold me.</p>
+
+<p>Chawlmers didn&#8217;t hear a thing,
+and looked at me astonished. Then<span class="pagenum" id="Page_25">[25]</span>
+I ran to the door and peeped in.
+There was no one there, and I
+thought, of course, I&#8217;d been mistaken.</p>
+
+<p>We didn&#8217;t leave the room directly,
+but stood by the desk talking for a
+bit. When I told this to the detectives,
+one of the papers said it
+showed &#8220;how deceptive even the best
+servants were.&#8221; As if a valet and
+a lady&#8217;s maid couldn&#8217;t stop for a
+moment of talk! Poor things! we
+work hard enough most of the time,
+I&#8217;m sure. And that we weren&#8217;t long
+standing there idle can be seen from
+the fact that I heard half-past six
+strike. I was for urging Chawlmers
+to go then&mdash;as Lady Castlecourt
+might be in at any moment&mdash;but he
+hung about, following me into my
+lady&#8217;s room, helping me draw the<span class="pagenum" id="Page_26">[26]</span>
+curtains and turn on all the lights,
+for my lady can&#8217;t bear to dress by
+daylight.</p>
+
+<p>It was nearly seven o&#8217;clock when
+we heard the sound of her skirts in
+the passage. Chawlmers slipped off
+into his master&#8217;s rooms, shutting
+the door quietly behind him. My
+lady was looking very beautiful. She
+had on a blue hat trimmed with blue
+and gray hydrangeas, and underneath
+it her hair was like spun gold,
+and her eyes looked soft and dark.
+It never seemed to tire her to be always
+on the go. But I&#8217;d thought
+lately she&#8217;d been going too much,
+for sometimes she was pale, and once
+or twice I thought she was out of
+spirits&mdash;the way she&#8217;d been in the
+country last summer.</p>
+
+<p>She seemed so to-night, not talking<span class="pagenum" id="Page_27">[27]</span>
+as much as usual. There were
+some letters for her on the corner
+of the dressing-table, and I could
+see her face in the glass as she read
+them. One made her smile, and then
+she sat thinking and biting her lip,
+which was as red as a cherry. She
+seemed to me to be preoccupied.
+When I was making the side &#8220;<i>ondulations</i>&#8221;
+of her hair&mdash;which everybody
+knows is a most critical operation&mdash;she
+jerked her head, and said
+suddenly she wondered how the children
+were. I never before knew my
+lady to think about the children
+when her hair was being attended to.</p>
+
+<p>She was sitting in front of the
+dressing-table, her toilet complete,
+when she stretched out her hand to
+the leather case of the diamonds. I
+was looking at the reflection in the<span class="pagenum" id="Page_28">[28]</span>
+mirror, thinking that she was as perfect
+as I could make her. She, too,
+had been looking at the back of her
+head, and still held the small glass
+in one hand. The other she reached
+out for the diamonds. The case had
+a catch that you had to press, and I
+saw, to my surprise, that she raised
+the lid without pressing this. Then
+she gave a loud exclamation. There
+were no diamonds there!</p>
+
+<p>She turned round and looked at
+me, and said:</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;How odd! Where are they,
+Jeffers?&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>I felt suddenly as if I was going
+to fall dead, and afterward, when my
+lady stood by me and said it was
+nonsense to suspect me, one of the
+things she brought up as a proof of
+my innocence was the color I turned<span class="pagenum" id="Page_29">[29]</span>
+and the way I looked at that moment.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Jeffers!&#8221; she said, suddenly rising
+up quick out of her chair. And
+then, without my saying a word, she
+went white and stood staring at me.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;My lady, my lady,&#8221; was all I
+could falter out, &#8220;I don&#8217;t know&mdash;I
+don&#8217;t know!&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Where are they, Jeffers? What&#8217;s
+happened to them?&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>My voice was all husky like a person&#8217;s
+with a cold, as I stammered:</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;They were in the case an hour
+ago.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>My lady caught me by the arm,
+and her fingers gripped tight into
+my flesh.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Don&#8217;t say they&#8217;re stolen, Jeffers!&#8221;
+she cried out. &#8220;Don&#8217;t tell me
+that! Lord Castlecourt would never<span class="pagenum" id="Page_30">[30]</span>
+forgive me. He&#8217;ll never forgive
+me! They&#8217;re worth thousands and
+thousands of pounds! They <i>can&#8217;t</i>
+have been stolen!&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>She spoke so loud they heard her
+in the next room, and Lord Castlecourt
+came in. He was a tall gentleman,
+a little bald, and I can see
+him now in his black clothes, with
+the white of his shirt bosom gleaming,
+standing in the doorway looking
+at her. He had a surprised expression
+on his face, and was frowning a
+little; for he hated anything like
+loud talking or a scene.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;What&#8217;s the matter, Gladys?&#8221; he
+said. &#8220;You&#8217;re making such a noise
+I heard you in my room. Is there
+a fire?&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>She made a sort of grasp at the
+case, and tried to hide it. Chawlmers<span class="pagenum" id="Page_31">[31]</span>
+was in the doorway behind my
+lord, and I saw him staring at her
+and trying not to. He told me afterward
+she was as white as paper.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;The diamonds,&#8221; she faltered out&mdash;&#8220;your
+diamonds&mdash;your family&#8217;s&mdash;your
+mother&#8217;s.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>Lord Castlecourt gave a start, and
+seemed to stiffen. He did not move
+from where he was, but stood rigid,
+looking at her.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;What&#8217;s the matter with them?&#8221;
+he said, quick and quiet, but not as
+if he was calm.</p>
+
+<p>She threw the case she had been
+trying to hide on the dressing-table.
+It knocked over some bottles, and lay
+there open and empty. My lord
+sprang at it, took it up, and shook it.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Gone?&#8221; he said, turning to my
+lady. &#8220;Stolen, do you mean?&#8221;</p>
+
+
+
+<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_32">[32]</span>&#8220;Yes&mdash;yes&mdash;yes,&#8221; she said, like
+that&mdash;three times; and then she fell
+back in the chair and put her hands
+over her face.</p>
+
+<p>Lord Castlecourt turned to me.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;What&#8217;s this mean, Jeffers?
+You&#8217;ve had charge of the diamonds.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>I told him all I knew and as well as
+I could, what with my legs trembling
+that they&#8217;d scarce support me, and
+my tongue dry as a piece of leather.
+When I got toward the end, my lady
+interrupted me, crying out:</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Herbert, it isn&#8217;t my fault, it
+isn&#8217;t! Jeffers will tell you I&#8217;ve taken
+good care of them. I&#8217;ve not been
+careless or forgetful about them, as
+I have about other things. I <i>have</i>
+been careful of them! It isn&#8217;t my
+fault, and you mustn&#8217;t blame me!&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>Lord Castlecourt made a sort of<span class="pagenum" id="Page_33">[33]</span>
+gesture toward her to be still. I
+could see it meant that. He kept
+the case, and, going to the door,
+locked it.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;How long have you been in these
+rooms?&#8221; he said, turning round on
+me with the key in his hand.</p>
+
+<p>I told him, trembling, and almost
+crying. I had never seen my lord
+look so terribly stern. I don&#8217;t know
+whether he was angry or not, but I
+was afraid of him, and it was for
+the first time; for he&#8217;d always been
+a kind and generous master to me
+and the other servants.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Oh, my lord,&#8221; I said, feeling suddenly
+weighed down with dread and
+misery, &#8220;you surely don&#8217;t think I
+took them?&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;I&#8217;m not thinking anything,&#8221; he
+said. &#8220;You and Chawlmers are to<span class="pagenum" id="Page_34">[34]</span>
+stay in this room, and not move from
+it till you get my orders. I&#8217;ll send
+at once for the police.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>My lady turned round in her chair
+and looked at him.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;The police?&#8221; she said. &#8220;Oh, Herbert,
+wait till to-morrow! You&#8217;re
+not even sure yet that they are
+stolen.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Where are they, then?&#8221; he says,
+quick and sharp. &#8220;Jeffers says she
+saw them in that case an hour ago.
+They are not in the case now. Do
+either you or she know where they
+are?&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>I was down on my knees, picking
+up the bottles that had been knocked
+over by the empty jewel-case.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Not I, God knows,&#8221; I said, and
+I began to cry.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;The matter must be put in the<span class="pagenum" id="Page_35">[35]</span>
+hands of the police at once,&#8221; my
+lord said. &#8220;I&#8217;ll have the hotel policeman
+here in a few minutes, and the
+rooms searched. Jeffers and Chawlmers
+and their luggage will be
+searched to-morrow.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>My lady gave a sort of gasp. I
+was close to her feet, and I heard
+her. But, for myself, I just broke
+down, and, kneeling on the floor with
+the overturned bottles spilling cologne
+all around me, cried worse
+than I&#8217;ve done since I was in short
+frocks.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Oh, my lady, I didn&#8217;t take them!
+I didn&#8217;t! You know I didn&#8217;t!&#8221; I
+sobbed out.</p>
+
+<p>My lady looked very miserable.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;My poor Jeffers,&#8221; she said, and
+put her hand on my shoulder, &#8220;I&#8217;m
+sure you didn&#8217;t. If I&#8217;d only a sixpence<span class="pagenum" id="Page_36">[36]</span>
+in the world I&#8217;d stake that on
+your honesty.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>Lord Castlecourt didn&#8217;t say anything.
+He went to the bell and
+pressed it. When the boy answered
+it he gave him a message in a low
+tone, and it didn&#8217;t seem five minutes
+before two men were in the
+room. I did not know till afterward
+that one was the manager, and
+the other the hotel policeman. I
+stopped my crying the best I could,
+and heard my lord telling them that
+the diamonds were gone, and that
+Chawlmers and I had been the only
+people in the room all the afternoon.
+Then he said he wanted them to
+communicate at once with Scotland
+Yard, and have a capable detective
+sent to the hotel.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Lady Castlecourt and I are going<span class="pagenum" id="Page_37">[37]</span>
+to dinner,&#8221; he said, looking at his
+watch. &#8220;We will have to leave, at
+the latest, within the next twenty
+minutes.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>Lady Castlecourt cried out at
+that:</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Herbert, I don&#8217;t see how I can
+go to that dinner. I am altogether
+too upset, and, besides, it will be too
+late. It&#8217;s eight o&#8217;clock now.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;We can make the time up in the
+carriage,&#8221; my lord said; and he went
+into the next room with the policeman,
+where they talked together in
+low voices. I helped my lady on
+with her cloak, and she stood waiting,
+her eyebrows drawn together,
+looking very pale and worried.
+When my lord came back he said
+nothing, only nodded to my lady<span class="pagenum" id="Page_38">[38]</span>
+that he was ready, and, without a
+word, they left the room.</p>
+
+<p>I tried to tidy the bureau and pick
+up the bottles as well as I could, and
+every time I looked at the door into
+the sitting-room I saw that policeman&#8217;s
+head peering round the door-post
+at me.</p>
+
+<p>That was an awful night. I did
+not know it till afterward, but both
+Chawlmers and I were under what
+they call &#8220;surveillance.&#8221; I did not
+know either that Lord Castlecourt
+had told the policeman he believed us
+to be innocent; that we were of excellent
+character, and nothing but
+positive proof would make him think
+either of us guilty. All I felt, as I
+tossed about in bed, was that I was
+suspected, and would be arrested and
+probably put in jail. Fifteen years<span class="pagenum" id="Page_39">[39]</span>
+of honest service in noble families
+wouldn&#8217;t help me much if the detectives
+took it into their heads I
+was guilty.</p>
+
+<p>The next morning we heard about
+the disappearance of Sara Dwight,
+and things began to look brighter.
+Sara had left the hotel at a little
+after seven the evening before,
+speaking to no one, and carrying a
+small portmanteau. When they
+came to examine her room and her
+box they found a jacket and skirt
+hanging on the wall, some burnt
+papers in the grate, and the box
+almost empty, except for some cheap
+cotton underclothes and a dirty wadded
+quilt put in to fill up. Sara had
+given no notice, and had not at any
+time told any of her fellow servants<span class="pagenum" id="Page_40">[40]</span>
+that she was dissatisfied with her
+place or wanted to leave.</p>
+
+<p>That morning Mr. Brison, the
+Scotland Yard detective, had us up
+in the sitting-room asking us questions
+till I was fair muddled, and
+didn&#8217;t know truth from lies. Lord
+Castlecourt and my lady were both
+present, and Mr. Brison was forever
+politely asking my lady questions
+till she got quite angry with
+him, and said she wasn&#8217;t at all
+sure the diamonds were stolen; they
+might have been mislaid, and would
+turn up somewhere. Mr. Brison was
+surprised, and asked my lady if she
+had any idea where they were liable
+to turn up; and my lady looked annoyed,
+and said it was a silly question,
+and that she &#8220;wasn&#8217;t a clairvoyant.&#8221;</p>
+
+
+
+<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_41">[41]</span>Three days after this Mr. John
+Gilsey, who is a detective, and, I
+have heard since, a very famous
+gentleman, was engaged by Lord
+Castlecourt to &#8220;work upon the case.&#8221;
+Mr. Gilsey was very soft-spoken and
+pleasant. He did not muddle you,
+as Mr. Brison did, and it was very
+easy to tell him all you knew or
+could remember, which he always
+seemed anxious to hear. He had me
+up in the sitting-room twice, once
+alone and once with Mr. Brison, and
+they asked me a host of questions
+about Sara Dwight. I told them all
+I could think of; and when I came
+to her hands, and how they were
+white and fine, like a lady&#8217;s, I saw
+Mr. Brison look at Mr. Gilsey and
+raise his eyebrows.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Does it seem to you,&#8221; he says,<span class="pagenum" id="Page_42">[42]</span>
+scribbling words in his note-book,
+&#8220;that this sounds like Laura the
+Lady?&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>And Mr. Gilsey answered:</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;The manner of operating sounds
+like her, I must admit.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;She was in Chicago when last
+heard of,&#8221; says Mr. Brison, stopping
+in his scribbling, &#8220;but we&#8217;ve information
+within the last week that
+she&#8217;s left there.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Laura the Lady is in London,&#8221;
+Mr. Gilsey remarked, looking at his
+finger nails. &#8220;I saw her three weeks
+ago at Earlscourt.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>Mr. Brison got red in the face and
+puffed out his lips, as if he was going
+to say something, but decided not to.
+He scribbled some more, and then,
+looking at what he had written as if
+he was reading it over, says:</p>
+
+
+
+<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_43">[43]</span>&#8220;If that&#8217;s the case, there&#8217;s very
+little doubt as to who planned and
+executed this robbery.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;That&#8217;s a very comfortable state
+of affairs to arrive at,&#8221; says Mr.
+Gilsey, &#8220;and I hope it&#8217;s the correct
+one.&#8221; And that was all he said that
+time about what he thought.</p>
+
+<p>After this we stayed on at Burridge&#8217;s
+for the rest of the season, but
+it was not half as cheerful or gay as
+it had been before. My lord was often
+moody and cross, for he felt the loss
+of the diamonds bitterly; and my
+lady was out of spirits and moped,
+for she was very fond of him, and
+to have him take it this way seemed
+to upset her. Mr. Brison or Mr.
+Gilsey were constantly popping in
+and murmuring in the sitting-room,
+but they got no further on&mdash;at least,<span class="pagenum" id="Page_44">[44]</span>
+there was no talk of finding the diamonds,
+which was all that counted.</p>
+
+<p>This is all I know of the theft of
+the necklace. What happened at
+that time, and what Mr. Gilsey calls
+&#8220;the surrounding circumstances of
+the case,&#8221; I have tried to put down
+as clearly and as simply as possible.
+I have gone over them so often, and
+been forced to be so careful, that I
+think they will be found to be quite
+correct in every particular.</p>
+
+
+
+<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop" />
+
+<div class="chapter">
+<span class="pagenum" id="Page_45">[45]</span>
+<p class="ph1">Statement of Lilly Bingham, known<br />
+in England as Laura Brice, in the<br />
+United States as Frances Latimer,<br />
+to the police of both countries as<br />
+Laura the Lady, besides having recently<br />
+figured as a housemaid at<br />
+Burridge&#8217;s Hotel, London, under the<br />
+alias of Sara Dwight.</p>
+</div>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_46">[46]</span></p>
+<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop" />
+
+<div class="chapter">
+<span class="pagenum" id="Page_47">[47]</span>
+<h2 class="nobreak">Statement of Lilly Bingham, known<br />
+in England as Laura Brice, in the<br />
+United States as Frances Latimer,<br />
+to the police of both countries as<br />
+Laura the Lady, besides having recently<br />
+figured as a housemaid at<br />
+Burridge&#8217;s Hotel, London, under the<br />
+alias of Sara Dwight.</h2>
+</div>
+
+
+<p class="drop-cap">I &nbsp;NEVER was so glad of anything in
+my life as to get out of that
+beastly hole, Chicago. I&#8217;ll certainly
+never go back there unless there is
+an inducement big enough to compensate
+for the elevated railroad, the
+lake, the noise, the winds, the restaurants,
+the climate, and the people.
+Ugh, what a nightmare!</p>
+
+<p>England&#8217;s the country for me, and
+London is the focus of it. You can
+live like a Christian here, and enjoy
+all the refinements and decencies of
+life for a reasonable consideration.<span class="pagenum" id="Page_48">[48]</span>
+How my heart leaped when I saw
+the old, gray, sooty walls looming up
+through the river haze&mdash;I thought it
+best to sneak by the back way, because
+if I go up the front stairs and
+ring the bell there may be loiterers
+round who had seen Laura the Lady
+before, and might become impertinently
+curious about her future
+movements. And then when I saw
+Tom waiting for me&mdash;my own Tom,
+that I lawfully married, in a burst
+of affection, three years ago, at
+Leamington&mdash;I shouted out greetings,
+and danced on the deck, and
+waved my handkerchief. It was
+worth while having lived in Chicago
+for a year to come back to London
+and Tom and a little furnished flat
+in Knightsbridge.</p>
+
+<p>We were very respectable and<span class="pagenum" id="Page_49">[49]</span>
+quiet for a month&mdash;just a few callers
+climbing up the front stairs, and
+demure female tea-parties at intervals.
+I bought plants to put in the
+windows, and did knitting in a conspicuous
+solitude which the neighbors
+could overlook. When I saw
+the maiden lady opposite scrutinizing
+me through an opera-glass I felt
+like sending her my marriage certificate
+to run her eye over and return.
+We even hired a maid of all
+work from an agency as a touch of
+local color on this worthy domestic
+picture. But when the Castlecourt
+diamond scheme began to ripen I
+nagged at her till she was impudent
+and bundled her off. Maud Durlan
+came in then, put on a cap and
+apron, and played her part a good
+deal better than she used to when<span class="pagenum" id="Page_50">[50]</span>
+she acted soubrettes in the vaudeville.</p>
+
+<p>We were two weeks lying low,
+maturing our plans, tho when I left
+Chicago I knew what I was coming
+back for. Outwardly all was the
+same as usual&mdash;the decent callers
+still climbed the front stairs, and elderly
+ladies who, without any stretch
+of imagination, might have been my
+mother and aunts, dropped in for tea.
+I used to wonder how the people on
+the floor below&mdash;they were the family
+of a man who made rubber tires
+for bicycles&mdash;would have felt if they
+could have seen Maud, our neat and
+respectable slavy, sitting with the
+French heels of her slippers caught
+on the third shelf of the bookcase,
+dropping cigarette ashes into the
+waste-paper basket.</p>
+
+
+
+<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_51">[51]</span>When all was ready, Tom and I
+left for a &#8220;business&#8221; trip on the
+Continent. We went away in a four-wheeler,
+driven by Handsome Harry,
+the top piled with luggage, my face
+at the window smiling a last, cautioning
+good-by at Maud. Five days
+later, under the name of Sara
+Dwight, I was installed as housemaid
+on the third floor of Burridge&#8217;s
+Hotel.</p>
+
+<p>I had done work of that kind before&mdash;once
+in New York, and at another
+time in Paris; having been
+born and spent my childhood in that
+cheerful city, my French is irreproachable.
+The famous robbery of
+the Comtesse de Chateaugay&#8217;s rubies
+was my work&mdash;but I mustn&#8217;t brag
+about past exploits. I had never been
+engaged in a hotel theft of the importance<span class="pagenum" id="Page_52">[52]</span>
+of the Castlecourt one.
+The necklace was valued at between
+eight thousand and nine thousand
+pounds. The stones were not so remarkable
+for size as for quality.
+They were of an unusually even excellence
+and pure water.</p>
+
+<p>After I had been in the hotel for
+a few days and watched the Castlecourt
+party, all apprehension left
+me, and I felt confident and cool.
+They were an extremely simple layout.
+Lady Castlecourt was a beauty&mdash;a
+seductive, smiling, white and
+gold person, without any sense at
+all. Her husband adored her. Being
+a man of some brains, that was
+what might have been expected.
+What might not have been expected
+was that she appeared to reciprocate
+his affection. Having made a careful<span class="pagenum" id="Page_53">[53]</span>
+study of the manners and customs
+of the upper classes, I was not
+prepared for this. I note it as one
+of those exceptions to rule which
+occur now and then in the animal
+kingdom.</p>
+
+<p>Besides the marquis and his lady,
+there were a maid and a valet to be
+considered. The former was a
+dense, honest woman named Sophy
+Jeffers, close on to forty, and of the
+unredeemed ugliness of the normal
+lady&#8217;s maid. Such being the case,
+it was but natural to find that she
+was in love with Chawlmers, the
+valet, who was twenty-seven and
+good-looking. Jeffers was too truthful
+to tamper with her own age, but
+she did not feel it necessary to keep
+up the same rigid standard when it
+came to Chawlmers. It was less of<span class="pagenum" id="Page_54">[54]</span>
+a lie to make him ten years older
+than herself ten years younger.
+From these facts I drew my deductions
+as to the sort of adversary
+Jeffers might be, and I found that,
+by a modest avoidance of Chawlmers&#8217;
+society, I could make her my
+lifelong friend.</p>
+
+<p>The evening of the Duke of Duxbury&#8217;s
+dinner was the time I decided
+upon as the most convenient for taking
+the stones. I had heard from
+Jeffers that the marquis and marchioness
+were going. When her
+ladyship left her rooms that afternoon
+I heard her tell Jeffers that she
+would not be back till after six, and
+to have everything ready at that
+hour. Off and on for the next two
+hours I was doing work about the
+corridor with a duster. It was near<span class="pagenum" id="Page_55">[55]</span>
+six when I heard the two servants
+talking in the sitting-room. A bird&#8217;s-eye
+view through the keyhole showed
+me where they were, and that they
+were engaged in searching for something
+in the desk. It was my chance.
+With my housemaid&#8217;s pass-key I
+opened the door a crack, and peeped
+in. The leather case of the diamonds
+stood on the dressing-table not twenty
+feet from the door. It did not
+take five minutes to enter, open the
+case, take the necklace, and leave.
+Jeffers heard me. She was in the
+room almost as I closed the door.
+Before she could have got into the
+hall I was in the broom-closet hunting
+for a dust-pan. But she evidently
+suspected nothing, for the
+door did not open and there was no
+indication of disturbance.</p>
+
+
+
+<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_56">[56]</span>Two days later Tom and I returned
+from our &#8220;business trip&#8221; to
+the Continent. I quite prided myself
+on the way our luggage was labeled.
+It had just the right knock-about,
+piebald look. We drove up in a
+four-wheeler, Handsome Harry on
+the box, and Maud opened the door
+for us. For the next few days we
+were quiet and kept indoors. We
+spent the time peacefully in the
+kitchen, breaking the settings of the
+diamonds and reading about the robbery
+in the papers. As soon as things
+simmered down, Tom was to take the
+stones across to Holland, where they
+would be distributed. We threw
+away the settings, and put the diamonds
+in a small box of chamois-skin
+that I pinned to my corset with
+a safety-pin.</p>
+
+
+
+<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_57">[57]</span>That was the way things were&mdash;untroubled
+as a summer sea&mdash;till ten
+days after our return, when I began
+to get restive. I had had what they
+call in America &#8220;a strenuous time&#8221;
+at Burridge&#8217;s, working like a slave
+all day, with not a soul to speak to
+but a parcel of ignorant servant women,
+and I wanted livening up. I
+longed for the light and noise of
+Piccadilly, the crowd and the restaurants;
+but what I wanted particularly
+was to go to the theater and
+see a play called &#8220;The Forgiven
+Prodigal.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>Maud and Tom raised a clamor of
+disapproval: What was the use of
+running risks? did I think, because
+I&#8217;d been in Chicago for nearly a
+year, that I was forgotten? did I
+think the men in Scotland Yard who<span class="pagenum" id="Page_58">[58]</span>
+knew me were all dead? did I think
+the excitement of the Castlecourt
+robbery was over and done? I
+yawned at them, and then told them,
+with a gentle smile, that they were a
+&#8220;pusillanimous pair.&#8221; There might
+be many men in Scotland Yard who
+knew me, and that, as they say in
+Chicago, &#8220;is all the good it would
+do them.&#8221; They couldn&#8217;t arrest me
+for sitting peacefully at a theater
+looking at a play. As for connecting
+me with Sara Dwight, I would
+give any one a hundred pounds who,
+when I was dressed and had my war-paint
+on, would find in me a single
+suggestion of the late housemaid at
+Burridge&#8217;s. So I talked them down;
+and if I didn&#8217;t convince them of the
+reasonableness of my arguments, I<span class="pagenum" id="Page_59">[59]</span>
+at least managed to soothe their
+fears.</p>
+
+<p>I dressed myself with especial
+care, and when the last rite of my
+toilet was accomplished looked critically
+in the glass to see if anything
+of Sara Dwight remained. The survey
+contented me. Sara&#8217;s mother,
+if there be such a person, would
+have denied me. I was all in black,
+a sweeping, spangly dress I had
+bought in New York, cut low, and
+my neck is not my weak point, especially
+when <i>cr&ecirc;me des violettes</i> has
+been rubbed over it. My hair was
+waved (Maud does it very well,
+much better than she cooks, I regret
+to say), and dressed high, with a
+small red wreath of geraniums
+round it. Nose powdered to a probable,
+ladylike whiteness, a touch of<span class="pagenum" id="Page_60">[60]</span>
+rouge, a tiny <i>mouche</i> near the corner
+of one eye, and long, black gloves&mdash;and,
+presto change! I wore no jewels&mdash;their
+owners might recognize them.
+One could hardly say I &#8220;wore&#8221; the
+Castlecourt diamonds, which were
+fastened to my corset with a safety-pin.
+They were rather uncomfortable,
+but they were the only thing
+about me that were.</p>
+
+<p>As I stood in front of the glass
+putting on finishing touches, Maud
+left the room, and went to the drawing-room
+to watch for Handsome
+Harry, who was to drive our hansom.
+I did not like taking a hired driver,
+and, thank goodness, I didn&#8217;t! I was
+putting a last <i>soup&ccedil;on</i> of scarlet on
+my lips, when she came back, stepping
+softly, and with her eyes round
+and uneasy looking.</p>
+
+
+
+<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_61">[61]</span>&#8220;I don&#8217;t know whether I&#8217;m nervous,&#8221;
+she says, &#8220;but there&#8217;s a man
+just gone by in a hansom, and he
+leaned out and looked hard at our
+windows.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;I hope it amused him,&#8221; I said,
+looking critically at my lips, to see
+if they were not a little too incredibly
+ruddy. &#8220;It&#8217;s a harmless and
+innocent way of passing the time,
+so we mustn&#8217;t be hard on him if it
+doesn&#8217;t happen to be very intellectual.
+Come, help me on with my
+cloak, and don&#8217;t stand there like
+Patience on a monument staring at
+thieves.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>I was irritated with Maud, trying
+to upset my peace of mind that way.
+She&#8217;d had any amount of good times
+while I&#8217;d been at Burridge&#8217;s with
+my nose to the grindstone. And here<span class="pagenum" id="Page_62">[62]</span>
+she was, the first time I&#8217;d got a
+chance to have a spree, looking like
+a depressed owl and talking like the
+warning voice of Conscience! As she
+silently held up my cloak and I
+thrust my hand in the sleeve, I said,
+over my shoulder:</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;And you needn&#8217;t go upsetting
+Tom by telling him about strange
+men in hansoms who stare up at our
+front windows. I want to have a
+good time this evening, not feel that
+I&#8217;m sitting by a guilty being who
+jumps every time he&#8217;s spoken to as
+if the curse of Cain was on him.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>Maud said nothing, and I shook
+myself into my cloak and swept out
+to the hall, where Tom was waiting.</p>
+
+<p>There had been a slight fog all
+afternoon, and now it was thick; not
+a &#8220;pea-soup&#8221; one, but a good, damp,<span class="pagenum" id="Page_63">[63]</span>
+obscuring fog&mdash;a regular &#8220;burglar&#8217;s
+delight.&#8221; As we came down the
+steps we saw the two hansom lamps
+making blurs, like lights behind
+white cotton screens. Tom was
+grumbling about it and about going
+out generally as he helped me in. And
+just at that minute, still and quick,
+like a picture going across a magic-lantern
+slide, I saw a man on the
+other side of the street step out of
+the shadow of a porch, and glide
+swiftly and softly past the light of
+the lamp and up the street, to
+where the form of a waiting hansom
+loomed. It was all very simple and
+natural, but his walk was odd&mdash;so
+noiseless and stealthy.</p>
+
+<p>I got in, and Tom followed me.
+He hadn&#8217;t seen anything. For the
+moment I didn&#8217;t speak of it, because<span class="pagenum" id="Page_64">[64]</span>
+I wasn&#8217;t sure. But I&#8217;ve got to admit
+that my heart beat against the Castlecourt
+diamonds harder than was
+comfortable. We started, and I listened,
+and faintly, some way behind
+us, I heard the <i>ker-lump!&mdash;ker-lump!&mdash;ker-lump!</i>
+of another horse&#8217;s hoofs
+on the asphalt. I leaned forward
+over the door, and tried to look
+back. Through the mist I saw the
+two yellow eyes of the hansom behind us.
+Tom asked me what was
+the matter, and I told him. He
+whistled&mdash;a long, single note&mdash;then
+leaned back very steady and still.
+We didn&#8217;t say anything for a bit, but
+just sat tight and listened.</p>
+
+<p>It kept behind us that way for
+about ten minutes. Then I pushed
+up the trap, and said to Harry:</p>
+
+
+
+<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_65">[65]</span>&#8220;What&#8217;s this hansom behind us
+up to, Harry?&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;That&#8217;s what I want to know,&#8221; he
+says, quiet and low.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Lose it, if you can, without being
+too much of a Jehu,&#8221; I answered,
+and shut the trap.</p>
+
+<p>He tried to lose it, and we began a
+chase, slow at first, and then faster
+and faster, down one street and up
+the other. The fog by this time was
+as thick and white as wool, and we
+seemed to break through it like a
+ship, as if we were going through
+something dense and hard to penetrate.
+It seemed to me, too, a maddeningly
+quiet night. There was no
+traffic, no noise of wheels to get
+mixed with ours. The <i>ker-lump!&mdash;ker-lump!</i>
+of our horse&#8217;s hoofs came
+back as clear as sounds in a calm at<span class="pagenum" id="Page_66">[66]</span>
+sea from the long lines of house
+fronts. And that devilish hansom
+never lost us. It kept just the same
+distance behind us. We could hear
+its horse&#8217;s hoofs, like an echo of our
+own, beating through the fog. It got
+no nearer; it went no faster. It did
+not seem in a hurry, it never deviated
+from our track. There was
+something hideously unagitated and
+cool about it&mdash;a sort of deadly, sinister
+persistence. I saw it in imagination,
+like a live monster with
+bulging yellow eyes, staring with
+gloating greediness at us as we ran
+feebly along before it.</p>
+
+<p>Tom didn&#8217;t say much. He doesn&#8217;t
+in moments like this. He&#8217;s got the
+nerve all right, but not the brain.
+There&#8217;s no inventive ability in Tom,
+he&#8217;s not built for crises. Handsome<span class="pagenum" id="Page_67">[67]</span>
+Harry now and then dropped some
+remark through the trap, which was
+like a trickle of icy water down one&#8217;s
+spine. I began to realize that my
+lips were dry, and that the insides
+of my gloves were damp. I knew
+that whatever was to be done had
+to come from me. I&#8217;d got them into
+this, and, as they say in Chicago,
+&#8220;it was up to me&#8221; to get them out.</p>
+
+<p>I leaned over the doors, and looked
+at the street we were going through.
+I know that part of London like a
+book&mdash;the insides of some of the
+houses as well as the outsides; it&#8217;s a
+part of our business in which I&#8217;m supposed
+to be quite an expert. The street
+was a small one near Walworth Crescent,
+the houses not the smartest in
+the locality, but good, solid, reliable
+buildings inhabited by good, solid,<span class="pagenum" id="Page_68">[68]</span>
+reliable people. The lower floors
+were all alight. It was the heart of
+the season, and in many of them
+there were dinners afoot. I thought,
+with a flash of longing&mdash;such as a
+drowning man might feel if he
+thought of suddenly finding himself
+on terra firma&mdash;of serene, smiling
+people sitting down to soup. I&#8217;d
+have given the Castlecourt diamonds
+at that moment to have been sitting
+down with them to cold soup, sour
+soup, greasy soup, any kind of soup&mdash;only
+to be sitting down to soup!</p>
+
+<p>We turned a corner sharp, going
+now at a tearing pace, and I saw
+before us a length of street wrapped
+in fog, and blurred at regular intervals
+by the lights of lamps. It looked
+ghostlike&mdash;so white, so noiseless,
+lined on either side by dim house<span class="pagenum" id="Page_69">[69]</span>
+fronts blotted with an indistinct
+sputter of lights. There was not a
+sound but our own horse&#8217;s hoof-beats,
+and far off, like a noise muffled
+by cotton wool, the echo of our
+pursuer&#8217;s. Through the opaque,
+motionless atmosphere I saw that
+the vista into which I stared was
+deserted. There was not a human
+figure or a vehicle in sight. It was a
+lull, a brief respite, a moment of incalculable
+value to us!</p>
+
+<p>My mind was as clear as crystal,
+and I felt a sense of cool, high exhilaration.
+I have only felt this
+way in desperate moments, and this
+was a truly desperate moment&mdash;a
+pursuer on our heels and the diamonds
+in my possession!</p>
+
+<p>I leaned over the doors, and looked
+up the line of houses. It was<span class="pagenum" id="Page_70">[70]</span>
+Farley Street. Who lived in Farley
+Street? Suddenly I remembered
+that I knew all about the people
+who lived in No. 15. They were
+Americans named Kennedy&mdash;a man,
+his wife, and a little girl. He was
+manager of the London branch of a
+Chicago concern called the &#8220;Colonial
+Box, Tub, and Cordage Company,&#8221;
+that I had often heard of in America.
+We had marked the house, and made
+extensive investigations before I left,
+intending to add it to our list, as
+Mrs. Kennedy had some handsome
+jewelry and silver. Since my return
+I had seen her name in the
+papers at various entertainments,
+and Maud had told me a lot about
+her social successes. She was pretty,
+and people were taking her
+up. All this&mdash;that it takes me some<span class="pagenum" id="Page_71">[71]</span>
+minutes to tell&mdash;flashed through my
+mind in a revolution of the wheels.</p>
+
+<p>I could see now that the windows
+of No. 15 were lit up. The Kennedys
+were evidently at home, perhaps
+had a dinner on. They, along
+with the rest of the world, would in
+a minute be sitting down to soup.
+They might be sitting down now; it
+was close on to half-past eight. Why
+could not we sit down with them?</p>
+
+<p>I lifted the top, and said to Harry:</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Is the hansom round the corner
+yet?&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;No,&#8221; he answered, &#8220;it&#8217;s our only
+chance. They&#8217;re still a bit behind us.
+I can tell by the sound.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Drive to No. 15, second from the
+corner,&#8221; I said, &#8220;and go as if the
+devil was after you.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>I dropped the trap, and as we tore<span class="pagenum" id="Page_72">[72]</span>
+down to No. 15 I spoke in a series of
+broken sentences to Tom.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;We&#8217;re going in here to dinner.
+You must look as if it was all right.
+If we carry it off well, they won&#8217;t
+dare to question. We&#8217;re Major and
+Mrs. Thatcher, of the Lancers, that
+arrived Saturday from India.
+They&#8217;re Americans, and won&#8217;t know
+anything, so you can say about what
+you like. Give them India hot from
+the pan. I&#8217;ve been living in London
+while you&#8217;ve been away. That&#8217;s how
+I come to know them and you don&#8217;t.
+My Christian name&#8217;s Ethel. Do the
+dull, heavy, haw-haw style. Americans
+expect it.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>We brought up at the curb with a
+jerk, threw back the doors, and
+dashed up the steps. I caught a
+vanishing glimpse of Handsome<span class="pagenum" id="Page_73">[73]</span>
+Harry leaning far forward to lash
+the horse as the hansom went bounding
+off into the fog. As we stood
+pressed against the door, Tom whispered:</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;What the devil is their name?&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Kennedy,&#8221; I hissed at him&mdash;&#8220;Cassius
+P. Kennedy. Came originally
+from Necropolis City, Ohio;
+lived in Chicago as a clerk in the
+Colonial Box, Tub, and Cordage
+Company, and then was made manager
+of the London branch. Their
+weak point is society. If any people
+are there, keep your mouth shut.
+Be dense and unresponsive.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>We heard the rattle of the pursuing
+hansom at the end of the street,
+then through the ground glass of the
+door saw a man servant&#8217;s approaching
+figure.</p>
+
+
+
+<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_74">[74]</span>&#8220;Only stay a few minutes over the
+coffee. We&#8217;re going on to the
+opera,&#8221; I whispered, as the door
+opened.</p>
+
+<p>I swept in, Tom on my heels. We
+came as fast as we could without
+actually falling in and dashing the
+servant aside, for the noise of our
+pursuer was loud in our ears, and
+we knew we were lost if we were
+seen entering. As Tom somewhat
+hastily shut the door, I was conscious
+of the expression of surprise
+on the face of the solemn butler. He
+did not say anything, but looked it.
+I slid out of my cloak, and handed
+it, languidly, to him.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;No, I won&#8217;t go up-stairs,&#8221; I
+said, in answer to his glare of growing
+amaze.</p>
+
+<p>Then I turned to the glass in the<span class="pagenum" id="Page_75">[75]</span>
+hat-rack, and began to arrange my
+hair. I could see, reflected in it, a
+pair of porti&egrave;res, half open, and affording
+a glimpse of a room beyond,
+bathed in the subdued rosy light of
+lamps. I was conscious of movement
+there behind the porti&egrave;res&mdash;a
+stir of skirts, a sort of hush of curiosity.</p>
+
+<p>There had been the sound of voices
+when we came in. Now I noticed
+the stealthy, occasional sibilant of a
+whisper. There was no dinner-party.
+We were going to dine <i>en famille</i>.
+So much the better. My hair neat,
+I turned to the butler, and, touching
+the jet of my corsage with an
+arranging hand, murmured:</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Major and Mrs. Thatcher.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>The man drew back the curtain,
+and, with our name going before us<span class="pagenum" id="Page_76">[76]</span>
+in loud announcement, I rustled into
+the room, Tom behind me.</p>
+
+<p>Standing beside an empty fireplace,
+and facing the entrance in attitudes
+of expectancy, were a young
+man and woman. In the soft pink
+lamplight I had an impression of
+their two astonished faces, or, rather,
+astonished eyes, for they were making
+a spirited struggle to obliterate
+all surprise from their faces. The
+woman was succeeding the best. She
+did it quite well. When she saw me
+she smiled almost naturally, and
+came forward with a fair imitation
+of a hostess&#8217; welcoming manner. She
+was young and very pretty&mdash;a fine-featured,
+delicate woman, in a floating
+lace tea-gown. Her hand was
+thin and small, a real American
+hand, and gleamed with rings. I<span class="pagenum" id="Page_77">[77]</span>
+could see her husband, out of the tail
+of my eye, battling with his amazement
+and staring at Tom. Tom was
+behind me, looming up bulkily, not
+saying anything, but looking blankly
+through the glass wedged in his eye
+and pulling his mustache.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;My dear Mrs. Kennedy,&#8221; I said,
+in my sweetest and most languid
+drawl, &#8220;are we late? I hope not.
+There is such a fog, really I thought
+we&#8217;d never get here.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>My fingers touched her hand, and
+my eyes looked into hers. She was
+immensely curious and upset, but
+she smiled boldly and almost easily.
+I could see her inward wrestlings to
+place me, and to wonder if she could
+possibly have asked us, and had forgotten
+that too.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;And at last,&#8221; I continued, glibly,<span class="pagenum" id="Page_78">[78]</span>
+&#8220;I am able to present my husband.
+I was afraid you were beginning to
+think he was a sort of Mrs. Harris.
+Harry, dear, Mrs. and Mr. Kennedy.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>They all bowed. Tom held out
+his big paw, and took her little hand
+for a moment, and then dropped it.
+He had just the stolid, awkward,
+owlish look of a certain kind of
+army man.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Awfully glad to get here, I&#8217;m
+sure,&#8221; he boomed out. And then he
+said &#8220;What?&#8221; and looked at Mr.
+Kennedy.</p>
+
+<p>Mr. Kennedy was not as much
+master of the situation as his wife.
+He wasn&#8217;t exactly frightened, but
+he was inwardly distracted with not
+knowing what to do.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Pleased to meet you,&#8221; he said,<span class="pagenum" id="Page_79">[79]</span>
+loudly, to Tom, quite forgetting his
+English accent. &#8220;Glad you could
+get around here. Foggy night, all
+right!&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>I looked at the clock. Tom stood
+solemnly on the hearth-rug, staring
+at the fire. The Kennedys, for a
+moment, could think of nothing to
+say, and I had to look at the clock
+again, screw up my eyes, and remark:</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Just half-past. We&#8217;re not really
+late at all. You know, Harry is
+<i>such</i> a punctual person, and he&#8217;s
+afraid I&#8217;ve got into unpunctual
+habits while he&#8217;s been away.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;He <i>has</i> been away for some time,
+hasn&#8217;t he?&#8221; said Mrs. Kennedy, looking
+from one to the other with piquant
+eyes that yearned for information.</p>
+
+
+
+<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_80">[80]</span>&#8220;Four years with the Lancers in
+India,&#8221; Tom boomed out again.</p>
+
+<p>The Kennedys were relieved.
+They&#8217;d got hold of something. They
+both sat down, and it was obvious
+that they gathered themselves together
+for new efforts.</p>
+
+<p>I did likewise. I realized that I
+must be biographical to a reasonable
+extent&mdash;just enough to satisfy curiosity,
+without giving the impression
+that I was sitting down to tell my
+life-story the way the heroine does
+in the first act of a play.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;He arrived only last Saturday,&#8221;
+I said, &#8220;and you may imagine how
+pleased I was to be able to bring him
+to-night, in answer to your kind invitation.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Only too glad he could come,&#8221;
+murmured Mrs. Kennedy, oblivious<span class="pagenum" id="Page_81">[81]</span>
+of the terrified side-glance that her
+husband cast in her direction.
+&#8220;Very fortunate that you had this
+one evening disengaged.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;I&#8217;m taking him about everywhere,&#8221;
+I continued, with girlish
+loquacity. &#8220;People had begun to
+think that Major Thatcher was a
+myth, and I&#8217;m showing them that
+there&#8217;s a good deal of him and he&#8217;s
+very much alive. For four years,
+you know, I&#8217;ve been living here, first
+in those miserable lodgings in Half
+Moon Street, and after that in my
+flat&mdash;you know it&mdash;on Gower Street.
+A nice little place enough, but much
+nicer now, with Harry in it.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Of course,&#8221; said Mrs. Kennedy,
+as sympathetically as was compatible
+with her eagerness to pounce upon
+such crumbs of information as I let<span class="pagenum" id="Page_82">[82]</span>
+drop. &#8220;How dull these four years
+have been for you!&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Dull!&#8221; I echoed, &#8220;dull is not the
+word!&#8221; And I gave my eyes an expressive,
+acrobatic roll toward the
+ceiling.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;She couldn&#8217;t have stood it out
+there,&#8221; said Tom, in an unexpected
+bass growl. &#8220;Too hot! Ethel can&#8217;t
+stand the heat&mdash;never could.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>Then he lapsed into silence, staring
+at the fire under Mr. Kennedy&#8217;s
+fascinated gaze. Dinner was just
+then announced, and I heard him
+saying as he walked in behind us:</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Is India very hot, Mrs. Kennedy?
+Once in Delhi I sat for four
+days in a cold bath, and read the
+Waverley novels.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>To which Mrs. Kennedy answered,
+brightly:</p>
+
+
+
+<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_83">[83]</span>&#8220;I should think that would have
+put you to sleep, and you might have
+been drowned.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>That was one of the most remarkable
+dinners I ever sat through. Of
+the two couples, the Kennedys were
+the least at ease. They were more
+afraid of being found out than we
+were. The cold sweat would break
+out on Mr. Kennedy&#8217;s brow when
+the conversation edged up toward the
+subject of previous meetings, and
+Mrs. Kennedy would begin to talk
+feverishly about other things. She
+was the kind of woman who hates
+to be unequal to any social emergency;
+and I am bound to confess,
+considering how unprepared she was,
+she held her own this time with
+tact and spirit. She had the copious
+flow of small talk so many Americans<span class="pagenum" id="Page_84">[84]</span>
+seem to have at command, and
+it rippled fluently and untiringly on
+from the soup to the savory. I
+added to the impression I had already
+made by alluding to various
+titled friends of mine, letting their
+names drop carelessly from my lips
+as the pearls and diamonds fell from
+the mouth of the virtuous princess.</p>
+
+<p>Tom did well, too&mdash;excellently
+well. When the conversation showed
+signs of languishing, he began about
+India. He gave us some strange
+pieces of information about that distant
+land that I think he invented on
+the spur of the moment, and he told
+several anecdotes which were quite
+deadly and without point. When
+they were concluded, he gave a short,
+deep laugh, let his eye-glass fall out,<span class="pagenum" id="Page_85">[85]</span>
+looked at us one after the other, and
+said, &#8220;What?&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>I would have enjoyed myself immensely
+if a sense of heavy uneasiness
+had not continued to weigh on
+me. What troubled me was the uncertainty
+of not knowing whether
+we really had escaped our pursuers.
+There was the horrible possibility
+that they had seen us enter the
+house, and were waiting to grab us
+as we came out. If they were there,
+and I was caught with the diamonds
+in my possession, it would be a pretty
+dark outlook for Laura the Lady&mdash;so
+dark I could not bear to picture it,
+even in thought. As I talked and
+laughed with my hosts, my mind was
+turning over every possible means
+by which I could get rid of the
+stones before I left the house, trying<span class="pagenum" id="Page_86">[86]</span>
+to think up some way in which I
+could dispose of them, and yet which
+would not place them quite beyond
+reclaiming. I think my nerves had
+been shaken by that spectral pursuit
+in the fog. Anyway, I wasn&#8217;t willing
+to risk a second edition of it.</p>
+
+<p>We sat over dinner a little more
+than an hour. It was not yet ten
+when Mrs. Kennedy and I rose, and
+with a reminder to Tom that we
+were to &#8220;go to the opera,&#8221; I trailed
+off in advance of my hostess across
+the hall into the drawing-room.
+Here we sat down by a little gilt
+table, and disposed ourselves to endure
+that dreary period when women
+have to put up with one another&#8217;s
+society for ten minutes. It
+was my opportunity of getting rid of
+the diamonds, and I knew it.</p>
+
+
+
+<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_87">[87]</span>We had sipped our coffee for a
+few minutes, and dodged about with
+the usual commonplaces, when I suddenly
+grew grave, and, leaning toward
+Mrs. Kennedy, said:</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Now that we are alone, my dear
+Mrs. Kennedy, I must ask you about
+a matter of which I am particularly
+anxious to hear more.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>She looked at me with furtive
+alarm. I could see she was nerving
+herself for a grapple with the unknown.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;What matter?&#8221; she said.</p>
+
+<p>I lowered my voice to the key of
+confidences that are dire if not actually
+tragic:</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;How about poor Amelia?&#8221; I
+murmured.</p>
+
+<p>She dropped her eyes to her cup,
+frowning a little. I was thrilling<span class="pagenum" id="Page_88">[88]</span>
+with excitement, waiting to hear
+what she was going to say. After a
+moment she lifted her face, perfectly
+calm and grave, to mine, and said:</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Really, the subject is a very painful
+one to me. I&#8217;d rather not talk
+about it.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>It was a master-stroke. I could
+not have done better myself. I
+eyed her with open admiration.
+You never would have thought it of
+her; she seemed so young. After she
+had spoken she gave a sigh, and
+again looked down at her cup, with
+an expression on her face of pensive
+musing. At that moment the voices
+of the men leaving the dining-room
+struck on my ear.</p>
+
+<p>I put my hand into the front of
+my dress, and undid the safety-pin.<span class="pagenum" id="Page_89">[89]</span>
+My manner became furtive and hurried.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Mrs. Kennedy,&#8221; I said, leaning
+across the table, and speaking almost
+in a whisper, &#8220;I entirely sympathize
+with your feelings, but I am <i>very
+much</i> worried about Amelia. You
+know the&mdash;the&mdash;circumstances.&#8221; She
+raised her eyes, looked into mine,
+and nodded darkly. &#8220;Well, I have
+something here for her. It&#8217;s nothing
+much,&#8221; I said, in answer to a look
+of protest I saw rising in her face&mdash;&#8220;just
+the merest trifle I would like
+you to give her. <i>She</i> will understand.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>I drew out the bag, and I saw her
+looking at it with curious, uneasy
+eyes. The men were approaching
+through the back drawing-room. I<span class="pagenum" id="Page_90">[90]</span>
+rose to my feet, and still with the
+secret, hurried air, I said:</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Don&#8217;t give yourself any trouble
+about it. It&#8217;s just from me to her.
+Our husbands, of course, mustn&#8217;t
+know. I&#8217;ll put it here. Poor
+Amelia!&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>There was a crystal and silver
+bowl on the table, and I put the bag
+into it and placed a book over it.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Mrs. Thatcher,&#8221; she said, quickly,
+&#8220;really, I&mdash;&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Hush!&#8221; I said, dramatically,
+&#8220;it&#8217;s for Amelia! <i>We</i> understand!&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>And then the men entered the
+room.</p>
+
+<p>We left a few minutes later. The
+butler called a cab for us, and even
+if a person had never been a thief
+he ought to have had some idea of
+how we felt as we issued out of that<span class="pagenum" id="Page_91">[91]</span>
+house and walked down the steps.
+We neither of us spoke till we got
+inside the hansom and drove off&mdash;safe
+for that time, anyway.</p>
+
+<p>We went to Handsome Harry&#8217;s
+place for that night, and sent him
+back for Maud, with the message
+she must get out immediately with
+what things she could bring. By
+eleven she was with us with her
+trunk and mine on top of a four-wheeler.
+The next morning we had
+scattered&mdash;I for Calais <i>en route</i> for
+Paris, Tom for Edinburgh. Maud
+went to join a vaudeville company
+that she acts with &#8220;between-whiles.&#8221;
+We had to leave a good
+many things in the flat; but I felt
+we&#8217;d got out cheaply, and had no
+regrets.</p>
+
+<p>That is the history of my connection<span class="pagenum" id="Page_92">[92]</span>
+with the Castlecourt diamond
+robbery. Of course, it was not the
+end of the connection of our gang
+with the case, but my actual participation
+ended here. I was simply an
+interested spectator from this on.
+My statement is merely the record of
+my own personal share in the theft,
+and as such is written with as much
+clearness and fulness as I, who am
+unused to the pen, have got at my
+command.</p>
+
+
+
+<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop" />
+
+<div class="chapter">
+<span class="pagenum" id="Page_93">[93]</span>
+<p class="ph1">Statement of Cassius P. Kennedy,<br />
+formerly of Necropolis City, Ohio,<br />
+now Manager of the London Branch<br />
+of the Colonial Box, Tub, and Cordage<br />
+Company (Ltd.) of Chicago and<br />
+St. Louis.</p>
+</div>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_94">[94]</span></p>
+<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop" />
+
+<div class="chapter">
+<span class="pagenum" id="Page_95">[95]</span>
+<h2 class="nobreak">Statement of Cassius P. Kennedy,<br />
+formerly of Necropolis City, Ohio,<br />
+now Manager of the London Branch<br />
+of the Colonial Box, Tub, and Cordage<br />
+Company (Ltd.) of Chicago and<br />
+St. Louis.</h2>
+</div>
+
+
+<p class="drop-cap">WE HAD been in London two
+years when a series of extraordinary
+events took place which
+involved us, through no fault of our
+own, in the most unpleasant predicament
+that ever overtook two honest,
+respectable Americans in a foreign
+country.</p>
+
+<p>I had been sent over to start the
+English branch of the Colonial Box,
+Tub, and Cordage Company, one of
+the biggest concerns of the Middle
+West, and it wasn&#8217;t two months before
+I realized that the venture was
+going to catch on, and I was going<span class="pagenum" id="Page_96">[96]</span>
+to be at the head of a booming business.
+I&#8217;d brought my wife and little
+girl along with me. We&#8217;d been married
+five years&mdash;met in Necropolis
+City, and lived there and afterward
+in Chicago, where I got my first big
+promotion. She was Daisy K. Fairweather,
+of Buncumville, Indiana,
+and had been the belle of the place.
+She&#8217;d also attracted considerable attention
+in St. Louis and Kansas City,
+where she&#8217;d visited round a good
+deal. There was nothing green about
+Daisy K. Fairweather&mdash;never had
+been.</p>
+
+<p>Daisy and I didn&#8217;t know many
+people when we first came over, but
+that little woman wasn&#8217;t here six
+months before she&#8217;d sized up the
+situation, and made up her mind
+just how and where she was going<span class="pagenum" id="Page_97">[97]</span>
+to butt in. The first thing she did
+was to conform to those particular
+ones among the local customs that
+seemed to her the most high-toned.
+In Chicago we&#8217;d always dined at
+half-past six, and given the hired
+girls every Thursday off. In London
+we dined the first year at half-past
+seven, and the second at half-past
+eight. We had four servants
+and a butler called Perkins, who ran
+everything in sight&mdash;myself included.
+I always dressed for dinner
+after Perkins came, and tried to
+look as if it was my lifelong custom.
+I&#8217;d have sunk out of sight in a sea
+of shame rather than have had Perkins
+think I had not been brought
+up to it.</p>
+
+<p>Daisy caught on to everything, and
+then passed the word on to me. She<span class="pagenum" id="Page_98">[98]</span>
+was always springing innovations on
+me, and I did the best I could to keep
+my end up. She stopped talking the
+way she used to in Necropolis City,
+and made Elaine&mdash;that&#8217;s our little
+girl&mdash;quit calling me &#8220;Popper&#8221; and
+call me &#8220;Daddy.&#8221; She called her
+front hair her &#8220;fringe&#8221; and her shirt-waist
+her &#8220;bloos,&#8221; and she made me
+careful of what I said before the servants.
+&#8220;Servants talk so!&#8221; she&#8217;d
+say, just as if she&#8217;d heard them. In
+Necropolis City, or even Chicago,
+we never bothered about the &#8220;help&#8221;
+talking. They said what they wanted
+and we said what we wanted, and
+that was all there was to it. But I
+supposed it was all right. Whatever
+Daisy K. Fairweather Kennedy says
+goes with me.</p>
+
+<p>By the second season Daisy&#8217;d<span class="pagenum" id="Page_99">[99]</span>
+broken quite a way into society, and
+knew a bishop and two lords. We
+were asked out a good deal, and we&#8217;d
+some worthy little dinners at our
+own shack&mdash;15 Farley Street, near
+Walworth Crescent, a thirty-five
+foot, four-story, high-stooped edifice
+that we paid the same rent for you&#8217;d
+pay for a seven-room flat in Chicago.
+Daisy by this time was in with all
+kinds of push. She was what she
+called a &#8220;success.&#8221; Nights when we
+didn&#8217;t go out she&#8217;d sit with me and
+say:</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Well, I don&#8217;t really see how I&#8217;ll
+ever be able to live in Chicago again,
+and Necropolis City would certainly
+kill me.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>This same season Lady Sara Gyves
+dined with us twice (it was a great
+step, Daisy said, and I took it for<span class="pagenum" id="Page_100">[100]</span>
+granted she knew), and once at a reception
+Daisy stood right up close to
+the Marchioness of Castlecourt, the
+greatest beauty in London, and
+watched her drink a cup of tea.
+Daisy didn&#8217;t meet her that time, but
+she said to me:</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Next season I&#8217;ll know her, and
+the season after that, if we&#8217;re careful,
+I&#8217;ll dine with her. Then, Cassius
+P. Kennedy, we will have arrived!&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>I said &#8220;Sure!&#8221; That&#8217;s what I
+mostly say to her, because she&#8217;s
+mostly right. You don&#8217;t often find
+that little woman making breaks.</p>
+
+<p>It was in our third season in London,
+the time the middle of May,
+when the things occurred of which
+I have made mention at the beginning<span class="pagenum" id="Page_101">[101]</span>
+of my statement. It was this
+way:</p>
+
+<p>We&#8217;d been going out a good deal,
+pretty nearly every night, and we
+were glad to have, for once, a quiet
+evening at home. Of course, that
+doesn&#8217;t mean the same as it does in
+Necropolis City or even Chicago.
+We dine, just the same, at half-past
+eight, and both of us dress for dinner.
+We have to, Daisy says, no
+matter how we feel, because of the
+servants. The servants in London
+are good servants all right, but the
+way you have to avoid shocking their
+sensitive feelings sometimes makes
+a free-born American rebellious. I
+like to think I&#8217;m an object of interest
+to my fellow creatures, but it&#8217;s
+a good deal of a bother to have it on
+your mind that you mustn&#8217;t destroy<span class="pagenum" id="Page_102">[102]</span>
+the illusions of the butler or upset
+the ideals of the cook.</p>
+
+<p>As we were waiting for dinner to
+be announced we heard a cab rattle
+up and stop, as it seemed, at our
+door. We looked at each other with
+inquiring eyes, and then heard the
+cab go off&mdash;on the full jump, I
+should say, by the noise it made&mdash;and
+a minute later the bell rang
+sharp and quick. Perkins opened
+the door, and Daisy and I heard a
+lady&#8217;s voice, very sweet and sort of
+drawling, say something in the vestibule.
+I peeped through the curtains,
+and there were a man and
+a woman&mdash;a distinguished-looking
+pair&mdash;taking off their coats and
+primping themselves up at the hall
+mirror. I&#8217;d never seen either of
+them before, as far as I could remember,<span class="pagenum" id="Page_103">[103]</span>
+but I could tell by their
+general make-up that they were the
+real thing&mdash;the kind Daisy was always
+cultivating and asking to dinner.</p>
+
+<p>I stepped back, and said to her, in
+a whisper:</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Somebody&#8217;s come to dinner, and
+you&#8217;ve forgotten all about it.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>She shook her head, and whispered
+back:</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;I haven&#8217;t asked any one to dinner;
+I&#8217;m sure I haven&#8217;t.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Well, they&#8217;re here, whether we&#8217;ve
+asked them or not,&#8221; I hissed, &#8220;and
+you can&#8217;t turn &#8217;em out. They expect
+to be fed.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Who are they?&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Search me! Friends of yours
+I&#8217;ve never seen.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;For pity&#8217;s sake, don&#8217;t look surprised!<span class="pagenum" id="Page_104">[104]</span>
+Try and pretend it&#8217;s all
+right.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>We lined up by the fireplace, and
+got our smiles all ready. The porti&egrave;re
+was drawn, and Perkins announced:</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Major and Mrs. Thatcher.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>They sailed smilingly into the
+room, the woman ahead, rustling in
+a long, sparkly, black dress. To my
+certain knowledge, I&#8217;d never seen
+either of them before. The woman
+was very pretty; not pretty in the
+sense that Daisy is, with beautiful
+features and a perfect complexion,
+but slim, and pale, and aristocratic-looking.
+She had black hair with a
+little wreath of red flowers in it,
+and the whitest neck I ever saw. She
+evidently thought she was all right
+as far as herself and the house and<span class="pagenum" id="Page_105">[105]</span>
+the dinner were concerned, for she
+was perfectly serene, and easy as
+an old shoe. The man behind her
+was a big, handsome, dense chap&mdash;just
+home from India, they said,
+and he looked it. He&#8217;d that dull
+way those dead swell army fellows
+sometimes have; it goes with a long
+mustache and an eye-glass.</p>
+
+<p>I looked out of the tail of my eye
+at Daisy, and I knew by her face
+she couldn&#8217;t remember either of
+them. But they were the genuine
+article, and she wasn&#8217;t going to be
+feazed by any situation that could
+boil up out of the society pool. She
+was just as easy as they were. She&#8217;d
+a smile on her face like a child, and
+she said the little, mild, milky things
+women say just as milkily and mildly<span class="pagenum" id="Page_106">[106]</span>
+as tho she was greeting her lifelong
+friends.</p>
+
+<p>Well, it went along as smoothly as
+a summer sea. They located themselves
+as Major and Mrs. Thatcher,
+and told a lot about their life and
+their movements&mdash;all of which I
+could see Daisy greedily gathering
+in. I didn&#8217;t know whether she remembered
+them or not, but I didn&#8217;t
+think she did, she was so careful
+about alluding to places where she
+had met them. They seemed to
+know her all right&mdash;Mrs. Thatcher,
+especially. She&#8217;d allude to smart
+houses where Daisy had been asked,
+and tony people that were getting
+to be friends of Daisy&#8217;s. She seemed
+to be right in the best circles herself.
+I wouldn&#8217;t like to say how many
+times she mentioned the names of<span class="pagenum" id="Page_107">[107]</span>
+earls and lords; one of them, Baron&mdash;some
+name like Fiddlesticks&mdash;she
+said was her cousin.</p>
+
+<p>She didn&#8217;t stay long after dinner.
+I don&#8217;t think I sat ten minutes with
+the major&mdash;and it was a dull ten
+minutes, and no mistake. There was
+nothing light and airy about him.
+He asked me about Chicago (which
+he pronounced &#8220;Chick-ago&#8221;), and
+said he had heard there was good
+sport in the Rocky Mountains, and
+thought of going there to hunt the
+Great Auk. I didn&#8217;t know what the
+Great Auk was, and I asked him. He
+looked blankly at me, and said he believed
+a &#8220;large form of bird,&#8221; which
+surprised me, as I had an idea it was
+a preadamite beast, like a behemoth.</p>
+
+<p>I was glad to have the major go,
+not only because he was so dull, but<span class="pagenum" id="Page_108">[108]</span>
+because I was so dying to find out
+from Daisy if she&#8217;d placed them and
+who they were. They were hardly
+on the steps and the front door shut
+on them before I was back in the
+parlor.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Who are they, for heavens&#8217;
+sake?&#8221; I burst out.</p>
+
+<p>She shook her head, laughing a
+little, and looking utterly bewildered.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;My dear boy,&#8221; she said, &#8220;I
+haven&#8217;t the least idea. It&#8217;s the most
+extraordinary thing I ever knew.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Isn&#8217;t there anything about them
+you remember? Didn&#8217;t they say
+something that gave you a clew?&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Not a word, and yet they seem to
+know me so well. The queerest
+thing of all was that, when you were
+in the dining-room with the man, the
+woman, in the most confidential tone,<span class="pagenum" id="Page_109">[109]</span>
+began to ask me about some one
+called Amelia. It was <i>too</i> dreadful!
+I hadn&#8217;t the faintest notion what she
+meant.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;What did you say? I&#8217;ll lay ten
+to one you were equal to it.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;I realized it was desperate, and,
+after going through the dinner so
+creditably, I wasn&#8217;t going to break
+down over the coffee. She said:
+&#8216;How about poor Amelia?&#8217; I knew
+by that &#8216;poor&#8217; and by the expression
+of her face it was something unusual
+and queer. I thought a minute, and
+then looked as solemn as I could, and
+answered: &#8216;Really, the subject is a
+very painful one to me. I&#8217;d rather
+not talk about it.&#8217;&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>We both roared. It was so like
+Daisy to be ready that way!</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;And then&mdash;this is the strangest<span class="pagenum" id="Page_110">[110]</span>
+part of all&mdash;she put her hand in the
+front of her dress and drew out
+some little thing of chamois leather,
+and told me to give it to Amelia from
+her. I tried to stop her, but it was
+too late. She put it here in the crystal
+bowl.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>Daisy went to the bowl, and took
+out a little limp sack of chamois
+leather.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;It feels like pebbles,&#8221; she said,
+pinching it.</p>
+
+<p>And then she opened it and shook
+the &#8220;pebbles&#8221; into her hand. I bent
+down to look at them, my head close
+to hers. The palm of her hand was
+covered with small, sparkling crystals
+of different sizes and very
+bright. We looked at them, and
+then at one another. They were diamonds!</p>
+
+
+
+<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_111">[111]</span>For a moment we didn&#8217;t either of
+us say anything. Daisy had been
+laughing, and her laugh died away
+into a sort of scared giggle. Her
+hand began to shake a little, and it
+made the diamonds send out gleams
+in all directions.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;What&mdash;what&mdash;does it mean?&#8221;
+she said, in a low sort of gasp.</p>
+
+<p>I just looked at them and shook
+my head. But I felt a cold sinking in
+that part of my organism where my
+courage is usually screwed to the
+sticking-place.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Are they real, do you think?&#8221;
+she said again, and she took the evening
+paper and poured them out
+on it.</p>
+
+<p>Spread out that way, they looked
+most awfully numerous and rich.
+There must have been more than a<span class="pagenum" id="Page_112">[112]</span>
+hundred of them of different sizes,
+and shaking around on the surface
+of the paper made them shine and
+sparkle like stars.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;It&#8217;s a fortune, Cassius,&#8221; she said,
+almost in a whisper; &#8220;it&#8217;s a fortune
+in diamonds. Why did she leave
+them?&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Didn&#8217;t she say they were for
+Amelia?&#8221; I said, in a hollow tone.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Yes; but who is Amelia? How
+will we ever find her? What shall
+we do? It&#8217;s too awful!&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>We stood opposite one another
+with the paper between us, and tried
+to think. In the lamplight the diamonds
+winked at us with what
+seemed human malice. I turned
+round and picked up the bag they
+had come from, looked vaguely into
+it, and shook it. A last stone fell out<span class="pagenum" id="Page_113">[113]</span>
+on the paper, quite a large one, and
+added itself to the pile.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Why did she leave them here?&#8221;
+Daisy moaned. &#8220;What did she
+bother us for? Why didn&#8217;t she take
+them to Amelia herself?&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Because she was afraid,&#8221; I said,
+in the undertone of melodrama.
+&#8220;They&#8217;re stolen, Daisy.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>I had voiced the fear in both our
+hearts. We sat down opposite one
+another on either side of the table,
+with the newspaper full of diamonds
+between us. I don&#8217;t know whether
+I was as pale as Daisy, but I felt
+quite as bad as she looked. And sitting
+thus, each staring into the
+other&#8217;s scared face, we ran over the
+events of the evening.</p>
+
+<p>We couldn&#8217;t make much of it; it
+was too uncanny. But from the first<span class="pagenum" id="Page_114">[114]</span>
+we both decided we&#8217;d felt something
+to be wrong. Why or how they&#8217;d
+come? who they were? what they
+wanted?&mdash;we couldn&#8217;t answer a single
+question. We were in a maze.
+The only thing that seemed certain
+was that they had one hundred and
+fifty diamonds of varying sizes that
+they had wanted, for some reason, to
+get rid of, and they&#8217;d got rid of them
+to us. And so we talked and talked
+till, by slow degrees, we got to the
+point where suddenly, with a simultaneous
+start, we looked at one another,
+and breathed out:</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;The Castlecourt diamonds!&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>We had read it all in the papers,
+and we had talked it over, and here
+we were with a pile of gems in a
+newspaper that might be the very
+stones.</p>
+
+
+
+<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_115">[115]</span>&#8220;And next year I&#8217;d hoped to know
+Lady Castlecourt. I&#8217;d been sure I
+would!&#8221; Daisy wailed. &#8220;And
+now&mdash;&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;But you haven&#8217;t stolen the diamonds,
+dearest,&#8221; I said, soothingly.
+&#8220;You needn&#8217;t get in a fever about
+that.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;But, good heavens, I might just
+as well! Do you suppose there&#8217;s any
+one in the world fool enough to believe
+the story of what happened
+here to-night? People say it&#8217;s hard
+to believe everything in the Bible!
+Why, Jonah and the whale is a simple
+every-day affair compared to
+it!&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>It did look bad; the more we
+talked of it the worse it looked. We
+didn&#8217;t sleep all night, and when the
+dawn was coming through the blinds<span class="pagenum" id="Page_116">[116]</span>
+we were still talking, trying to decide
+what to do. At breakfast we sat
+like two graven images, not eating a
+thing, and all that day in the office
+I found it impossible to concentrate
+my mind, but sat thinking of what
+on earth we&#8217;d do with those darned
+diamonds.</p>
+
+<p>I&#8217;d suggested, the first thing, to go
+and give them up at the nearest police
+station. But Daisy wouldn&#8217;t
+hear of that. She said that no one
+would believe a word of our story&mdash;it
+was too impossible. And when I
+came to think of it I must say I
+agreed with her. I saw myself telling
+that story in a court of justice,
+and I realized that a look of conscious
+guilt would be painted on my
+face the whole time. I&#8217;d have felt,
+whether it was true or not, that nobody<span class="pagenum" id="Page_117">[117]</span>
+really ought to believe it, and
+as an honest, self-respecting citizen
+I ought not to expect them to. Here
+we were, strangers that nobody knew
+a thing about, anyway! Daisy said
+they&#8217;d take us for accomplices; and
+when I said to her we&#8217;d be a pretty
+rank pair of accomplices to give up
+the swag without a struggle, she
+said they&#8217;d think we got scared, and
+decided to do what she calls &#8220;turn
+State&#8217;s evidence.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>She thought the best thing to do
+was to keep the stones till we could
+think up a more plausible story.
+We tried to do that, and the night
+after our meeting with Major and
+Mrs. Thatcher we stayed awake
+till three, thinking up &#8220;plausible
+stories.&#8221; We got a great collection
+of them, but it seemed impossible to<span class="pagenum" id="Page_118">[118]</span>
+get a good one without implicating
+somebody. I invented a corker, but
+it cast a dark suspicion on Daisy;
+and she had an even better one, but
+it would have undoubtedly resulted
+in the arrest of Perkins and the
+housemaid, and possibly myself.</p>
+
+<p>It was a horrible situation. Even
+if we could possibly have escaped
+suspicion ourselves, it would have
+ruined us socially and financially.
+Would the Colonial Box, Tub, and
+Cordage Company have retained as
+the head of its London branch a man
+who had got himself mixed up with
+a sensational diamond robbery? Not
+on your life! That concern demands
+a high standard and unspotted record
+in all its employees. I&#8217;d have
+got the sack at the end of the month.</p>
+
+<p>And Daisy! How would the bishop<span class="pagenum" id="Page_119">[119]</span>
+and two lords have felt about
+it? Had no more use for that little
+woman, you can bet your bottom
+dollar! Even Lady Sara Gyves,
+who, they say, will go anywhere
+to get a dinner, would have given
+her the Ice-house Laugh. <i>I</i> know
+them. And I saw my Daisy sitting
+at home all alone on her reception
+day, and taking dinner with me
+every night. No, sir! That wouldn&#8217;t
+happen if Cassius P. Kennedy had
+to take those diamonds to the
+Thames and throw them off London
+Bridge in a weighted bag.</p>
+
+<p>So there we were! It was a dreadful
+predicament. Every morning
+we read the papers with our hearts
+thumping like hammers. Every
+ring at the bell made us jump, and
+we had a deadly fear that each time<span class="pagenum" id="Page_120">[120]</span>
+the porti&egrave;re was lifted and a caller
+appeared we&#8217;d see the buttons and
+helmet of a policeman with a warrant
+of arrest concealed upon his
+person. I began to have awful
+dreams and Daisy didn&#8217;t sleep at all,
+and got pale and peaked. We
+thought up more &#8220;plausible stories,&#8221;
+but they seemed to get less probable
+every time, and all our spare moments
+together, which used to be so
+happy and care free, were now dark
+and harassed as the meetings of conspirators.</p>
+
+<p>Even concealing the miserable
+things was a wearing anxiety. First
+we decided to divide them, Daisy to
+wear her half in the chamois bag
+hung around her neck, while I concealed
+mine in a money-belt worn
+under my clothes. We had about decided<span class="pagenum" id="Page_121">[121]</span>
+on that and I&#8217;d bought the
+belt, when we got the idea that if we
+were killed in an accident they&#8217;d be
+found on us, and then our memoirs
+would go down to posterity blackened
+with shame. So we just put
+them back in the bag and locked
+them up in Daisy&#8217;s jewel-case, round
+which we hovered as they say a
+murderer does round the hiding-place
+of his victim.</p>
+
+<p>I never knew before how burglars
+felt; but if it was anything like the
+way Daisy and I did, I wonder
+anybody ever takes to that perilous
+trade. We were the most unhappy
+creatures in London, feeling ourselves
+a pair of thieves, and our unpolluted,
+innocent home no better
+than a &#8220;fence.&#8221; There was less in
+the papers about the Castlecourt<span class="pagenum" id="Page_122">[122]</span>
+diamonds robbery, but that did not
+give us any peace; for, in the first
+place, we didn&#8217;t know for certain
+that we had the Castlecourt diamonds,
+and, in the second, when we
+now and then did see dark allusions
+to the sleuths being &#8220;on a new and
+more promising scent,&#8221; we modestly
+supposed that we might be the quarry
+to which it led. Daisy began to
+talk of &#8220;going to prison&#8221; as a termination
+of her career that might
+not be so far distant, and to the
+thought of which she was growing
+reconciled.</p>
+
+<p>This about covers the ground of
+my immediate connection with the
+stolen diamonds. Their subsequent
+disposition is a matter in which my
+wife is more concerned than I am.
+She also will be able to tell her part<span class="pagenum" id="Page_123">[123]</span>
+of the story with more literary frills
+than I can muster up. I&#8217;m no writing
+man, and all I&#8217;ve tried to do is to
+state my part of the affair honestly
+and clearly.</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_124">[124]</span></p>
+
+
+<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop" />
+
+<div class="chapter">
+<span class="pagenum" id="Page_125">[125]</span>
+<p class="ph1">Statement of John Burns Gilsey, private<br />
+detective, especially engaged on<br />
+the Castlecourt diamond case.</p>
+</div>
+<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_126">[126]</span></p>
+<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop" />
+
+<div class="chapter">
+<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_127">[127]</span></p>
+
+<h2 class="nobreak">Statement of John Burns Gilsey, private<br />
+detective, especially engaged on<br />
+the Castlecourt diamond case.</h2>
+</div>
+
+
+<p class="drop-cap2">AT A quarter before eight on the
+evening of May fourth a telephone
+message was sent to Scotland
+Yard that a diamond necklace,
+the property of the Marquis of Castlecourt,
+had been stolen from Burridge&#8217;s
+Hotel. Brison, one of the
+best of their men, was detailed upon
+the case, and three days later my
+services were engaged by the marquis.
+After investigations which
+have occupied several weeks, I have
+become convinced that the case is an
+unusual and complicated one. The
+reasons which have led me to this
+conclusion I will now set down as
+briefly and clearly as possible.</p>
+
+
+
+<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_128">[128]</span>As has already been stated in the
+papers, the diamonds, on the afternoon
+of the robbery, were standing
+in a leather jewel-case on the bureau
+in Lady Castlecourt&#8217;s apartment.
+To this room access was obtained by
+three doors&mdash;that which led into
+Lord Castlecourt&#8217;s room, that which
+led into the sitting-room, and that
+which led into the hall.</p>
+
+<p>Lord Castlecourt&#8217;s valet, James
+Chawlmers, and Lady Castlecourt&#8217;s
+maid, Sophy Jeffers, had been occupied
+in this suite of apartments
+throughout the afternoon. At six
+Jeffers had laid out her ladyship&#8217;s
+clothes, taken the diamonds from the
+metal despatch-box in which they
+were usually carried, and set them
+on the bureau. She had then withdrawn
+into the sitting-room with<span class="pagenum" id="Page_129">[129]</span>
+Chawlmers, where they had remained
+for half an hour talking.
+During this period of time Jeffers
+deposes that she heard the rustle of
+a skirt in the sitting-room, and went
+to the door to see if any one had
+entered. No one was to be seen. She
+returned to the sitting-room, and resumed
+her conversation with Chawlmers.
+It is the general supposition&mdash;and
+it would appear to be the
+reasonable one&mdash;that the diamonds
+were then taken. According to Jeffers,
+they were in the case at six
+o&#8217;clock, and on the testimony of
+Lord and Lady Castlecourt they
+were gone at half-past seven. The
+person toward whom suspicion
+points is a housemaid, going by the
+name of Sara Dwight, who had a
+pass-key to the apartment.</p>
+
+
+
+<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_130">[130]</span>The suspicions of Sara Dwight
+were strengthened by her actions.
+At quarter past seven that evening
+she left the hotel without giving
+warning, and carrying no further
+baggage than a small portmanteau.
+Upon examination of her room, it
+was discovered that she had left a
+gown hanging on the pegs, and her
+box, which contained a few articles of
+coarse underclothing and a wadded
+cotton quilt. She had been uncommunicative
+with the other servants,
+but had had much conversation with
+Sophy Jeffers, who described her as
+a brisk, civil-spoken girl, whose manner
+of speech was above her station.</p>
+
+<p>The natural suspicions evoked by
+her behavior were intensified in the
+mind of Brison by the information
+that the celebrated crook Laura the<span class="pagenum" id="Page_131">[131]</span>
+Lady had returned to London. I
+myself had seen the woman at Earlscourt,
+and told Brison of the occurrence.
+It had appeared to Brison
+that Jeffers&#8217; description of the
+housemaid had many points of resemblance
+with Laura the Lady. The
+theft reminded us both of the affair
+of the Comtesse de Chateaugay&#8217;s rubies,
+when this particular thief, who
+speaks French as well as she does
+English, was supposed to have been
+the moving spirit in one of the most
+daring jewel robberies of our time.</p>
+
+<p>Brison, confident that Sara Dwight
+and Laura the Lady were one and
+the same, concentrated his powers in
+an effort to find her. He was successful
+to the extent of locating a
+woman closely resembling Laura the
+Lady living quietly in a furnished<span class="pagenum" id="Page_132">[132]</span>
+flat in Knightsbridge with a man
+who passed as her husband. He
+discovered that this couple had left
+for a &#8220;business trip&#8221; on the Continent
+shortly before Sara Dwight&#8217;s
+appearance at Burridge&#8217;s, and had
+returned shortly after her departure
+therefrom.</p>
+
+<p>He regarded the pair and their
+movements as of sufficient importance
+to be watched, and for a week
+after their return from the Continent
+had the flat shadowed. One
+foggy night, while he himself was
+watching the place, the man and
+woman came out in evening dress,
+and took a hansom that was waiting
+for them. Brison followed them,
+and the fog being dense and their
+horse fresh, lost them in the maze of
+streets about Walworth Crescent.<span class="pagenum" id="Page_133">[133]</span>
+He is positive that the occupants of
+the cab realized they were followed
+and attempted to escape. He assures
+me that he saw the driver
+turn several times and look at his
+hansom, and then lash his horse to
+a desperate speed.</p>
+
+<p>One of the points in this nocturnal
+pursuit that he thinks most noteworthy
+is the manner in which the
+occupants of the cab disappeared.
+After keeping it well in sight for
+over half an hour, he lost it completely
+and suddenly in the short
+street that runs from Walworth
+Crescent, north, into Farley Street;
+ten minutes later he is under the
+impression that he sighted it again
+near the Hyde Park Hotel. But if
+it was the same cab it was empty,
+and the driver was looking for fares.<span class="pagenum" id="Page_134">[134]</span>
+For some hours after this Brison
+patrolled the streets in the neighborhood,
+but could find no trace of
+the suspected pair. It was midnight
+when he returned to his surveillance
+of the flat. The next morning
+he heard that its occupants had
+left. A search-warrant revealed the
+fact that they had gone with such
+haste that they had left many articles
+of dress, etc., behind them.
+There was every evidence of a hurried
+flight.</p>
+
+<p>All this was so much clear proof,
+in Brison&#8217;s opinion, of the guilt of
+Sara Dwight. Upon this hypothesis
+he is working, and I have not disturbed
+his confidence in the integrity
+of his efforts. The result of my
+investigations, which I have been
+quietly and systematically pursuing<span class="pagenum" id="Page_135">[135]</span>
+for the last three weeks, has led me
+to a different and much more sensational
+conclusion. That Sara Dwight
+may have taken the diamonds I do
+not deny. But she was merely an
+accomplice in the hands of another.
+The real thief, in my opinion, is
+Gladys, Marchioness of Castlecourt!</p>
+
+<p>My reasons for holding this theory
+are based upon observations taken at
+the time, upon my large and varied
+experience in such cases, and upon
+information that I have been collecting
+since the occurrence. Let me
+briefly state the result of my deductions
+and researches.</p>
+
+<p>Lady Castlecourt, who was the
+daughter of a penniless Irish clergyman,
+was a young girl of great
+beauty brought up in the direst poverty.
+Her marriage with the Marquis<span class="pagenum" id="Page_136">[136]</span>
+of Castlecourt, which took place
+seven years ago this spring, lifted
+her into a position of social prominence
+and financial ease. Society
+made much of her; she became one
+of its most brilliant ornaments. Her
+husband&#8217;s infatuation was well
+known. During the first years of
+their marriage he could refuse her
+nothing, and he stinted himself&mdash;for,
+tho well off, Lord Castlecourt is
+by no means a millionaire peer&mdash;in
+order to satisfy her whims. The lady
+very quickly developed great extravagances.
+She became known as
+one of the most expensively dressed
+women in London. It had been
+mentioned in certain society journals
+that Lord Castlecourt&#8217;s revenues
+had been so reduced by his
+wife&#8217;s extravagance that he had been<span class="pagenum" id="Page_137">[137]</span>
+forced to rent his town house in
+Grosvenor Gate, and for two seasons
+take rooms in Burridge&#8217;s Hotel.</p>
+
+<p>This is a simple statement of certain
+tendencies of the lady. Now let
+me state, with more detail, how these
+tendencies developed and to what
+they led.</p>
+
+<p>I will admit here, before I go
+further, that my suspicions of Lady
+Castlecourt were aroused from the
+first. It was, perhaps, with a predisposed
+mind that I began those explorations
+into her life during the
+past five years which have convinced
+me that she was the moving spirit
+in this theft of the diamonds.</p>
+
+<p>For the first two years of her
+married life Lady Castlecourt lived
+most of the time on the estate of
+Castlecourt Marsh Manor. During<span class="pagenum" id="Page_138">[138]</span>
+this period she became the mother
+of two sons, and it was after the
+birth of the second that she went to
+London and spent her first season
+there since her marriage. She was
+in blooming health, and even more
+beautiful than she had been in her
+girlhood. She became the fashion:
+no gathering was complete without
+her; her costumes were described in
+the papers; royalty admired her.</p>
+
+<p>I have discovered that at this time
+her husband gave her six hundred
+pounds per annum for a dressing
+allowance. During the first two
+years of her married life she lived
+within this. But after that she exceeded
+it to the extent of hundreds,
+and finally thousands, of pounds.
+The fifth year after her marriage she
+was in debt three thousand pounds,<span class="pagenum" id="Page_139">[139]</span>
+her creditors being dressmakers, furriers,
+jewelers, and milliners in London
+and Paris. She made no attempt
+to pay these debts, and the tradesmen,
+knowing her high social position
+and her husband&#8217;s rigid sense of
+pecuniary obligations, did not press
+her, and she went on spending with
+an unstinted hand.</p>
+
+<p>It was last year that she finally
+precipitated the catastrophe by the
+purchase of a coat of Russian sable
+for the sum of one thousand pounds,
+and a set of turquoise ornaments
+valued at half that amount. Each
+of these purchases was made in
+Paris. The two creditors, having
+been already warned of her disinclination
+to meet her bills, had, it is
+said, laid wagers with other firms to
+which she was deeply in debt, that<span class="pagenum" id="Page_140">[140]</span>
+they would extract the money from
+her within the year.</p>
+
+<p>It was in the summer of the past
+year that Lady Castlecourt was first
+threatened by Bolkonsky, the furrier,
+with law proceedings. In the
+end of September she went to Paris
+and visited the man in his own
+offices, and&mdash;I have it from an eyewitness&mdash;exhibited
+the greatest trepidation
+and alarm, finally begging,
+with tears, for an extension of a
+month&#8217;s time. To this Bolkonsky
+consented, warning her that, at the
+end of that time, if his account was
+not settled, he would acquaint his
+lordship with the situation and institute
+legal proceedings.</p>
+
+<p>Before the month was up&mdash;that
+was in October of the past year&mdash;his
+account was paid in full by Lady<span class="pagenum" id="Page_141">[141]</span>
+Castlecourt herself. At the same
+time other accounts in Paris and
+London were entirely settled or compromised.
+I find that, during the
+months of October and November,
+Lady Castlecourt paid off debts
+amounting to nearly four thousand
+pounds. In most instances she settled
+them personally, paying them in
+bank-notes. A few claims were paid
+by check. I have it from those with
+whom she transacted these monetary
+dealings that she seemed greatly relieved
+to be able to discharge her
+obligations, and that in all cases she
+requested silence on the subject as
+the price of her future patronage.</p>
+
+<p>I now come to a feature of the
+case that I admit greatly puzzles me.
+Lady Castlecourt was still wearing
+the diamonds when this large sum<span class="pagenum" id="Page_142">[142]</span>
+was disbursed by her. As far as can
+be ascertained, she had made no effort
+to sell them, and I can find no
+trace of a frustrated attempt to
+steal them. She had suddenly become
+possessed of four thousand
+pounds without the aid of the diamonds.
+They were not called into
+requisition till nearly six months
+later.</p>
+
+<p>The natural supposition would be
+that &#8220;some one&#8221;&mdash;an unknown donor&mdash;had
+put up the four thousand
+pounds; in fact, that Lady Castlecourt
+had a lover, to whom, in a
+desperate extremity, she had appealed.
+But the most thorough examination
+of her past life reveals
+no hint of such a thing. Frivolous
+and extravagant as she undoubtedly
+was, she seems to have been, as far<span class="pagenum" id="Page_143">[143]</span>
+as her personal conduct goes, a moral
+and virtuous lady. Her name has
+been associated with no man&#8217;s, either
+in a foolish flirtation or a scandalous
+and compromising intrigue; in
+fact, her devotion to Lord Castlecourt
+appears to have been of an
+absolutely genuine and sincere kind.
+While she did not scruple to deceive
+him as to her pecuniary dealings, she
+unquestionably seems to have been
+perfectly upright and honest in the
+matter of marital fidelity.</p>
+
+<p>Where, then, did Lady Castlecourt
+secure this large sum of money? My
+reading of the situation is briefly
+this:</p>
+
+<p>Her creditors becoming rebellious
+and Lady Castlecourt becoming terrified,
+she appealed to some woman
+friend for a loan. Who this is I<span class="pagenum" id="Page_144">[144]</span>
+have no idea, but among her large
+circle of acquaintances there are
+several ladies of sufficient means and
+sufficiently intimate with Lady Castlecourt
+to have been able to advance
+the required sum. This was done,
+as I have shown above, in the month
+of October, when Lady Castlecourt
+was in Paris, where she at once began
+to pay off her debts. After this
+she continued wearing the diamonds,
+and, in my opinion&mdash;such is her shallowness
+and irresponsibility of character&mdash;forgot
+the obligations of the
+loan, which had probably been made
+under a promise of speedy repayment,
+either in full or in part.</p>
+
+<p>It was then&mdash;this, let it be understood,
+is all surmise&mdash;that Lady Castlecourt&#8217;s
+new and unknown debtor
+began to press for a repayment.<span class="pagenum" id="Page_145">[145]</span>
+There might be many reasons why
+this should so closely have followed
+the loan. With a woman
+of Lady Castlecourt&#8217;s lax and unbusinesslike
+methods, unusual conditions
+could be readily exacted. She
+is of the class of persons that, under
+a pressing need for money, would
+agree to any conditions and immediately
+forget them. That she did
+agree to a speedy reimbursement I
+am positive; that once again she
+found herself confronted by an angry
+and threatening creditor; and that, in
+desperation and with the assistance
+of Sara Dwight, she stole the diamonds,
+intending probably to pawn
+them, is the conclusion to which my
+experience and investigations have
+led me.</p>
+
+<p>How she came to select Sara<span class="pagenum" id="Page_146">[146]</span>
+Dwight as an accomplice I am not
+qualified to state. In my opinion,
+fear of detection made her seek the
+aid of a confederate. Sara&#8217;s flight,
+with its obviously suspicious surroundings,
+has an air of prearrangement
+suggestive of having been carefully
+planned to divert suspicion from
+the real criminal. Sophy Jeffers assured
+me that Lady Castlecourt had
+never, to her knowledge, conversed
+at any length with the housemaid.
+But Jeffers is a very simple-minded
+person, whom it would be an easy
+matter to deceive. That Sara Dwight
+was her ladyship&#8217;s accomplice I am
+positive; that she took the jewels
+and now has them is also my opinion.</p>
+
+<p>Being convinced of her need of
+ready money, and of the rashness<span class="pagenum" id="Page_147">[147]</span>
+and lack of balance in her character,
+I have been expecting that Lady
+Castlecourt would make some decisive
+move in the way of selling the
+diamonds. With this idea agents of
+mine have been on the watch, but
+without so far finding any evidence
+that she has attempted to place the
+stones on the market. We have
+found no traces of them either in
+London or Paris, or the usual depots
+in Holland or Belgium. It is true
+that the Castlecourt diamonds, not
+being remarkable for size, would be
+easy to dispose of in small, separate
+lots, but our system of surveillance
+is so thorough that I do not see how
+they could escape us. I am of the
+opinion that the stones are still in
+the hands of Sara Dwight, who,
+whether she is an accomplished thief<span class="pagenum" id="Page_148">[148]</span>
+or not, is probably more wary and
+more versed in such dealings than
+Lady Castlecourt.</p>
+
+<p>That her ladyship should have
+been the object of my suspicions
+from the start may seem peculiar
+to those to whom she appears only
+as a person of rank, wealth, and
+beauty. Before the case came under
+my notice at all, I had heard her
+uncontrolled extravagance remarked
+upon, and that alone, coupled with
+the fact that Lord Castlecourt is
+not a peer of vast wealth, and that
+the lady&#8217;s moral character is said
+to be unblemished, would naturally
+arouse the suspicion of one used to
+the vagaries and intricacies of the
+evolution of crime.</p>
+
+<p>During my first interview with
+her ladyship I watched her closely,<span class="pagenum" id="Page_149">[149]</span>
+and was struck by her pallor, her
+impatience under questioning, her
+hardly concealed nervousness, and
+her indignant repudiation of the suspicions
+cast upon her servants. All
+the domestics in her employment
+agree that she is a kind and generous
+mistress, and it would be particularly
+galling to one of her disposition
+to think that her employees
+were suffering for her faults. Her
+answers to many of my questions were
+vague and evasive, and to both Brison
+and myself, at two different times,
+she suggested the possibility of the
+jewels not being stolen at all, but
+having been &#8220;mislaid.&#8221; Even Brison,
+whose judgment had been warped
+by her beauty and rank, was
+forced to admit the strangeness of
+this remark.</p>
+
+
+
+<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_150">[150]</span>The description given me by
+Sophy Jeffers of her ladyship&#8217;s deportment
+when the theft was discovered
+still further strengthened
+my suspicions. Lady Castlecourt&#8217;s
+behavior at this juncture might have
+passed as natural by those not used
+to the very genuine hysteria which
+often attacks criminals. That she
+was wrought up to a high degree
+of nervous excitement is acknowledged
+by all who saw her. It is alleged
+by Jeffers&mdash;quite innocently
+of any intention to injure her mistress,
+to whom she appears devoted&mdash;that
+her ladyship&#8217;s first emotion on
+discovering the loss was a fear of her
+husband; that when he entered the
+room she instinctively tried to conceal
+the empty jewel-case behind her,
+and that almost her first words to<span class="pagenum" id="Page_151">[151]</span>
+him were assurances that she had
+not been careless, but had guarded
+the jewels well.</p>
+
+<p>Fear of Lord Castlecourt was undoubtedly
+the most prominent feeling
+she then possessed, and it showed
+itself with unrestrained frankness
+in the various ways described above.
+Afterward she attempted to be more
+reticent, and adopted an air of what
+almost appeared indifference, surprising
+not only myself and Brison,
+but Jeffers, by her remarks, made
+with irritated impatience, that they
+still might &#8220;turn up somewhere,&#8221;
+and &#8220;that she did not see how we
+could be so sure they were stolen.&#8221;
+This change of attitude was even
+more convincing to me than her
+former exhibition of alarm. The
+very candor and childishness with<span class="pagenum" id="Page_152">[152]</span>
+which she showed her varying states
+of mind would have disarmed most
+people, but were to me almost conclusive
+proofs of her guilt. She is
+a woman whose shallow irresponsibility
+of mind is even more unusual
+than her remarkable beauty. No
+one but an old and seasoned criminal,
+or a creature of extraordinary
+simplicity, could have behaved with
+so much audacity in such a situation.</p>
+
+<p>Having arrived at these conclusions,
+I am not reduced to a passive
+attitude. I will wait and watch until
+such time as the diamonds are either
+pawned or sold. This may not occur
+for months, tho I am inclined to
+think that her ladyship&#8217;s need of
+money will force her to a recklessness
+which will be her undoing. Sara
+Dwight may be able to control her to<span class="pagenum" id="Page_153">[153]</span>
+a certain point, but I am under the
+impression that her ladyship, frightened
+and desperate, will be a very
+difficult person to handle.</p>
+
+<p>This brings my statement up to
+date. At the present writing I am
+simply awaiting developments, confident
+that the outcome will prove
+the verity of my original proposition
+and the exactitude of my subsequent
+line of argument.</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_154">[154]</span></p>
+
+
+<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop" />
+
+<div class="chapter">
+<span class="pagenum" id="Page_155">[155]</span>
+<p class="ph1">The Statement of Daisy K. Fairweather<br />
+Kennedy, late of Necropolis<br />
+City, Ohio, at present a resident of 15<br />
+Farley Street, Knightsbridge, London.</p>
+</div>
+<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_156">[156]</span></p>
+<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop" />
+
+<div class="chapter">
+<span class="pagenum" id="Page_157">[157]</span>
+
+<h2 class="nobreak">The Statement of Daisy K. Fairweather<br />
+Kennedy, late of Necropolis<br />
+City, Ohio, at present a resident of 15<br />
+Farley Street, Knightsbridge, London.</h2>
+</div>
+
+
+<p class="drop-cap">I &nbsp;BELIEVE it is not necessary for me
+to state how a chamois-skin bag
+containing one hundred and sixty-two
+diamonds came into my hands
+on the evening of May 14th. That it
+did come into my possession was
+enough for me. I never before
+thought that the possession of diamonds
+could make a woman so perfectly
+miserable. When I was a
+young girl in Necropolis City I used
+to think to own a diamond&mdash;even
+one small one&mdash;would be just about
+the acme of human joy. But Necropolis
+City is a good way behind
+me now, and I have found that the<span class="pagenum" id="Page_158">[158]</span>
+owning of a handful of them can be
+about the most wearing form of
+misery.</p>
+
+<p>I suppose there are fearless, upright
+people in the world who would
+have taken those diamonds straight
+back to the police station and braved
+public opinion. It would have been
+better to have had your word doubted,
+to be tried for a thief, put in jail,
+and probably complicated the diplomatic
+relations between England and
+the United States, than to conceal in
+your domicile one hundred and sixty-two
+precious stones that didn&#8217;t belong
+to you. I hope every one understands&mdash;and
+I&#8217;m sure every one
+does who knows me&mdash;that I did not
+want to keep the miserable things.
+What good did they do me, anyway,<span class="pagenum" id="Page_159">[159]</span>
+locked up in my jewel-box, in the
+upper right-hand bureau drawer?</p>
+
+<p>We knew no peace from that tragic
+evening when Major and Mrs.
+Thatcher dined with us. First we
+tried to think of ways of getting rid
+of them&mdash;of the diamonds, I mean.
+Cassius, who&#8217;s just a simple, uncomplicated
+man, wanted to take
+them right to the nearest police station
+and hand them in. I soon
+showed him the madness of <i>that</i>.
+Was there a soul in London who
+would have believed our story?
+Wouldn&#8217;t the American ambassador
+himself have had to bow his crested
+head and tame his heart of fire, and
+admit it was about the fishiest tale
+he had ever heard?</p>
+
+<p>It would have ruined us forever.
+Even if Cassius hadn&#8217;t been deposed<span class="pagenum" id="Page_160">[160]</span>
+from his place as the head of the
+English branch of the Colonial Box,
+Tub, and Cordage Company (Ltd),
+of Chicago and St. Louis, who would
+have known me? The trail of the
+diamonds would have been over us
+forever. Lady Sara Gyves would
+have gone round saying she always
+thought I had the face of a thief,
+and the bishop and the two lords
+I&#8217;ve collected with such care would
+have cut me dead in the Park. I
+would have received my social quietus
+forever. And, I just tell you,
+when I&#8217;ve worked for a thing as
+hard as I have for that bishop and
+the two lords and Lady Sara Gyves,
+I&#8217;m not going to give them up without
+a struggle.</p>
+
+<p>Cassius and I spent two feverish,
+agonized weeks trying to think what<span class="pagenum" id="Page_161">[161]</span>
+we would do with the diamonds. I
+never knew before I had so much
+inventive ability. It was wonderful
+the things we thought of. One of
+our ideas was to put a personal in
+the papers advertising for &#8220;Amelia.&#8221;
+We spent five consecutive evenings
+concocting different ones that would
+have the effect of rousing &#8220;Amelia&#8217;s&#8221;
+curiosity and deadening that
+of everybody else. It did not seem
+capable of construction. Twist and
+turn it as you would, you couldn&#8217;t
+state that you had something valuable
+in your possession for &#8220;Amelia&#8221;
+without making the paragraph bristle
+with a sort of mysterious importance.
+It was like a trap set and
+baited to catch the attention of a
+detective. We did insert one&mdash;&#8220;Will
+Amelia kindly publish her<span class="pagenum" id="Page_162">[162]</span>
+present address, and oblige Major
+and Mrs. Thatcher?&#8221;&mdash;which, after
+all, didn&#8217;t involve us. And for two
+weeks we read the papers with beating,
+hopeful hearts, but there was
+no reply. I thought &#8220;Amelia&#8221; never
+saw it. Cassius thought there was
+no such person.</p>
+
+<p>A month dragged itself away, and
+there we were with those horrible
+gems locked in my jewel-box. I began
+to look pale and miserable, and
+Cassius told me he thought the diamonds
+were becoming a &#8220;fixed idea&#8221;
+with me, and he&#8217;d have to take me
+away for a change. Once I told him
+I felt as if I&#8217;d never have any peace
+or be my old gay self again while
+they were in my possession. He said,
+that being the case, he&#8217;d take them
+out some night and throw them in<span class="pagenum" id="Page_163">[163]</span>
+the Serpentine, the pond where the
+despondent people commit suicide.
+But I dissuaded him from it.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Perhaps they&#8217;ll never be claimed,&#8221;
+I said. &#8220;And some day when
+we&#8217;re old we can have them set and
+Elaine can wear them.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;You might even wear them yourself,&#8221;
+Cassius said, trying to cheer
+me up.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;What would be the good?&#8221; I
+answered, gloomily. &#8220;I&#8217;d be at least
+sixty before I&#8217;d dare to.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>All through June I lived under
+this wearing strain, and I grew
+thinner and more nervous day by
+day. The season which is always so
+lovely and gay was no longer an exciting
+and joyous time for me. I
+drove down Bond Street with a
+frowning face, and it did not cheer<span class="pagenum" id="Page_164">[164]</span>
+me up at all to see how many people
+I seemed to know. Looking down
+the vistas of quiet, asphalted streets,
+where the lines of sedate house
+fronts are brightened by polished
+brasses on the doors and flower-boxes
+at the windows, I was no longer filled
+with an exhilarating determination to
+some day be an honored guest in
+every house that was worth entering.
+When I drove by the green ovals of
+the little parks, which you can&#8217;t
+enter without a private key, I experienced
+none of my old ambition
+to have a key too, and go in and
+mingle with the aristocracy sitting
+on wooden benches.</p>
+
+<p>Even meeting the Countess of
+Belsborough at a reception, and being
+asked by her, in a sociable,
+friendly way, if I knew her cousin<span class="pagenum" id="Page_165">[165]</span>
+John, who was mining somewhere in
+Mexico or Honduras&mdash;she wasn&#8217;t
+sure which&mdash;did not cheer me up at
+all. The change in me was extraordinary.
+When I first came to London,
+if even a curate or a clerk from
+the city had asked me such a question,
+I&#8217;d have made an effort to remember
+John, as if Mexico had been
+my front garden and I&#8217;d played all
+round Honduras when I was a child.
+Now I said to Lady Belsborough
+that neither Mexico nor Honduras
+were part of the United States quite
+snappishly, as if I thought she was
+stupid. And all because of those
+accursed diamonds!</p>
+
+<p>It was toward the end of June,
+and the days were getting warm,
+when the climax came.</p>
+
+<p>The pressure of the season was<span class="pagenum" id="Page_166">[166]</span>
+abating. The rhododendrons were
+dead in the Park, and there was dust
+on the trees. In St. James&#8217; the grass
+was quite worn and patchy, and
+strangely clad people lay on it, sleeping
+in the sun. One met a great
+many American tourists in white
+shirt-waists and long veils. I
+thought of the time when I, too, innocently
+and unthinkingly, had worn
+a white shirt-waist, and it didn&#8217;t
+seem to me such a horrible time,
+after all&mdash;at least, I did not then
+have one hundred and sixty-two
+stolen diamonds in my jewel-box.
+My heart was lighter in those days,
+even if my shirt-waist had only cost
+a dollar and forty-nine cents at a
+department store in Necropolis City.</p>
+
+<p>The month ended with a spell of
+what the English call &#8220;frightful<span class="pagenum" id="Page_167">[167]</span>
+heat.&#8221; It was quite warm weather,
+and we sat a good deal on the little
+balcony that juts out from my window
+over the front door. Farley
+Street is quiet and rather out of the
+line of general traffic, so we had
+chairs and a table there, and used
+to have tea served under the one
+palm, which was all there was room
+for. We could not have visitors
+there, for it opened out of my bedroom.
+So our tea-parties on the
+balcony were strictly family affairs&mdash;just
+Cassius, and Elaine, and I.</p>
+
+<p>The last day of the month was really
+very warm. Every door in the
+house was open, and the servants
+went about gasping, with their faces
+crimson. I dined at home alone that
+evening, as one of the members of
+the Box, Tub, and Cordage Company<span class="pagenum" id="Page_168">[168]</span>
+was in London, at the Carlton, and
+Cassius was dining with him. I did
+not expect him home till late, as
+there would be lots to talk over.</p>
+
+<p>I had not felt well all day. The
+heat had given me a headache, and
+after dinner I lay on the sofa in the
+sitting-room, feeling quite miserable.
+Only a few of the lamps were lit,
+and the house was dim and extremely
+quiet. Being alone that way in
+the half dark got on my nerves, and
+I decided I&#8217;d go up-stairs and go
+to bed early. I always did hate sitting
+about by myself, and now more
+than ever, with the diamonds on my
+conscience.</p>
+
+<p>Our stairs are thickly carpeted,
+and as I had on thin satin slippers
+and a cr&ecirc;pe tea-gown I made no
+noise at all coming up. I always<span class="pagenum" id="Page_169">[169]</span>
+have a light burning in my room,
+so when I saw a yellow gleam below
+the door I did not think anything
+of it, but just softly pushed
+the door open and went in. Then I
+stopped dead where I stood. A man
+with a soft felt-hat on, and a handkerchief
+tied over the lower part of
+his face, was standing in front of
+the bureau!</p>
+
+<p>He had not heard me, and for a
+moment I stood without making a
+sound, watching him. The two gas-jets
+on either side of the bureau
+were lit, and that part of the room
+was flooded with light. Very quickly
+and softly he was turning over
+the contents of the drawers, taking
+out laces, gloves, and veils, throwing
+them this way and that out of his
+way, and opening every box he<span class="pagenum" id="Page_170">[170]</span>
+found. My heart gave a great leap
+when I saw him seize upon the
+jewel-box, and my mouth, unfortunately,
+emitted some kind of a sound&mdash;I
+think it was a sort of gasp of
+relief, but I&#8217;m not sure.</p>
+
+<p>Whatever it was, he heard. He
+gave a start as if he had been electrified,
+raised his head, and saw me.
+For just one second he stood staring,
+and then he said something&mdash;of a
+profane character, I think&mdash;and ran
+for the balcony.</p>
+
+<p>And I ran too. There was something
+in the way&mdash;a little table, I believe&mdash;and
+he collided with it. That
+checked him for a moment, and I
+got to the window first. I threw
+myself across it with my arms spread
+out, in an attitude like that assumed
+by Sara Bernhardt when she is barring<span class="pagenum" id="Page_171">[171]</span>
+her lover&#8217;s exit in &#8220;Fedora.&#8221;
+But I don&#8217;t think any actress ever
+barred her lover&#8217;s exit with as much
+determination and zeal as I barred
+the exit of that burglar.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;You can&#8217;t go!&#8221; I cried, wildly.
+&#8220;You&#8217;ve forgotten something!&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>He paused just in front of me, and
+I cried again:</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;You haven&#8217;t got them; they&#8217;re in
+the jewelry-box.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>He moved forward and laid his
+hand on my arm, to push me aside.
+I felt quite desperate, and wailed:</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Oh, don&#8217;t go without opening the
+jewelry-box. There are some things
+in it I know you will like.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>He tried to push me out of the
+way&mdash;gently, it is true, but with
+force. But I clung to him, clasped
+him by the arm with what must have<span class="pagenum" id="Page_172">[172]</span>
+appeared quite an affectionate grip,
+and continued, imploringly:</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Don&#8217;t be in such a hurry. I&#8217;m
+sorry I interrupted you. If you&#8217;ll
+promise not to go till you&#8217;ve looked
+through my things and taken what
+you want, I&#8217;ll leave the room. It
+was quite by accident that I came
+in.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>The burglar let go my arm, and
+looked at me over the handkerchief
+with a pair of eyes that seemed quite
+kind and pleasant.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Really,&#8221; he said, in a deep, gentlemanly
+voice that seemed familiar&mdash;&#8220;really,
+I don&#8217;t quite understand&mdash;&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;I know you don&#8217;t,&#8221; I interrupted,
+impulsively. &#8220;How could you be
+expected to? And I can&#8217;t explain.
+It&#8217;s a most complicated matter, and<span class="pagenum" id="Page_173">[173]</span>
+would take too long. Only don&#8217;t be
+frightened and run away till you&#8217;ve
+taken something. You&#8217;ve endangered
+your life and risked going to
+prison to get in here; and wouldn&#8217;t
+it be too foolish, after that, to go
+without anything? Now, in the jewelry-box&#8221;&mdash;I
+indicated it, and spoke
+in what I hoped was a most insinuating
+tone&mdash;&#8220;there are some things
+that I think you&#8217;d like. If you&#8217;d
+just look at them&mdash;&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;You&#8217;re a most persuasive lady,&#8221;
+said the burglar, &#8220;but&mdash;&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>He moved again toward the window.
+A feeling of absolute anguish
+that he was going without the diamonds
+pierced me. I threw myself
+in front of him again, and in some
+way, I can&#8217;t tell you how, caught
+the handkerchief that covered his<span class="pagenum" id="Page_174">[174]</span>
+face and pulled it down. There was
+the handsome visage and long mustache
+of Major Thatcher!</p>
+
+<p>I backed away from him in the
+greatest confusion. He too blushed
+and looked uncomfortable.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Oh, Major Thatcher,&#8221; I murmured,
+&#8220;I beg your pardon! I&#8217;m
+so sorry. I don&#8217;t know how it happened.
+I think the end of the handkerchief
+caught in my bracelet.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Pray don&#8217;t mention it,&#8221; answered
+the major, &#8220;nothing at all.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>Then we were both silent, standing
+opposite one another, not knowing
+what to say. It is not easy to feaze
+me, but it must be admitted that the
+situation was unusual.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;How is Mrs. Thatcher?&#8221; I said,
+desperately, when the silence had become
+unbearable. And the major<span class="pagenum" id="Page_175">[175]</span>
+replied, in his deepest voice, and with
+his most abrupt military air:</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Ethel&#8217;s very fit. Never was better
+in her life, thank you. Mr. Kennedy
+is quite well, I hope?&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Cassius is enjoying the best of
+health,&#8221; I answered. &#8220;He&#8217;s out to-night,
+I&#8217;m sorry to say.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Just fancy,&#8221; said Major Thatcher.
+Then there was a pause, and he
+added: &#8220;How tiresome!&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>I could think of nothing more to
+say, and again we were silent. It
+was really the most uncomfortable
+position I ever was in. The major
+was a burglar beyond a doubt, but
+he looked and talked just like a gentleman;
+besides, he&#8217;d dined with us.
+That makes a great difference.
+When a man has broken bread at
+your table as a respectable fellow<span class="pagenum" id="Page_176">[176]</span>
+creature, it&#8217;s hard to get your mind
+round to regarding him severely as a
+criminal. I felt that the only thing
+to do was to graciously ignore it all,
+as you do when some one spills the
+claret on your best table-cloth. At
+the same time, there were the diamonds!
+I could not let the chance
+escape.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Oh, Major Thatcher!&#8221; I said,
+with an air of suddenly remembering
+something. &#8220;I don&#8217;t know
+whether you know that your wife
+left a little package here that evening
+when you dined with us. It was
+for Amelia.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>Major Thatcher looked at me with
+the most heavily solemn expression.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;To be sure,&#8221; he murmured, &#8220;for
+Amelia.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Well,&#8221; I went on, trying to impart<span class="pagenum" id="Page_177">[177]</span>
+to my words a light society
+tone, &#8220;you know we can&#8217;t find her.
+Very stupid of us, I have no doubt.
+But we&#8217;ve tried, and we can&#8217;t, anywhere.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>Major Thatcher stared blankly at
+the dressing-table.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Strange, &#8217;pon my word!&#8221; he said.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;So, Major Thatcher, if you don&#8217;t
+mind, I&#8217;ll give it back to you. I
+think, all things considered, it will
+be best for you to give it to Amelia
+yourself.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>I went toward the dressing-table.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;You don&#8217;t mind, do you?&#8221; I
+said, over my shoulder, as I opened
+the jewelry-box.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Not at all, not at all,&#8221; answered
+the major. &#8220;Anything to oblige a
+lady.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>I drew out the sack of chamois-skin.<span class="pagenum" id="Page_178">[178]</span>
+&#8220;Here it is,&#8221; I said, holding
+it out to him. &#8220;You&#8217;ll find it in perfect
+condition and quite complete.
+I&#8217;m so sorry that we couldn&#8217;t seem
+to locate Amelia. Not knowing the
+rest of her name was rather inconvenient.
+There were dozens of
+Amelias in the directory.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>The major took the sack, and put
+it in his breast-pocket.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Dozens of Amelias,&#8221; he repeated,
+slapping his pocket. &#8220;Who&#8217;d have
+thought it!&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;We even advertised,&#8221; I continued.
+&#8220;Perhaps you saw the personal;
+it was in the morning <i>Herald</i>,
+and was very short and noncommittal,
+but no one answered it.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;We saw it,&#8221; said the major.
+&#8220;Yes, I recollect quite distinctly<span class="pagenum" id="Page_179">[179]</span>
+seeing it. It&mdash;it&mdash;indicated to us&mdash;aw&mdash;aw&mdash;&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>The major reddened and paused,
+pulling his mustache.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;That we hadn&#8217;t found Amelia
+and still had the present,&#8221; I answered,
+in a sprightly tone. &#8220;That
+was just it. And so you came to get
+it? Very kind of you, indeed, Major
+Thatcher.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>The major bowed. He was really
+a very fine-looking, well-mannered
+man. If he only had been the honest,
+respectable person we first
+thought him I would have liked to
+add him to my collection. I&#8217;m
+sure if you knew him better he
+would have been much more interesting
+than the bishop and the lords.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;The kindness is on your side,&#8221;
+he said. &#8220;And now, Mrs. Kennedy,<span class="pagenum" id="Page_180">[180]</span>
+I think&mdash;I think, perhaps&#8221;&mdash;he
+looked at the window that gave on
+the balcony&mdash;&#8220;I think I&#8217;d better&mdash;&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;You must be going!&#8221; I cried,
+just as I say it to the bishop when
+he puts down his cup and looks at
+the clock. &#8220;How unfortunate! But,
+of course, your other engagements&mdash;&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>I checked myself, suddenly realizing
+that it wasn&#8217;t just the thing to
+say to the major. When you&#8217;re
+talking to a burglar it doesn&#8217;t seem
+delicate or thoughtful to allude to
+his &#8220;other engagements.&#8221; That I
+made such a break is due to the fact
+that I&#8217;d never talked to a burglar
+before, and was bound to be a little
+green.</p>
+
+<p>The major did not seem to mind.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Exactly so,&#8221; he said. &#8220;My time<span class="pagenum" id="Page_181">[181]</span>
+is just now much occupied. I&mdash;er&mdash;I&mdash;&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>He looked again at the window.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;I&mdash;er&mdash;entered that way,&#8221; he
+said, &#8220;but perhaps&mdash;&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;I don&#8217;t think I&#8217;d go out that way
+if I were you,&#8221; I answered, hurriedly,
+&#8220;it would look so queer if any one
+saw you.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Would the other and more usual
+exit be safe?&#8221; he asked. His eye,
+as it met mine, was charged with a
+keener intelligence than I had seen
+in it before.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;It would have to be,&#8221; I answered,
+with spirit. &#8220;What do you suppose
+the servants would think if they saw
+you coming out of here? This, Major
+Thatcher, is my room.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Dear me!&#8221; said the major, &#8220;I<span class="pagenum" id="Page_182">[182]</span>
+suppose it is. I never thought of
+that.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Wait here till I see if it is all
+right,&#8221; I said, &#8220;and then I&#8217;ll come
+back and tell you.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>I went into the hall and looked
+over the banister. The gas was
+burning faintly, and a bar of pink
+lamplight fell out from the half-drawn
+porti&egrave;res of the drawing-room.
+There was not a sound. I
+knew the servants were all in the
+back part of the house, quite safe
+till eleven o&#8217;clock, when, if we were
+home, they turned out the lights and
+locked up. I stole softly back into
+my room. The major was standing
+in front of the mirror untying the
+handkerchief that hung round his
+neck.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;It&#8217;s all right,&#8221; I assured him, in<span class="pagenum" id="Page_183">[183]</span>
+an unconsciously lowered voice.
+&#8220;You can go quite easily; I&#8217;ll let
+you out. Only you mustn&#8217;t make
+the least bit of noise.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>He thrust the handkerchief in his
+pocket and put on his hat, pulling
+the brim down over his eyes. I must
+confess he didn&#8217;t look half so distinguished
+this way. When the
+handkerchief was gone, I saw he wore
+a flannel shirt with a turned-down
+collar, and with his hat shading his
+face he certainly did seem a strange
+sort of man for me to be conducting
+down the stairs at half-past ten at
+night. If Perkins, who&#8217;d come to
+us bristling with respectability from
+a distinguished, evangelical, aristocratic
+family, should meet us, I
+would never hold up my head again.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Now, if you hear Perkins,&#8221; I<span class="pagenum" id="Page_184">[184]</span>
+whispered, &#8220;for heavens&#8217; sake, hide
+somewhere. Run back to my room,
+if you can&#8217;t go anywhere else. Perkins
+<i>must not</i> see you!&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>The major growled out some reply,
+and we tiptoed breathlessly
+across the hall to the stair-head. I
+was much more frightened than he
+was. I know, as I stole from step
+to step, my heart kept beating faster
+and faster. Such awful things
+might have happened: Perkins suddenly
+appear to put out the lights;
+Cassius come home early from the
+dinner, and open the front door just
+as I was about to let the major out!
+When we reached the door I was
+quite faint, while the major seemed
+as cool as if he&#8217;d been paying a call.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Very kind of you, I&#8217;m sure,&#8221; he<span class="pagenum" id="Page_185">[185]</span>
+said, trying to take off his hat. &#8220;I
+shan&#8217;t forget it.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Oh, never mind being polite,&#8221; I
+gasped. &#8220;You&#8217;ve got the diamonds.
+That&#8217;s all that matters. Good-night.
+Give my regards to Mrs. Thatcher.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>And he was gone! I shut the door
+and crept up-stairs. First I felt faint,
+and then I felt hysterical. When
+Cassius came home at eleven I was
+lying on the sofa in tears, and all I
+could say to him was to sob:</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;The diamonds are gone! The
+diamonds are gone!&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>He thought I&#8217;d gone mad at first,
+and then when I finally made him
+understand he was nearly as excited
+as I. He went down-stairs and
+brought up a bottle of champagne,
+and we celebrated at midnight up in
+our room. We had to tell lies to<span class="pagenum" id="Page_186">[186]</span>
+Perkins afterward to explain how
+we came to be one bottle short. But
+what did lies matter, or even Perkins&#8217;
+opinion of us? We were no
+longer crushed under the weight of
+one hundred and sixty-two diamonds
+that didn&#8217;t belong to us!</p>
+
+<p>That is the history of my connection
+with the case. From that night
+I&#8217;ve never seen or heard of the
+stones, nor have I seen Major or Mrs.
+Thatcher. The diamonds entered
+our possession and departed from
+them exactly as I have told, and tho
+my statement may call for great credulity
+on the part of my readers, all
+I can say is that I am willing to
+vouch for the truth of every word
+of it.</p>
+
+
+
+<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop" />
+
+<div class="chapter">
+<span class="pagenum" id="Page_187">[187]</span>
+<p class="ph1">Statement of Gladys, Marchioness of<br />
+Castlecourt.</p>
+</div>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_188">[188]</span></p>
+<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop" />
+
+<div class="chapter">
+<span class="pagenum" id="Page_189">[189]</span>
+<h2 class="nobreak">Statement of Gladys, Marchioness of<br />
+Castlecourt.</h2>
+</div>
+
+
+<p class="drop-cap">I &nbsp;AM sure if any one was ever punished
+for their misdeeds it was I.
+I suppose I ought to say sins, but
+it is such an unpleasant word! I can
+not imagine myself committing sins,
+and yet that is just what I seem to
+have done. I couldn&#8217;t have been
+more astonished if some one had told
+me I was going to commit a murder.
+One thing I have learned&mdash;you do
+not know what you may do till you
+have been tried and tempted. And
+then you do wrong before you realize
+it, and all of a sudden it comes upon
+you that you are a criminal quite
+unexpectedly, and no one is more surprised
+than you. I certainly know I<span class="pagenum" id="Page_190">[190]</span>
+was the most surprised person in
+London when I realized that I&mdash; But
+there, I am wandering all about, and
+I want to tell my story simply and
+shortly.</p>
+
+<p>Everybody knows that when I
+married Lord Castlecourt I was
+poor. What everybody does not
+know is that I was a natural spend-thrift.
+Extravagance was in my
+blood, as drinking or the love of
+cards is in the blood of some men.
+I had never had any money at all.
+I used to wear the same gloves for
+years, and always made my own
+frocks&mdash;not badly, either. I&#8217;ve made
+gowns that Lady Bundy said&mdash; But
+that has nothing to do with it; I&#8217;m
+getting away from the point.</p>
+
+<p>As I said before, I was poor. I
+didn&#8217;t know how extravagant I was<span class="pagenum" id="Page_191">[191]</span>
+till I married and Lord Castlecourt
+gave me six hundred pounds a year
+to dress on. It was a fortune to me.
+I&#8217;d never thought one woman could
+have so much. The first two years
+of our married life I did not run over
+it, because we lived most of the time
+in the country, and I was unused to
+it, and spent it slowly and carefully.
+I was still unaccustomed to it when,
+after my second boy was born, Herbert
+brought me to town for my first
+season since our marriage.</p>
+
+<p>Then I began to spend money,
+quantities of it, for it seemed to me
+that six hundred pounds a year was
+absolutely inexhaustible. When I
+saw anything pretty in a shop I
+bought it, and I generally forgot to
+ask the price. The shop people were
+always kind and agreeable, and<span class="pagenum" id="Page_192">[192]</span>
+seemed to have forgotten about it as
+completely as I.</p>
+
+<p>After I had bought one thing they
+would urge me to look at something
+else, which was put away in a drawer
+or laid out in a cardboard box, and
+if I liked it I bought that too. If I
+ever paused to think that I was buying
+a great deal, I contented myself
+with the assurance that I had six
+hundred pounds a year, which was
+so much I would never get to the
+end of it.</p>
+
+<p>After that first season a great
+many bills came in, and I was quite
+surprised to see I&#8217;d spent already,
+with the year hardly half gone, more
+than my six hundred pounds. I
+could not understand how it had
+happened, and I asked Herbert
+about it and showed him some of my<span class="pagenum" id="Page_193">[193]</span>
+bills, and for the first time in our
+married life he was angry with me.
+He scolded me quite sharply, and
+told me I must keep within my allowance.
+I was hurt, and also rather
+muddled, with all these different
+accounts&mdash;most of which I could not
+remember&mdash;and I made up my mind
+not to consult Herbert any more, as
+it only vexed him and made him
+cross to me, and that I can not bear.
+All the world must love me. If
+there is a servant-maid in the house
+who does not like me&mdash;and I can feel
+it in a minute if she doesn&#8217;t&mdash;I must
+make her, or she must go away. But
+my husband, the best and finest man
+in the world, to have him annoyed
+with me and scolding me over stupid
+bills! Never again would that happen.
+I showed him no more of them;<span class="pagenum" id="Page_194">[194]</span>
+in fact, I generally tore them up as
+they came in, for fear I should
+leave them lying about and he would
+find them. If I could help it, nothing
+in the world was ever going to
+come between Herbert and me.</p>
+
+<p>I also made good resolutions to be
+more careful in my expenditures.
+And I really tried to keep them. I
+don&#8217;t know how it happened that
+they did not seem to get kept. But
+both in London and in Paris I certainly
+did spend a great deal&mdash;I&#8217;m
+sure I don&#8217;t know how much. I did
+little accounts on the back of notes,
+and they were so confusing, and I
+seemed to have spent so much more
+than I thought I had, that I gave up
+doing them. After I&#8217;d covered the
+back of two or three notes with figures,
+I became so low-spirited I<span class="pagenum" id="Page_195">[195]</span>
+couldn&#8217;t enjoy anything for the rest
+of the day. I did not see that that
+did anybody any good, so I ceased
+keeping the accounts. And what was
+the use of keeping them? If I had
+not the money to pay them with, why
+should I make myself miserable by
+thinking about them? I thought it
+much more sensible to try to forget
+them, and most of the time I did!</p>
+
+<p>It went on that way for two years.
+When I got bills with things written
+across the bottom in red ink I paid
+part of them&mdash;never all; I never
+paid all of anything. Once or twice
+tradesmen wrote me letters, saying
+they must have their money, and
+then I went to see them, and told
+them how kind it was of them to
+trust me, and how I would pay them
+everything soon, and they seemed<span class="pagenum" id="Page_196">[196]</span>
+quite pleased and satisfied. I always
+intended doing it. I don&#8217;t
+know where I thought the money was
+coming from, but you never can
+tell what may happen. Some friends
+of Herbert had a place near the
+Scotch border, and found a coal-mine
+in the forest. Herbert has no
+lands near Scotland, but he has in
+other places, and he may find a coal-mine
+too. I merely cite this as an
+example of the strange ways things
+turn out. I didn&#8217;t exactly expect
+that Herbert would find a coal-mine,
+but I did expect that money would
+turn up in some unexpected way and
+help me out of my difficulties.</p>
+
+<p>The beginning of the series of
+really terrible events of which I am
+writing was the purchase of a Russian
+sable jacket from a furrier in<span class="pagenum" id="Page_197">[197]</span>
+Paris called Bolkonsky. It was in the
+early spring of last year. I had had
+no dealings with Bolkonsky before.
+A friend told me of the jacket, and
+took me there. It was a real <i>occasion</i>.
+I knew the moment that I saw
+it that it was one of those chances
+with which one rarely meets. It fitted
+me like a charm, and I bought it for
+a thousand pounds. That miserable
+Bolkonsky told me the payments
+might be made in any way I liked,
+and at &#8220;madame&#8217;s own time.&#8221; I also
+bought some good turquoises, that
+were going for nothing, from a jeweler
+up-stairs somewhere near the
+Rue de La Paix, who was selling out
+the jewels of an actress. It was
+these two people who wrecked me.</p>
+
+<p>Not that they were my only debtors.
+I knew by this time that I<span class="pagenum" id="Page_198">[198]</span>
+owed a great deal. When I thought
+about it I was frightened, and so I
+tried not to think. But sometimes
+when I was awake at night, and
+everything looked dark and depressed,
+I wondered what I would do if
+something did not happen. In these
+moments I thought of telling my
+husband, and I buried my head in
+the pillow and turned cold with
+misery. What would Herbert say
+when he found out his wife was
+thousands of pounds in debt&mdash;the
+Marquis of Castlecourt, who had
+never owed a penny and considered
+it a disgrace.</p>
+
+<p>Perhaps he would be so horrified
+and disgusted he would send me
+away from him&mdash;back to Ireland, or
+to the Continent. And what would
+happen to me then?</p>
+
+
+
+<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_199">[199]</span>That summer we went to Castlecourt
+Marsh Manor, and there my
+anxieties became almost unbearable.
+Bolkonsky began to dun me most cruelly.
+Other creditors wrote me letters,
+urging for payments. The jeweler
+from whom I had bought the
+turquoises sent me a letter, telling
+me if I didn&#8217;t settle his account by
+September he would sue me. And
+finally Bolkonsky sent a man over,
+whom I saw in London, and who
+told me that unless the sable jacket
+was paid for within two months he
+would &#8220;lay the matter before Lord
+Castlecourt.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>We went across to Paris in September,
+and there I saw those dreadful
+people. My other French and
+English creditors I could manage, but
+I could do nothing with either Bolkonsky<span class="pagenum" id="Page_200">[200]</span>
+or the jeweler. They spoke
+harshly to me&mdash;as no one has ever
+spoken to me before; and Bolkonsky
+told me that &#8220;it was known Lord
+Castlecourt was honest and paid his
+debts, whatever his wife was.&#8221; I
+prayed him for time, and finally
+wept&mdash;wept to that horrible Jew;
+and there was another man in the
+office, too, who saw me. But I was
+lost to all sense of pride or reserve.
+I had only one feeling left in me&mdash;terror,
+agony, that they would tell
+my husband, and he would despise
+me and leave me.</p>
+
+<p>My misery seemed to have some
+effect on Bolkonsky, and he told me
+he would give me a month to pay up.
+It was then the tenth of September.
+I waited for a week in a sort of
+frenzy of hope that a miracle would<span class="pagenum" id="Page_201">[201]</span>
+occur, and the money come into my
+hands in some unexpected way. But,
+of course, nothing did occur. By the
+first of October the one thousand
+pounds was no nearer. It was then
+that the desperate idea entered my
+mind which has nearly ruined me,
+and caused me such suffering that
+the memory of it will stay with me
+forever.</p>
+
+<p>The Castlecourt diamonds, set in
+a necklace and valued at nine thousand
+pounds, were in my possession.
+I often wore them, and they were
+carried about by my maid&mdash;a faithful
+and honest creature called Sophy
+Jeffers. On one of my first trips to
+Paris a friend of mine had taken me
+to the office of a well-known dealer
+in precious and artificial stones who,
+without its being generally known,<span class="pagenum" id="Page_202">[202]</span>
+did a sort of pawnbroking business
+among the upper classes. My friend
+had gone there to pawn a pearl necklace,
+and had told me all about it&mdash;how
+much she obtained on the
+necklace, and how she hoped to redeem
+it within the year, and how she
+was to have it copied in imitation
+pearls. The idea that came to me
+was to go to this place and pawn the
+Castlecourt diamonds, having them
+duplicated in paste.</p>
+
+<p>I went there on the second day of
+October. How awful it was! I wore
+a heavy veil, and gave a fictitious
+name. Several men looked at the
+diamonds, and I noticed that they
+looked at me and whispered together.
+Finally they told me they would give
+me four thousand pounds on them,
+at some interest&mdash;I&#8217;ve forgotten<span class="pagenum" id="Page_203">[203]</span>
+what it was now&mdash;and that they
+would replace them with paste, so
+that only an expert could tell the
+difference. The next day I went
+back, and they gave me the money.
+I do not think they had any idea
+who I was. At any rate, while the
+papers were full of speculations
+about the Castlecourt diamonds, they
+made no sign.</p>
+
+<p>I paid off all my debts, both in
+Paris and London; I even paid a
+year&#8217;s interest on the diamonds. For
+a short time I breathed again, and
+was gay and light-hearted. My husband
+would never know that I had
+not paid my bills for five years and
+had been threatened with a lawsuit.
+It was delightful to get rid of this
+fear, and I was quite my old self.
+I suppose I ought to have felt more<span class="pagenum" id="Page_204">[204]</span>
+guilty; but when one is relieved of
+a great weight, one&#8217;s conscience is
+not so sensitive as it gets when there
+is really nothing to be sensitive
+about.</p>
+
+<p>It was after I had grown accustomed
+to feeling free and unworried
+that I began to realize what I had
+done. I had stolen the diamonds.
+I was a thief! It did not comfort me
+much to think that no one might
+ever find it out; in fact, I do not
+think it comforted me at all, and I
+know in the beginning I expected
+it would. It was what I had done
+that rankled in me. I felt that I
+would never be peaceful again till
+they were redeemed and put back
+in their old settings. That was what
+I continually dreamed of. It seemed
+to me if I could see them once more<span class="pagenum" id="Page_205">[205]</span>
+in their own case I would be happy
+and care free, as I had been in those
+first perfect years of my married
+life.</p>
+
+<p>The fear that at this time most
+haunted me and was most terrifying
+was that my husband might discover
+what I had done. His wife,
+that he had so loved and trusted, had
+become a thief! No one who has not
+gone through it knows how I felt.
+I did not know any one could suffer
+so. I went out constantly, to try and
+forget; and, when things were very
+cheerful and amusing, I sometimes
+did. And then I remembered&mdash;I was
+a thief; I had stolen my husband&#8217;s
+diamonds, and, if he ever found it
+out, what would happen to me?</p>
+
+<p>This was the position I was in
+when the false diamonds were taken.<span class="pagenum" id="Page_206">[206]</span>
+It was the last thing in the world I
+had thought could happen. When,
+that night of the Duke of Duxbury&#8217;s
+dinner, I saw the empty case and
+Jeffers&#8217; terrified face, the world
+reeled around me. I could not for
+a moment take it in. Only, in my
+mind, the diamonds had become a
+sort of nightmare; anything to do
+with them was a menace, and I followed
+an instinct that had possession
+of me when I tried to hide the empty
+case from my husband.</p>
+
+<p>Then, when my mind had cleared
+and I had time to think, I saw that
+if they recovered the paste necklace
+they might find out that it was not
+real, and all would be lost. It was
+a horrible predicament. I really did
+not know what I wanted. If the diamonds
+were found, and seen to be<span class="pagenum" id="Page_207">[207]</span>
+false, it would all come out, and Herbert
+would know I was a thief.
+When I thought of this I tried to
+divert the detectives from hunting
+for them, and I told that silly, sheepish
+Mr. Brison that I did not see
+how he could be so sure they were
+stolen, that they might have been
+mislaid. Mr. Brison seemed surprised,
+and that made me angry, because,
+after all, a diamond necklace
+is not the sort of thing that gets mislaid,
+and I felt I had been foolish
+and had not gained anything by being
+so.</p>
+
+<p>The days passed, and nothing was
+heard of the necklace. I wished
+desperately now that it would be
+found. For how, unless it was, could
+I eventually redeem the real diamonds,
+and once more feel honest<span class="pagenum" id="Page_208">[208]</span>
+and respectable? If I suddenly appeared
+with them, how could I explain
+it? Everybody would say I
+had stolen them, unless I invented
+some story about their being lost
+and then found, and I am not clever
+at inventing stories. As to where I
+should get the money to redeem
+them, I often thought of that; but
+never could think of any way that
+sounded possible and reasonable. I
+have always waited for &#8220;things to
+turn up,&#8221; and they generally did;
+but in this case nothing that I wanted
+or expected turned up. Besides,
+four thousand pounds is a good deal
+of money to come into one&#8217;s hands
+suddenly and unexpectedly. If it
+were a smaller sum it might, but
+four thousand pounds was too much.
+There was nobody to die and leave<span class="pagenum" id="Page_209">[209]</span>
+it to me, and I certainly could not
+steal it, or make it myself.</p>
+
+<p>So, as one may see, I was beset
+with troubles on all sides. The season
+wore itself away, and I was glad
+to be done with it. For the first
+time, there had been no pleasure in
+it. Anxieties that no one guessed
+were always with me, and always I
+found myself surreptitiously watching
+my husband to see if he suspected,
+to see if he showed any symptoms
+of growing cold to me and being
+indifferent. As I drove through
+the Park in the carriage these dreary
+thoughts were always at my heart,
+and it was heavy as lead. I forgot
+the passers-by who were so amusing,
+and, with my head hanging, looked
+into my lap. Suppose Herbert
+guessed? Suppose Herbert found<span class="pagenum" id="Page_210">[210]</span>
+out? These were the questions that
+went circling through my brain and
+never stopped. Sometimes, when
+Herbert was beside me, I suddenly
+wanted to cry out:</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Herbert, <i>I</i> took the diamonds!
+<i>I</i> was the thief! I can&#8217;t hide it any
+more, or live in this uncertainty.
+All I want to know is, do you hate
+me and are you going to leave me?&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>But I never did it. I looked at
+Herbert, and was afraid. What
+would I do if he left me? Go back
+to Ireland and die.</p>
+
+<p>We went to Castlecourt Marsh
+Manor in the end of June. By this
+time I had begun to feel quite ill.
+Herbert insisted on my consulting a
+doctor before I left town, and the
+doctor said my heart was all wrong
+and something was the matter with<span class="pagenum" id="Page_211">[211]</span>
+my nerves. But it was only the
+sense of guilt, that every day grew
+more oppressive. I thought I might
+feel better in the country. I had
+always disliked it, and now it seemed
+like a harbor of refuge, where I
+could be quiet with my children. I
+had grown to hate London. It was
+London that had played upon my
+weaknesses and drawn me into all
+my trouble. I had not run into debt
+in the country, and, after all, I had
+never been as happy as I was the
+two years after our marriage, when
+we had lived at Castlecourt Marsh
+Manor. Those were my <i>beaux jours</i>!
+How bright and beautiful they
+seemed now, when I looked back on
+them from these dark days of fear
+and disgrace!</p>
+
+<p>It was not much better in the<span class="pagenum" id="Page_212">[212]</span>
+country. A change of scene can not
+make a difference when the trouble
+is a dark secret. And that dark secret
+kept growing darker every day.
+I feared to speak of the diamonds to
+Herbert, and yet every letter that
+came for him filled me with alarm,
+lest it was either to say that they
+were found or that they were not
+found. Herbert went up to London
+at intervals and saw Mr. Gilsey, and
+at night when he came home I trembled
+so that I found it difficult to
+stand till he had told me all that Mr.
+Gilsey had said. Once when he was
+beginning to tell me that Mr. Gilsey
+had some idea they had traced the
+diamonds to Paris I fainted, and it
+was some time before they could
+bring me back.</p>
+
+<p>July was very hot, and I gave<span class="pagenum" id="Page_213">[213]</span>
+that as the cause of my changed appearance
+and listless manner. I was
+really in wretched health, and Herbert
+became exceedingly worried
+about me. He suggested that we
+should go on the Continent for a
+trip, but I shrank from the thought
+of it. I felt as if the sight of Paris,
+where the diamonds were waiting to
+be redeemed, would kill me outright.
+I did not want to leave Castlecourt
+Marsh Manor to go anywhere. I
+only wanted to be happy again&mdash;to
+be the way I was before I had taken
+the diamonds.</p>
+
+<p>And I knew now that this could
+never be till I told my husband. I
+knew that to win back my peace of
+mind I had to confess all, and hear
+him say he forgave me. I tried to
+several times, but it was impossible.<span class="pagenum" id="Page_214">[214]</span>
+As the moment that I had chosen for
+confession approached, my heart beat
+so that I could scarcely breathe, and
+I trembled like a person in a chill.
+With Herbert looking at me so kindly,
+so tenderly, the words died away
+on my lips, or I said something quite
+different to what I had intended saying.
+It was useless. As the days
+went by I knew that I would never
+dare tell, that for the rest of my
+life I would be crushed under the
+sense of guilt that seemed too heavy
+to be borne.</p>
+
+<p>It was late one afternoon in the
+middle of July that the crash came.
+Never, never shall I forget that day!
+So dark and awful at first, and
+then&mdash; But I must follow the story
+just as it happened.</p>
+
+<p>Herbert and I had had tea in the<span class="pagenum" id="Page_215">[215]</span>
+library. It was warm weather, and
+the windows that led to the terrace
+were wide open. Through them I
+could see the beautiful landscape&mdash;rolling
+hills with great trees dotted
+over them, all the colors brighter and
+deeper than at midday, for the sun
+was getting low. I was sitting by
+one of the windows looking out on
+this, and thinking how different had
+been my feelings when I had come
+here as a bride and loved it all, and
+been so full of joy. My hands hung
+limp over the arms of the chair. I
+had no desire to move or speak. It
+is so agonizing, when you are miserable,
+looking back on days that were
+happy!</p>
+
+<p>As I was sitting this way, Thomas,
+one of the footmen, came in with the
+letters. I noticed that he had quite<span class="pagenum" id="Page_216">[216]</span>
+a packet of them. Some were mine,
+and I laid them on the table at my
+elbow. Idly and without interest I
+saw that in Herbert&#8217;s bunch there
+was a small box, such as jewelry is
+sent about in. Thomas left the room,
+and I continued looking out of the
+window until I suddenly heard Herbert
+give a suppressed exclamation.
+I turned toward him, and saw that
+he had the open box in his hand.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;What does this mean?&#8221; he said.
+&#8220;What an extraordinary thing!
+Look here, Gladys.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>And he came toward me, holding
+out the box. It was full of cotton
+wool, and lying on this were a great
+quantity of unset diamonds of different
+sizes. My heart gave a leap into
+my throat. I sat up, clutching the
+arms of the chair.</p>
+
+
+
+<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_217">[217]</span>&#8220;What are they?&#8221; I said, hearing
+my voice suddenly high and loud.
+&#8220;Where did they come from?&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;I don&#8217;t know anything about
+them! It&#8217;s too odd! See what&#8217;s
+written on this piece of paper that
+was inside the box.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>He held out a small piece of paper,
+on which the creases of several folds
+were plainly marked. Across it, in
+typing, ran two sentences. I snatched
+the paper and read the words:</p>
+
+<div class="blockquot">
+
+<p>We don&#8217;t want <i>your</i> diamonds. You can
+keep them, and with them accept our kind
+regards.</p>
+</div>
+
+<p>The paper fluttered to my feet.
+I knew in a moment what it all
+meant. The thieves had discovered
+that the diamonds were paste, and
+had returned them. I was conscious<span class="pagenum" id="Page_218">[218]</span>
+of Herbert&#8217;s startled face suddenly
+charged with an expression of sharp
+anxiety as he cried:</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Why, Gladys, what is it? You&#8217;re
+as white as death!&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>He came toward me, but I motioned
+him away and rose to my
+feet. I knew then that the hour had
+come, and tho I suspect I <i>was</i> very
+white, I did not feel so frightened
+as I had done in the past.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Those <i>are</i> your diamonds, Herbert,&#8221;
+I said, quietly and distinctly,
+&#8220;or, perhaps, I ought to say those
+are the substitutes for them. <i>Your</i>
+diamonds are in Paris, at Barriere&#8217;s,
+<i>au quatr&egrave;me</i>, on the Rue Croix des
+Petits Champs.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Gladys!&#8221; he exclaimed, &#8220;what
+do you mean? What are you talking
+about? You look so white and<span class="pagenum" id="Page_219">[219]</span>
+strange! Sit down, darling, and tell
+me what you mean.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Oh, Herbert,&#8221; I cried, with my
+voice suddenly full of agony, &#8220;let
+me tell you! Don&#8217;t stop me. If
+you&#8217;re angry with me and hate me,
+wait till I&#8217;ve finished before you say
+so. I&#8217;ve got to confess it all. I&#8217;ve
+got to, dear. You must listen to me,
+and not frighten me till I have done;
+for if I don&#8217;t tell you now, I shall
+certainly die.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>And then I told&mdash;I told it all. I
+didn&#8217;t leave out a single thing. My
+first bills, and Bolkonsky, and the
+jeweler, and the pawnbroking place,
+and everything was in it. Once I
+was started, it was not so hard, and
+I poured it out. I didn&#8217;t try to
+make it better, or ask to be forgiven.<span class="pagenum" id="Page_220">[220]</span>
+But when it was all finished, I said,
+in a voice that I could hear was
+suddenly husky and trembling:</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;And now I suppose you&#8217;ll not
+like me any more. It&#8217;s quite natural
+that you shouldn&#8217;t. I only ask one
+thing, and I know, of course, I have
+no right to ask it&mdash;that is, that you
+won&#8217;t send me away from you. I
+have been very wicked. I suppose
+I ought to be put in prison. But,
+oh, Herbert, no matter what I&#8217;ve
+been, I&#8217;ve loved you! That&#8217;s something.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>I could not go any further, and
+there was no need; for my dear husband
+did not seem angry at all. He
+took me, all weeping and trembling,
+into his arms, and said the sweetest
+things to me&mdash;the sort of things<span class="pagenum" id="Page_221">[221]</span>
+one doesn&#8217;t write down with a pen&mdash;just
+between him and me.</p>
+
+<p>And I?&mdash;I turned my face into
+his shoulder and cried feebly. No
+one knows how happy I felt except
+a person who has been completely
+miserable and suddenly finds her
+misery ended. It is really worth being
+miserable to thoroughly appreciate
+the joy of being happy again.</p>
+
+<p>Well, that is really the end of the
+statement. Herbert went to Paris
+a few days later and redeemed the
+diamonds, and they are now being
+set in imitation of the old settings,
+which are lost. I would not go to
+Paris with him. Nor will I go to
+London next season. Both places
+are too full of horrible memories.
+Perhaps some day I shall feel about<span class="pagenum" id="Page_222">[222]</span>
+them as I did before the diamonds
+were taken, but now I do not want
+to leave the country at all. Besides,
+we can economize here, and the four
+thousand pounds necessary to get
+back the stones was a good deal
+for Herbert to have to pay out
+just now. And then it is so sweet
+and peaceful in the country. Nothing
+troubles one. Oh, how delightful
+a thing it is to have an easy conscience!
+One does not know how
+good it is till one has lost it.</p>
+
+<p>This finishes my statement. I
+dare say it is a very bad one, for I
+am not clever at all. But it has the
+one merit of being entirely truthful,
+and I have told everything&mdash;just
+how wicked I was, and just why I
+was so wicked. Nothing has been<span class="pagenum" id="Page_223">[223]</span>
+held back, and nothing has been set
+down falsely. It is an unprejudiced
+and accurate account of my share
+in the Castlecourt diamond case.</p>
+
+
+<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop" />
+
+
+<div class="chapter">
+<div class="transnote">
+<p class="ph1">TRANSCRIBER&#8217;S NOTES:</p>
+
+<p>Obvious typographical errors have been corrected.</p>
+
+<p>Inconsistencies in hyphenation have been standardized.</p>
+
+<p>Archaic or alternate spelling has been retained from the original.</p>
+</div></div>
+<div style='margin-top:1.5em;margin-bottom:1em;'>*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG BOOK OF THE CASTLECOURT DIAMOND MYSTERY ***</div>
+
+<div style='text-align:left'>
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+The Project Gutenberg eBook of The Castlecourt Diamond Mystery, by Geraldine
+Bonner
+
+This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere in the United States and
+most other parts of the world at no cost and with almost no restrictions
+whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or re-use it under the terms
+of the Project Gutenberg License included with this eBook or online at
+www.gutenberg.org. If you are not located in the United States, you will
+have to check the laws of the country where you are located before using
+this eBook.
+
+Title: The Castlecourt Diamond Mystery
+       Being a Compilation of the Statements Made by the Various Participants in This
+       Curious Case Now, For the First Time, Given to the Public
+
+Author: Geraldine Bonner
+
+Illustrator: Harrie F. Stoner
+
+Release Date: Mar 27, 2021 [eBook #64934]
+
+Language: English
+
+Produced by: D A Alexander, David E. Brown, and the Online Distributed
+             Proofreading Team at https://www.pgdp.net (This file was
+             produced from images generously made available by The
+             Internet Archive)
+
+*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE CASTLECOURT DIAMOND MYSTERY ***
+
+
+
+
+
+  THE CASTLECOURT
+  DIAMOND CASE
+
+
+[Illustration: _SHE MADE A SORT OF GRASP AT THE CASE_  [Page 30]
+
+
+
+
+  The Castlecourt
+  Diamond Case
+
+  BEING A COMPILATION OF THE STATEMENTS
+  MADE BY THE VARIOUS PARTICIPANTS IN
+  THIS CURIOUS CASE NOW, FOR THE FIRST
+  TIME, GIVEN TO THE PUBLIC :: :: ::
+
+  _By_
+
+  GERALDINE BONNER
+
+  _Author of “Hard Pan,” “The Pioneers,” etc._
+
+  _FRONTISPIECE ILLUSTRATION_
+
+  BY
+
+  HARRIE F. STONER
+
+  [Illustration]
+
+  FUNK & WAGNALLS COMPANY
+  NEW YORK AND LONDON
+  1906
+
+
+
+
+  COPYRIGHT, 1905
+  BY
+  GERALDINE BONNER
+
+  [_Printed in the United States of America_]
+  Published, December, 1905
+
+
+
+
+CONTENTS
+
+
+  Statement of Sophy Jeffers, lady’s maid
+    to the Marchioness of Castlecourt                   9
+
+  Statement of Lilly Bingham, known in
+    England as Laura Brice, in the
+    United States as Frances Latimer,
+    to the police of both countries as
+    Laura the Lady, besides having recently
+    figured as a housemaid at
+    Burridge’s Hotel, London, under
+    the alias of Sara Dwight                           47
+
+  Statement of Cassius P. Kennedy, formerly
+    of Necropolis City, Ohio, now
+    Manager of the London Branch of
+    the Colonial Box, Tub, and Cordage
+    Company (Ltd.) of Chicago and St.
+    Louis                                              95
+
+  Statement of John Burns Gilsey, private
+    detective, especially engaged on the
+    Castlecourt diamond case      127
+
+  The Statement of Daisy K. Fairweather
+    Kennedy, late of Necropolis City,
+    Ohio, at present a resident of 15
+    Farley Street, Knightsbridge, London              157
+
+  Statement of Gladys, Marchioness of
+    Castlecourt                                       189
+
+
+
+
+Statement of Sophy Jeffers, lady’s maid to the Marchioness of
+Castlecourt.
+
+
+
+
+Statement of Sophy Jeffers, lady’s maid to the Marchioness of
+Castlecourt.
+
+
+I had been in Lady Castlecourt’s service two years when the Castlecourt
+diamonds were stolen. I am not going to give an account of how I was
+suspected and cleared. That’s not the part of the story I’m here to set
+down. It’s about the disappearance of the diamonds that I’m to tell,
+and I’m ready to do it to the best of my ability.
+
+We were in London, at Burridge’s Hotel, for the season. Lord
+Castlecourt’s town house at Grosvenor Gate was let to some rich
+Americans, and for two years now we had stayed at Burridge’s. It was
+the third of April when we came to town--my lord, my lady, Chawlmers
+(my lord’s man), and myself. The children had been sent to my lord’s
+aunt, Lady Mary Cranbury--she who’s unmarried, and lives at Cranbury
+Castle, near Worcester.
+
+Lord Castlecourt didn’t like going to the hotel at all. Chawlmers used
+to tell me how he’d talk sometimes. Chawlmers has been with my lord ten
+years, and was born on the estate of Castlecourt Marsh Manor. But my
+lord generally did what my lady wanted, and she was not at all partial
+to the country. She’d say to me--she was always full of her jokes:
+
+“Yes, it’s an excellent place, the country--an excellent place to get
+away from, Jeffers. And the farther away you get the more excellent it
+seems.”
+
+My lady had been born in Ireland, and lived there till she was a woman
+grown. It’s not for me to comment on my betters, but I’ve heard it said
+she didn’t have a decent frock to her back till old Lady Bundy took
+her up and brought her to London. Her father was a clergyman, the Rev.
+McCarren Duffy, of County Clare, and they do say he hadn’t a penny to
+his fortune, and that my lady ran wild in cotton frocks and with holes
+in her stockings till Lady Bundy saw her. I’ve heard tell that Lady
+Bundy said of her she’d be the most beautiful woman in London since
+the Gunnings (whoever they were), and just brought her up to town and
+fitted her out from top to toe. In a month she was the talk of the
+season, and before it was over she was betrothed to the Marquis of
+Castlecourt, who was a great match for her.
+
+But she was the beggar on horseback you hear people talk about. Lord
+Castlecourt wasn’t what would be called a millionaire, but he gave her
+more in a month than she’d had before in five years, and she’d spend
+it all and want more. It seemed as if she didn’t know the value of
+money. If she’d see a pretty thing in a shop she’d buy it, and if she
+had not got the ready money they’d give her the credit; for, being the
+Marchioness of Castlecourt, all the shop people were on their knees to
+her, they were that anxious to get her patronage. Then when the bills
+would come in she would be quite surprised and wonder how she had come
+to spend so much, and hide them from Lord Castlecourt. Afterward she’d
+forget all about them, even where she’d put them.
+
+Lord Castlecourt was so fond of her he’d have forgiven her anything.
+They’d been married five years when I entered my lady’s service, and he
+was as much in love with her as if he’d been married but a month. And
+I don’t blame him. She was the prettiest lady, and the most coaxing,
+I ever laid eyes on. She might well be Irish: there was blarney on
+her tongue for all the world, and money ready to drop off the ends of
+her fingers into any palm that was held out. There was no story of
+misfortune but would bring the tears to her eyes and her purse to her
+hand: generous and soft hearted she was to every creature that walked.
+No one could be angry with her long. I’ve seen Lord Castlecourt begin
+to scold her, and end by laughing at her and kissing her. Not but what
+she respected him and loved him. She did both, and she was afraid of
+him too. No one knew better than my lady when it was time to stop
+trifling with my lord and be serious.
+
+It was Lord Castlecourt’s custom to go to Paris two or three times
+every year. He had a sister married there of whom he was very fond, and
+he and her husband would go off shooting boars to a place with a name
+I can’t remember. My lady was always happy to go to Paris. She’d say
+she loved it, and the theaters, and the shops--tho what she could see
+in it _I_ never understood. A dirty, messy city, and full of men ready
+to ogle an honest, Christian woman, as if she was what half the women
+look like that go prancing along the streets. My lady spent a good
+deal of her time at the dressmakers, and she and I were forever going
+up to top stories in little, silly lifts that go up of themselves. I’d
+a great deal rather have walked than trusted myself to such unsafe,
+French contrivances--underhand, dangerous things, that might burst at
+any moment, _I_ say.
+
+The year before the time I am writing of we went to Paris, as usual, in
+March. We stopped at the Bristol, and stayed one month. My lady went
+out a great deal, and between-whiles was, as usual, at what they call
+there “_couturières’_,” at the jewelers’, or the shops on the Rue de la
+Paix. She also bought from Bolkonsky, the furrier, a very smart jacket
+of Russian sable that I’ll be bound cost a pretty penny. When we went
+back to London for the season her beauty and her costumes were the
+talk of the town. Old Lady Bundy’s maid told me that Lady Bundy went
+about saying: “And but for me, she’d be the mother of the red-headed
+larrykins of an Irish squireen!” Which didn’t seem to me nice talk for
+a lady.
+
+We spent that summer at Castlecourt Marsh Manor very quietly, as was my
+lord’s wish. My lady did not seem in as good spirits as usual, which I
+set down to the country life that she always said bored her. Once or
+twice she told me that she felt ill, which I’d never known her to say
+before, and one day in the late summer I discovered her in tears. She
+did not seem to be herself again till we went to Paris in September.
+Then she brightened up, and was soon in higher spirits than ever. She
+was on the go continually--often would go out for lunch, and not be
+back till it was time to dress for dinner. She enjoyed herself in Paris
+very much, she told me. And I think she did, for I never saw her more
+animated--almost excited with high spirits and success.
+
+The following spring we left Castlecourt Marsh Manor, and, as I said
+before, came to Burridge’s on April the third. The season was soon
+in full swing, and my lady was going out morning, noon, and night.
+There was no end to it, and I was worn out. When she was away in the
+afternoon I’d take forty winks on the sofa, and have Sara Dwight, the
+housemaid of our rooms, bring me a cup of tea, when she’d sometimes
+take one herself, and we’d gossip a bit over it.
+
+If I’d known what an important person Sara Dwight was going to turn out
+I’d have taken more notice of her. But, unfortunately, thieves don’t
+have a mark on their brow like Cain, and Sara was the last girl any one
+would have suspected was dishonest. All that I ever thought about her
+was that she was a neat, civil-spoken girl, who knew her betters and
+her elders when she saw them. She was quick on her feet, modest and
+well-mannered--not what you’d call good-looking: too pale and small for
+my taste, and Chawlmers quite agreed with me. The one thing I noticed
+about her were her hands, which were white and fine like a lady’s. Once
+when I asked her how she kept them so well, she laughed, and said, not
+having a pretty face, she tried to have pretty hands.
+
+“Because a girl ought to have something pretty about her, oughtn’t she,
+Miss Jeffers?” she said to me, quiet and respectful as could be.
+
+I answered, as I thought it was my duty, that beauty was only skin
+deep, and if your character was honest your face would take care of
+itself.
+
+She looked down at her hands, and smiled a little and said:
+
+“Yes, I suppose that’s true, Miss Jeffers. I’ll try to remember it.
+It’s what every girl ought to feel, I’m sure.”
+
+Sara Dwight had the greatest admiration for Lady Castlecourt. She’d
+manage to be standing about in doorways and on the stairs when my lady
+passed down to go to dinner and to the opera. Then she’d come back
+and tell me how beautiful my lady was, and how she envied me being
+her maid. While she was talking she’d help me tidy up the room, and
+sometimes--because she admired my lady so--I’d let her look at the new
+clothes from Paris as they hung in the wardrobe. Sara would gape with
+admiration over them. She spoke a little about my lady’s jewels, but
+not much. I’d have suspected that.
+
+It was in the fifth week after we came to town--to be exact, on the
+afternoon of the fourth day of May--that the diamonds were stolen. As
+I’d been so badgered and questioned and tormented about it, I’ve got it
+all as clear in my head as a photograph--just how it was and just what
+time everything happened.
+
+That evening my lady was going to dinner at the Duke of Duxbury’s. It
+was to be a great dinner--a prince and a prime minister, and I don’t
+know what all besides. My lady was to wear a new gown from Paris and
+the diamonds. She told me when she went out what she would want and
+when she would be back. That was at four, and I was not to expect her
+in till after six.
+
+Some time before that I got her things ready, the gown laid out, and
+the diamonds on the dressing-table. They were kept in a leather case
+of their own, and then put in a despatch-box that shut with a patent
+lock. When we traveled I always carried this box--that is, when my
+lady used it. A good deal of the time it was at the bankers’. Lord
+Castlecourt was very choice about the diamonds. Some of them had been
+in his family for generations. The way they were set now--in a necklace
+with pendants, the larger stones surrounded by smaller ones--had been
+a new setting made for his mother. My lady wanted them changed, and I
+remember that Lord Castlecourt was vexed with her, and she couldn’t
+pet and coax him back into a good humor for some days.
+
+One of the last things that I did that afternoon while arranging the
+dressing-table was to open the despatch-box and take the leather case
+out. Tho it was May, and the evenings were very long, I turned on the
+electric lights, and, unclasping the case, looked at the necklace.
+
+I was standing this way when Chawlmers comes to the side door of the
+room (the whole suite was connected with doors), and asks me if I
+could remember the number of the bootmakers where my lady bought her
+riding-boots. Some friend of Chawlmers wanted to know the address. I
+couldn’t at first remember it, and I was standing this way, trying
+to recollect, when I heard the clock strike six. I told Chawlmers I’d
+get it for him. I was certain it was in my lady’s desk, and I put the
+case down on the bureau, and Chawlmers and I together went into the
+sitting-room (the door open between us and my lady’s room) and looked
+for it. We found it in a minute, and Chawlmers was writing it down in
+his pocket-book when I thought I heard (so light and soft you could
+hardly say you’d heard anything) a rustle like a woman’s skirt in the
+next room. For a second I thought it was my lady, and I jumped, for I’d
+no business at her desk, and I knew she’d be vexed and scold me.
+
+Chawlmers didn’t hear a thing, and looked at me astonished. Then I ran
+to the door and peeped in. There was no one there, and I thought, of
+course, I’d been mistaken.
+
+We didn’t leave the room directly, but stood by the desk talking for
+a bit. When I told this to the detectives, one of the papers said it
+showed “how deceptive even the best servants were.” As if a valet and
+a lady’s maid couldn’t stop for a moment of talk! Poor things! we
+work hard enough most of the time, I’m sure. And that we weren’t long
+standing there idle can be seen from the fact that I heard half-past
+six strike. I was for urging Chawlmers to go then--as Lady Castlecourt
+might be in at any moment--but he hung about, following me into my
+lady’s room, helping me draw the curtains and turn on all the lights,
+for my lady can’t bear to dress by daylight.
+
+It was nearly seven o’clock when we heard the sound of her skirts in
+the passage. Chawlmers slipped off into his master’s rooms, shutting
+the door quietly behind him. My lady was looking very beautiful. She
+had on a blue hat trimmed with blue and gray hydrangeas, and underneath
+it her hair was like spun gold, and her eyes looked soft and dark.
+It never seemed to tire her to be always on the go. But I’d thought
+lately she’d been going too much, for sometimes she was pale, and once
+or twice I thought she was out of spirits--the way she’d been in the
+country last summer.
+
+She seemed so to-night, not talking as much as usual. There were
+some letters for her on the corner of the dressing-table, and I could
+see her face in the glass as she read them. One made her smile, and
+then she sat thinking and biting her lip, which was as red as a
+cherry. She seemed to me to be preoccupied. When I was making the side
+“_ondulations_” of her hair--which everybody knows is a most critical
+operation--she jerked her head, and said suddenly she wondered how the
+children were. I never before knew my lady to think about the children
+when her hair was being attended to.
+
+She was sitting in front of the dressing-table, her toilet complete,
+when she stretched out her hand to the leather case of the diamonds.
+I was looking at the reflection in the mirror, thinking that she was
+as perfect as I could make her. She, too, had been looking at the back
+of her head, and still held the small glass in one hand. The other
+she reached out for the diamonds. The case had a catch that you had
+to press, and I saw, to my surprise, that she raised the lid without
+pressing this. Then she gave a loud exclamation. There were no diamonds
+there!
+
+She turned round and looked at me, and said:
+
+“How odd! Where are they, Jeffers?”
+
+I felt suddenly as if I was going to fall dead, and afterward, when
+my lady stood by me and said it was nonsense to suspect me, one of
+the things she brought up as a proof of my innocence was the color I
+turned and the way I looked at that moment.
+
+“Jeffers!” she said, suddenly rising up quick out of her chair. And
+then, without my saying a word, she went white and stood staring at me.
+
+“My lady, my lady,” was all I could falter out, “I don’t know--I don’t
+know!”
+
+“Where are they, Jeffers? What’s happened to them?”
+
+My voice was all husky like a person’s with a cold, as I stammered:
+
+“They were in the case an hour ago.”
+
+My lady caught me by the arm, and her fingers gripped tight into my
+flesh.
+
+“Don’t say they’re stolen, Jeffers!” she cried out. “Don’t tell me
+that! Lord Castlecourt would never forgive me. He’ll never forgive me!
+They’re worth thousands and thousands of pounds! They _can’t_ have been
+stolen!”
+
+She spoke so loud they heard her in the next room, and Lord Castlecourt
+came in. He was a tall gentleman, a little bald, and I can see him
+now in his black clothes, with the white of his shirt bosom gleaming,
+standing in the doorway looking at her. He had a surprised expression
+on his face, and was frowning a little; for he hated anything like loud
+talking or a scene.
+
+“What’s the matter, Gladys?” he said. “You’re making such a noise I
+heard you in my room. Is there a fire?”
+
+She made a sort of grasp at the case, and tried to hide it. Chawlmers
+was in the doorway behind my lord, and I saw him staring at her and
+trying not to. He told me afterward she was as white as paper.
+
+“The diamonds,” she faltered out--“your diamonds--your family’s--your
+mother’s.”
+
+Lord Castlecourt gave a start, and seemed to stiffen. He did not move
+from where he was, but stood rigid, looking at her.
+
+“What’s the matter with them?” he said, quick and quiet, but not as if
+he was calm.
+
+She threw the case she had been trying to hide on the dressing-table.
+It knocked over some bottles, and lay there open and empty. My lord
+sprang at it, took it up, and shook it.
+
+“Gone?” he said, turning to my lady. “Stolen, do you mean?”
+
+“Yes--yes--yes,” she said, like that--three times; and then she fell
+back in the chair and put her hands over her face.
+
+Lord Castlecourt turned to me.
+
+“What’s this mean, Jeffers? You’ve had charge of the diamonds.”
+
+I told him all I knew and as well as I could, what with my legs
+trembling that they’d scarce support me, and my tongue dry as a piece
+of leather. When I got toward the end, my lady interrupted me, crying
+out:
+
+“Herbert, it isn’t my fault, it isn’t! Jeffers will tell you I’ve taken
+good care of them. I’ve not been careless or forgetful about them, as
+I have about other things. I _have_ been careful of them! It isn’t my
+fault, and you mustn’t blame me!”
+
+Lord Castlecourt made a sort of gesture toward her to be still. I
+could see it meant that. He kept the case, and, going to the door,
+locked it.
+
+“How long have you been in these rooms?” he said, turning round on me
+with the key in his hand.
+
+I told him, trembling, and almost crying. I had never seen my lord look
+so terribly stern. I don’t know whether he was angry or not, but I was
+afraid of him, and it was for the first time; for he’d always been a
+kind and generous master to me and the other servants.
+
+“Oh, my lord,” I said, feeling suddenly weighed down with dread and
+misery, “you surely don’t think I took them?”
+
+“I’m not thinking anything,” he said. “You and Chawlmers are to stay
+in this room, and not move from it till you get my orders. I’ll send at
+once for the police.”
+
+My lady turned round in her chair and looked at him.
+
+“The police?” she said. “Oh, Herbert, wait till to-morrow! You’re not
+even sure yet that they are stolen.”
+
+“Where are they, then?” he says, quick and sharp. “Jeffers says she saw
+them in that case an hour ago. They are not in the case now. Do either
+you or she know where they are?”
+
+I was down on my knees, picking up the bottles that had been knocked
+over by the empty jewel-case.
+
+“Not I, God knows,” I said, and I began to cry.
+
+“The matter must be put in the hands of the police at once,” my
+lord said. “I’ll have the hotel policeman here in a few minutes, and
+the rooms searched. Jeffers and Chawlmers and their luggage will be
+searched to-morrow.”
+
+My lady gave a sort of gasp. I was close to her feet, and I heard her.
+But, for myself, I just broke down, and, kneeling on the floor with the
+overturned bottles spilling cologne all around me, cried worse than
+I’ve done since I was in short frocks.
+
+“Oh, my lady, I didn’t take them! I didn’t! You know I didn’t!” I
+sobbed out.
+
+My lady looked very miserable.
+
+“My poor Jeffers,” she said, and put her hand on my shoulder, “I’m sure
+you didn’t. If I’d only a sixpence in the world I’d stake that on
+your honesty.”
+
+Lord Castlecourt didn’t say anything. He went to the bell and pressed
+it. When the boy answered it he gave him a message in a low tone, and
+it didn’t seem five minutes before two men were in the room. I did
+not know till afterward that one was the manager, and the other the
+hotel policeman. I stopped my crying the best I could, and heard my
+lord telling them that the diamonds were gone, and that Chawlmers and
+I had been the only people in the room all the afternoon. Then he said
+he wanted them to communicate at once with Scotland Yard, and have a
+capable detective sent to the hotel.
+
+“Lady Castlecourt and I are going to dinner,” he said, looking at his
+watch. “We will have to leave, at the latest, within the next twenty
+minutes.”
+
+Lady Castlecourt cried out at that:
+
+“Herbert, I don’t see how I can go to that dinner. I am altogether too
+upset, and, besides, it will be too late. It’s eight o’clock now.”
+
+“We can make the time up in the carriage,” my lord said; and he went
+into the next room with the policeman, where they talked together in
+low voices. I helped my lady on with her cloak, and she stood waiting,
+her eyebrows drawn together, looking very pale and worried. When my
+lord came back he said nothing, only nodded to my lady that he was
+ready, and, without a word, they left the room.
+
+I tried to tidy the bureau and pick up the bottles as well as I could,
+and every time I looked at the door into the sitting-room I saw that
+policeman’s head peering round the door-post at me.
+
+That was an awful night. I did not know it till afterward, but both
+Chawlmers and I were under what they call “surveillance.” I did not
+know either that Lord Castlecourt had told the policeman he believed us
+to be innocent; that we were of excellent character, and nothing but
+positive proof would make him think either of us guilty. All I felt, as
+I tossed about in bed, was that I was suspected, and would be arrested
+and probably put in jail. Fifteen years of honest service in noble
+families wouldn’t help me much if the detectives took it into their
+heads I was guilty.
+
+The next morning we heard about the disappearance of Sara Dwight, and
+things began to look brighter. Sara had left the hotel at a little
+after seven the evening before, speaking to no one, and carrying a
+small portmanteau. When they came to examine her room and her box
+they found a jacket and skirt hanging on the wall, some burnt papers
+in the grate, and the box almost empty, except for some cheap cotton
+underclothes and a dirty wadded quilt put in to fill up. Sara had given
+no notice, and had not at any time told any of her fellow servants
+that she was dissatisfied with her place or wanted to leave.
+
+That morning Mr. Brison, the Scotland Yard detective, had us up in the
+sitting-room asking us questions till I was fair muddled, and didn’t
+know truth from lies. Lord Castlecourt and my lady were both present,
+and Mr. Brison was forever politely asking my lady questions till she
+got quite angry with him, and said she wasn’t at all sure the diamonds
+were stolen; they might have been mislaid, and would turn up somewhere.
+Mr. Brison was surprised, and asked my lady if she had any idea where
+they were liable to turn up; and my lady looked annoyed, and said it
+was a silly question, and that she “wasn’t a clairvoyant.”
+
+Three days after this Mr. John Gilsey, who is a detective, and, I have
+heard since, a very famous gentleman, was engaged by Lord Castlecourt
+to “work upon the case.” Mr. Gilsey was very soft-spoken and pleasant.
+He did not muddle you, as Mr. Brison did, and it was very easy to tell
+him all you knew or could remember, which he always seemed anxious to
+hear. He had me up in the sitting-room twice, once alone and once with
+Mr. Brison, and they asked me a host of questions about Sara Dwight. I
+told them all I could think of; and when I came to her hands, and how
+they were white and fine, like a lady’s, I saw Mr. Brison look at Mr.
+Gilsey and raise his eyebrows.
+
+“Does it seem to you,” he says, scribbling words in his note-book,
+“that this sounds like Laura the Lady?”
+
+And Mr. Gilsey answered:
+
+“The manner of operating sounds like her, I must admit.”
+
+“She was in Chicago when last heard of,” says Mr. Brison, stopping in
+his scribbling, “but we’ve information within the last week that she’s
+left there.”
+
+“Laura the Lady is in London,” Mr. Gilsey remarked, looking at his
+finger nails. “I saw her three weeks ago at Earlscourt.”
+
+Mr. Brison got red in the face and puffed out his lips, as if he was
+going to say something, but decided not to. He scribbled some more,
+and then, looking at what he had written as if he was reading it over,
+says:
+
+“If that’s the case, there’s very little doubt as to who planned and
+executed this robbery.”
+
+“That’s a very comfortable state of affairs to arrive at,” says Mr.
+Gilsey, “and I hope it’s the correct one.” And that was all he said
+that time about what he thought.
+
+After this we stayed on at Burridge’s for the rest of the season, but
+it was not half as cheerful or gay as it had been before. My lord was
+often moody and cross, for he felt the loss of the diamonds bitterly;
+and my lady was out of spirits and moped, for she was very fond of him,
+and to have him take it this way seemed to upset her. Mr. Brison or Mr.
+Gilsey were constantly popping in and murmuring in the sitting-room,
+but they got no further on--at least, there was no talk of finding the
+diamonds, which was all that counted.
+
+This is all I know of the theft of the necklace. What happened at that
+time, and what Mr. Gilsey calls “the surrounding circumstances of the
+case,” I have tried to put down as clearly and as simply as possible. I
+have gone over them so often, and been forced to be so careful, that I
+think they will be found to be quite correct in every particular.
+
+
+
+
+Statement of Lilly Bingham, known in England as Laura Brice, in the
+United States as Frances Latimer, to the police of both countries as
+Laura the Lady, besides having recently figured as a housemaid at
+Burridge’s Hotel, London, under the alias of Sara Dwight.
+
+
+
+
+Statement of Lilly Bingham, known in England as Laura Brice, in the
+United States as Frances Latimer, to the police of both countries as
+Laura the Lady, besides having recently figured as a housemaid at
+Burridge’s Hotel, London, under the alias of Sara Dwight.
+
+
+I never was so glad of anything in my life as to get out of that
+beastly hole, Chicago. I’ll certainly never go back there unless there
+is an inducement big enough to compensate for the elevated railroad,
+the lake, the noise, the winds, the restaurants, the climate, and the
+people. Ugh, what a nightmare!
+
+England’s the country for me, and London is the focus of it. You can
+live like a Christian here, and enjoy all the refinements and decencies
+of life for a reasonable consideration. How my heart leaped when I
+saw the old, gray, sooty walls looming up through the river haze--I
+thought it best to sneak by the back way, because if I go up the front
+stairs and ring the bell there may be loiterers round who had seen
+Laura the Lady before, and might become impertinently curious about
+her future movements. And then when I saw Tom waiting for me--my own
+Tom, that I lawfully married, in a burst of affection, three years ago,
+at Leamington--I shouted out greetings, and danced on the deck, and
+waved my handkerchief. It was worth while having lived in Chicago for
+a year to come back to London and Tom and a little furnished flat in
+Knightsbridge.
+
+We were very respectable and quiet for a month--just a few callers
+climbing up the front stairs, and demure female tea-parties at
+intervals. I bought plants to put in the windows, and did knitting in a
+conspicuous solitude which the neighbors could overlook. When I saw the
+maiden lady opposite scrutinizing me through an opera-glass I felt like
+sending her my marriage certificate to run her eye over and return.
+We even hired a maid of all work from an agency as a touch of local
+color on this worthy domestic picture. But when the Castlecourt diamond
+scheme began to ripen I nagged at her till she was impudent and bundled
+her off. Maud Durlan came in then, put on a cap and apron, and played
+her part a good deal better than she used to when she acted soubrettes
+in the vaudeville.
+
+We were two weeks lying low, maturing our plans, tho when I left
+Chicago I knew what I was coming back for. Outwardly all was the same
+as usual--the decent callers still climbed the front stairs, and
+elderly ladies who, without any stretch of imagination, might have
+been my mother and aunts, dropped in for tea. I used to wonder how
+the people on the floor below--they were the family of a man who made
+rubber tires for bicycles--would have felt if they could have seen
+Maud, our neat and respectable slavy, sitting with the French heels
+of her slippers caught on the third shelf of the bookcase, dropping
+cigarette ashes into the waste-paper basket.
+
+When all was ready, Tom and I left for a “business” trip on the
+Continent. We went away in a four-wheeler, driven by Handsome Harry,
+the top piled with luggage, my face at the window smiling a last,
+cautioning good-by at Maud. Five days later, under the name of Sara
+Dwight, I was installed as housemaid on the third floor of Burridge’s
+Hotel.
+
+I had done work of that kind before--once in New York, and at another
+time in Paris; having been born and spent my childhood in that cheerful
+city, my French is irreproachable. The famous robbery of the Comtesse
+de Chateaugay’s rubies was my work--but I mustn’t brag about past
+exploits. I had never been engaged in a hotel theft of the importance
+of the Castlecourt one. The necklace was valued at between eight
+thousand and nine thousand pounds. The stones were not so remarkable
+for size as for quality. They were of an unusually even excellence and
+pure water.
+
+After I had been in the hotel for a few days and watched the
+Castlecourt party, all apprehension left me, and I felt confident and
+cool. They were an extremely simple layout. Lady Castlecourt was a
+beauty--a seductive, smiling, white and gold person, without any sense
+at all. Her husband adored her. Being a man of some brains, that was
+what might have been expected. What might not have been expected was
+that she appeared to reciprocate his affection. Having made a careful
+study of the manners and customs of the upper classes, I was not
+prepared for this. I note it as one of those exceptions to rule which
+occur now and then in the animal kingdom.
+
+Besides the marquis and his lady, there were a maid and a valet to be
+considered. The former was a dense, honest woman named Sophy Jeffers,
+close on to forty, and of the unredeemed ugliness of the normal lady’s
+maid. Such being the case, it was but natural to find that she was in
+love with Chawlmers, the valet, who was twenty-seven and good-looking.
+Jeffers was too truthful to tamper with her own age, but she did not
+feel it necessary to keep up the same rigid standard when it came to
+Chawlmers. It was less of a lie to make him ten years older than
+herself ten years younger. From these facts I drew my deductions as to
+the sort of adversary Jeffers might be, and I found that, by a modest
+avoidance of Chawlmers’ society, I could make her my lifelong friend.
+
+The evening of the Duke of Duxbury’s dinner was the time I decided upon
+as the most convenient for taking the stones. I had heard from Jeffers
+that the marquis and marchioness were going. When her ladyship left
+her rooms that afternoon I heard her tell Jeffers that she would not
+be back till after six, and to have everything ready at that hour. Off
+and on for the next two hours I was doing work about the corridor with
+a duster. It was near six when I heard the two servants talking in the
+sitting-room. A bird’s-eye view through the keyhole showed me where
+they were, and that they were engaged in searching for something in
+the desk. It was my chance. With my housemaid’s pass-key I opened the
+door a crack, and peeped in. The leather case of the diamonds stood on
+the dressing-table not twenty feet from the door. It did not take five
+minutes to enter, open the case, take the necklace, and leave. Jeffers
+heard me. She was in the room almost as I closed the door. Before she
+could have got into the hall I was in the broom-closet hunting for a
+dust-pan. But she evidently suspected nothing, for the door did not
+open and there was no indication of disturbance.
+
+Two days later Tom and I returned from our “business trip” to the
+Continent. I quite prided myself on the way our luggage was labeled.
+It had just the right knock-about, piebald look. We drove up in a
+four-wheeler, Handsome Harry on the box, and Maud opened the door for
+us. For the next few days we were quiet and kept indoors. We spent the
+time peacefully in the kitchen, breaking the settings of the diamonds
+and reading about the robbery in the papers. As soon as things simmered
+down, Tom was to take the stones across to Holland, where they would
+be distributed. We threw away the settings, and put the diamonds in a
+small box of chamois-skin that I pinned to my corset with a safety-pin.
+
+That was the way things were--untroubled as a summer sea--till ten
+days after our return, when I began to get restive. I had had what
+they call in America “a strenuous time” at Burridge’s, working like a
+slave all day, with not a soul to speak to but a parcel of ignorant
+servant women, and I wanted livening up. I longed for the light and
+noise of Piccadilly, the crowd and the restaurants; but what I wanted
+particularly was to go to the theater and see a play called “The
+Forgiven Prodigal.”
+
+Maud and Tom raised a clamor of disapproval: What was the use of
+running risks? did I think, because I’d been in Chicago for nearly a
+year, that I was forgotten? did I think the men in Scotland Yard who
+knew me were all dead? did I think the excitement of the Castlecourt
+robbery was over and done? I yawned at them, and then told them, with
+a gentle smile, that they were a “pusillanimous pair.” There might
+be many men in Scotland Yard who knew me, and that, as they say in
+Chicago, “is all the good it would do them.” They couldn’t arrest
+me for sitting peacefully at a theater looking at a play. As for
+connecting me with Sara Dwight, I would give any one a hundred pounds
+who, when I was dressed and had my war-paint on, would find in me a
+single suggestion of the late housemaid at Burridge’s. So I talked
+them down; and if I didn’t convince them of the reasonableness of my
+arguments, I at least managed to soothe their fears.
+
+I dressed myself with especial care, and when the last rite of my
+toilet was accomplished looked critically in the glass to see if
+anything of Sara Dwight remained. The survey contented me. Sara’s
+mother, if there be such a person, would have denied me. I was all in
+black, a sweeping, spangly dress I had bought in New York, cut low, and
+my neck is not my weak point, especially when _crême des violettes_
+has been rubbed over it. My hair was waved (Maud does it very well,
+much better than she cooks, I regret to say), and dressed high, with a
+small red wreath of geraniums round it. Nose powdered to a probable,
+ladylike whiteness, a touch of rouge, a tiny _mouche_ near the corner
+of one eye, and long, black gloves--and, presto change! I wore no
+jewels--their owners might recognize them. One could hardly say I
+“wore” the Castlecourt diamonds, which were fastened to my corset with
+a safety-pin. They were rather uncomfortable, but they were the only
+thing about me that were.
+
+As I stood in front of the glass putting on finishing touches, Maud
+left the room, and went to the drawing-room to watch for Handsome
+Harry, who was to drive our hansom. I did not like taking a hired
+driver, and, thank goodness, I didn’t! I was putting a last _soupçon_
+of scarlet on my lips, when she came back, stepping softly, and with
+her eyes round and uneasy looking.
+
+“I don’t know whether I’m nervous,” she says, “but there’s a man just
+gone by in a hansom, and he leaned out and looked hard at our windows.”
+
+“I hope it amused him,” I said, looking critically at my lips, to see
+if they were not a little too incredibly ruddy. “It’s a harmless and
+innocent way of passing the time, so we mustn’t be hard on him if it
+doesn’t happen to be very intellectual. Come, help me on with my cloak,
+and don’t stand there like Patience on a monument staring at thieves.”
+
+I was irritated with Maud, trying to upset my peace of mind that way.
+She’d had any amount of good times while I’d been at Burridge’s with
+my nose to the grindstone. And here she was, the first time I’d got a
+chance to have a spree, looking like a depressed owl and talking like
+the warning voice of Conscience! As she silently held up my cloak and I
+thrust my hand in the sleeve, I said, over my shoulder:
+
+“And you needn’t go upsetting Tom by telling him about strange men in
+hansoms who stare up at our front windows. I want to have a good time
+this evening, not feel that I’m sitting by a guilty being who jumps
+every time he’s spoken to as if the curse of Cain was on him.”
+
+Maud said nothing, and I shook myself into my cloak and swept out to
+the hall, where Tom was waiting.
+
+There had been a slight fog all afternoon, and now it was thick; not a
+“pea-soup” one, but a good, damp, obscuring fog--a regular “burglar’s
+delight.” As we came down the steps we saw the two hansom lamps making
+blurs, like lights behind white cotton screens. Tom was grumbling about
+it and about going out generally as he helped me in. And just at that
+minute, still and quick, like a picture going across a magic-lantern
+slide, I saw a man on the other side of the street step out of the
+shadow of a porch, and glide swiftly and softly past the light of the
+lamp and up the street, to where the form of a waiting hansom loomed.
+It was all very simple and natural, but his walk was odd--so noiseless
+and stealthy.
+
+I got in, and Tom followed me. He hadn’t seen anything. For the moment
+I didn’t speak of it, because I wasn’t sure. But I’ve got to admit
+that my heart beat against the Castlecourt diamonds harder than was
+comfortable. We started, and I listened, and faintly, some way behind
+us, I heard the _ker-lump!--ker-lump!--ker-lump!_ of another horse’s
+hoofs on the asphalt. I leaned forward over the door, and tried to look
+back. Through the mist I saw the two yellow eyes of the hansom behind
+us. Tom asked me what was the matter, and I told him. He whistled--a
+long, single note--then leaned back very steady and still. We didn’t
+say anything for a bit, but just sat tight and listened.
+
+It kept behind us that way for about ten minutes. Then I pushed up the
+trap, and said to Harry:
+
+“What’s this hansom behind us up to, Harry?”
+
+“That’s what I want to know,” he says, quiet and low.
+
+“Lose it, if you can, without being too much of a Jehu,” I answered,
+and shut the trap.
+
+He tried to lose it, and we began a chase, slow at first, and then
+faster and faster, down one street and up the other. The fog by this
+time was as thick and white as wool, and we seemed to break through
+it like a ship, as if we were going through something dense and
+hard to penetrate. It seemed to me, too, a maddeningly quiet night.
+There was no traffic, no noise of wheels to get mixed with ours. The
+_ker-lump!--ker-lump!_ of our horse’s hoofs came back as clear as
+sounds in a calm at sea from the long lines of house fronts. And that
+devilish hansom never lost us. It kept just the same distance behind
+us. We could hear its horse’s hoofs, like an echo of our own, beating
+through the fog. It got no nearer; it went no faster. It did not seem
+in a hurry, it never deviated from our track. There was something
+hideously unagitated and cool about it--a sort of deadly, sinister
+persistence. I saw it in imagination, like a live monster with bulging
+yellow eyes, staring with gloating greediness at us as we ran feebly
+along before it.
+
+Tom didn’t say much. He doesn’t in moments like this. He’s got the
+nerve all right, but not the brain. There’s no inventive ability in
+Tom, he’s not built for crises. Handsome Harry now and then dropped
+some remark through the trap, which was like a trickle of icy water
+down one’s spine. I began to realize that my lips were dry, and that
+the insides of my gloves were damp. I knew that whatever was to be
+done had to come from me. I’d got them into this, and, as they say in
+Chicago, “it was up to me” to get them out.
+
+I leaned over the doors, and looked at the street we were going
+through. I know that part of London like a book--the insides of some
+of the houses as well as the outsides; it’s a part of our business in
+which I’m supposed to be quite an expert. The street was a small one
+near Walworth Crescent, the houses not the smartest in the locality,
+but good, solid, reliable buildings inhabited by good, solid, reliable
+people. The lower floors were all alight. It was the heart of the
+season, and in many of them there were dinners afoot. I thought, with
+a flash of longing--such as a drowning man might feel if he thought
+of suddenly finding himself on terra firma--of serene, smiling people
+sitting down to soup. I’d have given the Castlecourt diamonds at that
+moment to have been sitting down with them to cold soup, sour soup,
+greasy soup, any kind of soup--only to be sitting down to soup!
+
+We turned a corner sharp, going now at a tearing pace, and I saw
+before us a length of street wrapped in fog, and blurred at regular
+intervals by the lights of lamps. It looked ghostlike--so white, so
+noiseless, lined on either side by dim house fronts blotted with an
+indistinct sputter of lights. There was not a sound but our own horse’s
+hoof-beats, and far off, like a noise muffled by cotton wool, the echo
+of our pursuer’s. Through the opaque, motionless atmosphere I saw that
+the vista into which I stared was deserted. There was not a human
+figure or a vehicle in sight. It was a lull, a brief respite, a moment
+of incalculable value to us!
+
+My mind was as clear as crystal, and I felt a sense of cool, high
+exhilaration. I have only felt this way in desperate moments, and this
+was a truly desperate moment--a pursuer on our heels and the diamonds
+in my possession!
+
+I leaned over the doors, and looked up the line of houses. It was
+Farley Street. Who lived in Farley Street? Suddenly I remembered that
+I knew all about the people who lived in No. 15. They were Americans
+named Kennedy--a man, his wife, and a little girl. He was manager of
+the London branch of a Chicago concern called the “Colonial Box, Tub,
+and Cordage Company,” that I had often heard of in America. We had
+marked the house, and made extensive investigations before I left,
+intending to add it to our list, as Mrs. Kennedy had some handsome
+jewelry and silver. Since my return I had seen her name in the papers
+at various entertainments, and Maud had told me a lot about her
+social successes. She was pretty, and people were taking her up. All
+this--that it takes me some minutes to tell--flashed through my mind
+in a revolution of the wheels.
+
+I could see now that the windows of No. 15 were lit up. The Kennedys
+were evidently at home, perhaps had a dinner on. They, along with the
+rest of the world, would in a minute be sitting down to soup. They
+might be sitting down now; it was close on to half-past eight. Why
+could not we sit down with them?
+
+I lifted the top, and said to Harry:
+
+“Is the hansom round the corner yet?”
+
+“No,” he answered, “it’s our only chance. They’re still a bit behind
+us. I can tell by the sound.”
+
+“Drive to No. 15, second from the corner,” I said, “and go as if the
+devil was after you.”
+
+I dropped the trap, and as we tore down to No. 15 I spoke in a series
+of broken sentences to Tom.
+
+“We’re going in here to dinner. You must look as if it was all right.
+If we carry it off well, they won’t dare to question. We’re Major
+and Mrs. Thatcher, of the Lancers, that arrived Saturday from India.
+They’re Americans, and won’t know anything, so you can say about what
+you like. Give them India hot from the pan. I’ve been living in London
+while you’ve been away. That’s how I come to know them and you don’t.
+My Christian name’s Ethel. Do the dull, heavy, haw-haw style. Americans
+expect it.”
+
+We brought up at the curb with a jerk, threw back the doors, and dashed
+up the steps. I caught a vanishing glimpse of Handsome Harry leaning
+far forward to lash the horse as the hansom went bounding off into the
+fog. As we stood pressed against the door, Tom whispered:
+
+“What the devil is their name?”
+
+“Kennedy,” I hissed at him--“Cassius P. Kennedy. Came originally from
+Necropolis City, Ohio; lived in Chicago as a clerk in the Colonial
+Box, Tub, and Cordage Company, and then was made manager of the London
+branch. Their weak point is society. If any people are there, keep your
+mouth shut. Be dense and unresponsive.”
+
+We heard the rattle of the pursuing hansom at the end of the street,
+then through the ground glass of the door saw a man servant’s
+approaching figure.
+
+“Only stay a few minutes over the coffee. We’re going on to the opera,”
+I whispered, as the door opened.
+
+I swept in, Tom on my heels. We came as fast as we could without
+actually falling in and dashing the servant aside, for the noise of
+our pursuer was loud in our ears, and we knew we were lost if we were
+seen entering. As Tom somewhat hastily shut the door, I was conscious
+of the expression of surprise on the face of the solemn butler. He did
+not say anything, but looked it. I slid out of my cloak, and handed it,
+languidly, to him.
+
+“No, I won’t go up-stairs,” I said, in answer to his glare of growing
+amaze.
+
+Then I turned to the glass in the hat-rack, and began to arrange my
+hair. I could see, reflected in it, a pair of portières, half open, and
+affording a glimpse of a room beyond, bathed in the subdued rosy light
+of lamps. I was conscious of movement there behind the portières--a
+stir of skirts, a sort of hush of curiosity.
+
+There had been the sound of voices when we came in. Now I noticed the
+stealthy, occasional sibilant of a whisper. There was no dinner-party.
+We were going to dine _en famille_. So much the better. My hair neat,
+I turned to the butler, and, touching the jet of my corsage with an
+arranging hand, murmured:
+
+“Major and Mrs. Thatcher.”
+
+The man drew back the curtain, and, with our name going before us in
+loud announcement, I rustled into the room, Tom behind me.
+
+Standing beside an empty fireplace, and facing the entrance in
+attitudes of expectancy, were a young man and woman. In the soft pink
+lamplight I had an impression of their two astonished faces, or,
+rather, astonished eyes, for they were making a spirited struggle to
+obliterate all surprise from their faces. The woman was succeeding
+the best. She did it quite well. When she saw me she smiled almost
+naturally, and came forward with a fair imitation of a hostess’
+welcoming manner. She was young and very pretty--a fine-featured,
+delicate woman, in a floating lace tea-gown. Her hand was thin and
+small, a real American hand, and gleamed with rings. I could see her
+husband, out of the tail of my eye, battling with his amazement and
+staring at Tom. Tom was behind me, looming up bulkily, not saying
+anything, but looking blankly through the glass wedged in his eye and
+pulling his mustache.
+
+“My dear Mrs. Kennedy,” I said, in my sweetest and most languid drawl,
+“are we late? I hope not. There is such a fog, really I thought we’d
+never get here.”
+
+My fingers touched her hand, and my eyes looked into hers. She was
+immensely curious and upset, but she smiled boldly and almost easily. I
+could see her inward wrestlings to place me, and to wonder if she could
+possibly have asked us, and had forgotten that too.
+
+“And at last,” I continued, glibly, “I am able to present my husband.
+I was afraid you were beginning to think he was a sort of Mrs. Harris.
+Harry, dear, Mrs. and Mr. Kennedy.”
+
+They all bowed. Tom held out his big paw, and took her little hand for
+a moment, and then dropped it. He had just the stolid, awkward, owlish
+look of a certain kind of army man.
+
+“Awfully glad to get here, I’m sure,” he boomed out. And then he said
+“What?” and looked at Mr. Kennedy.
+
+Mr. Kennedy was not as much master of the situation as his wife. He
+wasn’t exactly frightened, but he was inwardly distracted with not
+knowing what to do.
+
+“Pleased to meet you,” he said, loudly, to Tom, quite forgetting his
+English accent. “Glad you could get around here. Foggy night, all
+right!”
+
+I looked at the clock. Tom stood solemnly on the hearth-rug, staring at
+the fire. The Kennedys, for a moment, could think of nothing to say,
+and I had to look at the clock again, screw up my eyes, and remark:
+
+“Just half-past. We’re not really late at all. You know, Harry is
+_such_ a punctual person, and he’s afraid I’ve got into unpunctual
+habits while he’s been away.”
+
+“He _has_ been away for some time, hasn’t he?” said Mrs. Kennedy,
+looking from one to the other with piquant eyes that yearned for
+information.
+
+“Four years with the Lancers in India,” Tom boomed out again.
+
+The Kennedys were relieved. They’d got hold of something. They both sat
+down, and it was obvious that they gathered themselves together for new
+efforts.
+
+I did likewise. I realized that I must be biographical to a reasonable
+extent--just enough to satisfy curiosity, without giving the impression
+that I was sitting down to tell my life-story the way the heroine does
+in the first act of a play.
+
+“He arrived only last Saturday,” I said, “and you may imagine how
+pleased I was to be able to bring him to-night, in answer to your kind
+invitation.”
+
+“Only too glad he could come,” murmured Mrs. Kennedy, oblivious of the
+terrified side-glance that her husband cast in her direction. “Very
+fortunate that you had this one evening disengaged.”
+
+“I’m taking him about everywhere,” I continued, with girlish loquacity.
+“People had begun to think that Major Thatcher was a myth, and I’m
+showing them that there’s a good deal of him and he’s very much alive.
+For four years, you know, I’ve been living here, first in those
+miserable lodgings in Half Moon Street, and after that in my flat--you
+know it--on Gower Street. A nice little place enough, but much nicer
+now, with Harry in it.”
+
+“Of course,” said Mrs. Kennedy, as sympathetically as was compatible
+with her eagerness to pounce upon such crumbs of information as I let
+drop. “How dull these four years have been for you!”
+
+“Dull!” I echoed, “dull is not the word!” And I gave my eyes an
+expressive, acrobatic roll toward the ceiling.
+
+“She couldn’t have stood it out there,” said Tom, in an unexpected bass
+growl. “Too hot! Ethel can’t stand the heat--never could.”
+
+Then he lapsed into silence, staring at the fire under Mr. Kennedy’s
+fascinated gaze. Dinner was just then announced, and I heard him saying
+as he walked in behind us:
+
+“Is India very hot, Mrs. Kennedy? Once in Delhi I sat for four days in
+a cold bath, and read the Waverley novels.”
+
+To which Mrs. Kennedy answered, brightly:
+
+“I should think that would have put you to sleep, and you might have
+been drowned.”
+
+That was one of the most remarkable dinners I ever sat through. Of the
+two couples, the Kennedys were the least at ease. They were more afraid
+of being found out than we were. The cold sweat would break out on
+Mr. Kennedy’s brow when the conversation edged up toward the subject
+of previous meetings, and Mrs. Kennedy would begin to talk feverishly
+about other things. She was the kind of woman who hates to be unequal
+to any social emergency; and I am bound to confess, considering how
+unprepared she was, she held her own this time with tact and spirit.
+She had the copious flow of small talk so many Americans seem to have
+at command, and it rippled fluently and untiringly on from the soup to
+the savory. I added to the impression I had already made by alluding
+to various titled friends of mine, letting their names drop carelessly
+from my lips as the pearls and diamonds fell from the mouth of the
+virtuous princess.
+
+Tom did well, too--excellently well. When the conversation showed signs
+of languishing, he began about India. He gave us some strange pieces
+of information about that distant land that I think he invented on the
+spur of the moment, and he told several anecdotes which were quite
+deadly and without point. When they were concluded, he gave a short,
+deep laugh, let his eye-glass fall out, looked at us one after the
+other, and said, “What?”
+
+I would have enjoyed myself immensely if a sense of heavy uneasiness
+had not continued to weigh on me. What troubled me was the uncertainty
+of not knowing whether we really had escaped our pursuers. There was
+the horrible possibility that they had seen us enter the house, and
+were waiting to grab us as we came out. If they were there, and I was
+caught with the diamonds in my possession, it would be a pretty dark
+outlook for Laura the Lady--so dark I could not bear to picture it,
+even in thought. As I talked and laughed with my hosts, my mind was
+turning over every possible means by which I could get rid of the
+stones before I left the house, trying to think up some way in which I
+could dispose of them, and yet which would not place them quite beyond
+reclaiming. I think my nerves had been shaken by that spectral pursuit
+in the fog. Anyway, I wasn’t willing to risk a second edition of it.
+
+We sat over dinner a little more than an hour. It was not yet ten when
+Mrs. Kennedy and I rose, and with a reminder to Tom that we were to “go
+to the opera,” I trailed off in advance of my hostess across the hall
+into the drawing-room. Here we sat down by a little gilt table, and
+disposed ourselves to endure that dreary period when women have to put
+up with one another’s society for ten minutes. It was my opportunity of
+getting rid of the diamonds, and I knew it.
+
+We had sipped our coffee for a few minutes, and dodged about with the
+usual commonplaces, when I suddenly grew grave, and, leaning toward
+Mrs. Kennedy, said:
+
+“Now that we are alone, my dear Mrs. Kennedy, I must ask you about a
+matter of which I am particularly anxious to hear more.”
+
+She looked at me with furtive alarm. I could see she was nerving
+herself for a grapple with the unknown.
+
+“What matter?” she said.
+
+I lowered my voice to the key of confidences that are dire if not
+actually tragic:
+
+“How about poor Amelia?” I murmured.
+
+She dropped her eyes to her cup, frowning a little. I was thrilling
+with excitement, waiting to hear what she was going to say. After a
+moment she lifted her face, perfectly calm and grave, to mine, and said:
+
+“Really, the subject is a very painful one to me. I’d rather not talk
+about it.”
+
+It was a master-stroke. I could not have done better myself. I eyed
+her with open admiration. You never would have thought it of her; she
+seemed so young. After she had spoken she gave a sigh, and again looked
+down at her cup, with an expression on her face of pensive musing. At
+that moment the voices of the men leaving the dining-room struck on my
+ear.
+
+I put my hand into the front of my dress, and undid the safety-pin. My
+manner became furtive and hurried.
+
+“Mrs. Kennedy,” I said, leaning across the table, and speaking almost
+in a whisper, “I entirely sympathize with your feelings, but I am _very
+much_ worried about Amelia. You know the--the--circumstances.” She
+raised her eyes, looked into mine, and nodded darkly. “Well, I have
+something here for her. It’s nothing much,” I said, in answer to a look
+of protest I saw rising in her face--“just the merest trifle I would
+like you to give her. _She_ will understand.”
+
+I drew out the bag, and I saw her looking at it with curious, uneasy
+eyes. The men were approaching through the back drawing-room. I rose
+to my feet, and still with the secret, hurried air, I said:
+
+“Don’t give yourself any trouble about it. It’s just from me to her.
+Our husbands, of course, mustn’t know. I’ll put it here. Poor Amelia!”
+
+There was a crystal and silver bowl on the table, and I put the bag
+into it and placed a book over it.
+
+“Mrs. Thatcher,” she said, quickly, “really, I--”
+
+“Hush!” I said, dramatically, “it’s for Amelia! _We_ understand!”
+
+And then the men entered the room.
+
+We left a few minutes later. The butler called a cab for us, and even
+if a person had never been a thief he ought to have had some idea
+of how we felt as we issued out of that house and walked down the
+steps. We neither of us spoke till we got inside the hansom and drove
+off--safe for that time, anyway.
+
+We went to Handsome Harry’s place for that night, and sent him back for
+Maud, with the message she must get out immediately with what things
+she could bring. By eleven she was with us with her trunk and mine on
+top of a four-wheeler. The next morning we had scattered--I for Calais
+_en route_ for Paris, Tom for Edinburgh. Maud went to join a vaudeville
+company that she acts with “between-whiles.” We had to leave a good
+many things in the flat; but I felt we’d got out cheaply, and had no
+regrets.
+
+That is the history of my connection with the Castlecourt diamond
+robbery. Of course, it was not the end of the connection of our gang
+with the case, but my actual participation ended here. I was simply an
+interested spectator from this on. My statement is merely the record of
+my own personal share in the theft, and as such is written with as much
+clearness and fulness as I, who am unused to the pen, have got at my
+command.
+
+
+
+
+Statement of Cassius P. Kennedy, formerly of Necropolis City, Ohio,
+now Manager of the London Branch of the Colonial Box, Tub, and Cordage
+Company (Ltd.) of Chicago and St. Louis.
+
+
+
+
+Statement of Cassius P. Kennedy, formerly of Necropolis City, Ohio,
+now Manager of the London Branch of the Colonial Box, Tub, and Cordage
+Company (Ltd.) of Chicago and St. Louis.
+
+
+We had been in London two years when a series of extraordinary events
+took place which involved us, through no fault of our own, in the most
+unpleasant predicament that ever overtook two honest, respectable
+Americans in a foreign country.
+
+I had been sent over to start the English branch of the Colonial Box,
+Tub, and Cordage Company, one of the biggest concerns of the Middle
+West, and it wasn’t two months before I realized that the venture was
+going to catch on, and I was going to be at the head of a booming
+business. I’d brought my wife and little girl along with me. We’d
+been married five years--met in Necropolis City, and lived there and
+afterward in Chicago, where I got my first big promotion. She was Daisy
+K. Fairweather, of Buncumville, Indiana, and had been the belle of the
+place. She’d also attracted considerable attention in St. Louis and
+Kansas City, where she’d visited round a good deal. There was nothing
+green about Daisy K. Fairweather--never had been.
+
+Daisy and I didn’t know many people when we first came over, but
+that little woman wasn’t here six months before she’d sized up the
+situation, and made up her mind just how and where she was going to
+butt in. The first thing she did was to conform to those particular
+ones among the local customs that seemed to her the most high-toned. In
+Chicago we’d always dined at half-past six, and given the hired girls
+every Thursday off. In London we dined the first year at half-past
+seven, and the second at half-past eight. We had four servants and a
+butler called Perkins, who ran everything in sight--myself included. I
+always dressed for dinner after Perkins came, and tried to look as if
+it was my lifelong custom. I’d have sunk out of sight in a sea of shame
+rather than have had Perkins think I had not been brought up to it.
+
+Daisy caught on to everything, and then passed the word on to me. She
+was always springing innovations on me, and I did the best I could to
+keep my end up. She stopped talking the way she used to in Necropolis
+City, and made Elaine--that’s our little girl--quit calling me “Popper”
+and call me “Daddy.” She called her front hair her “fringe” and her
+shirt-waist her “bloos,” and she made me careful of what I said before
+the servants. “Servants talk so!” she’d say, just as if she’d heard
+them. In Necropolis City, or even Chicago, we never bothered about the
+“help” talking. They said what they wanted and we said what we wanted,
+and that was all there was to it. But I supposed it was all right.
+Whatever Daisy K. Fairweather Kennedy says goes with me.
+
+By the second season Daisy’d broken quite a way into society, and knew
+a bishop and two lords. We were asked out a good deal, and we’d some
+worthy little dinners at our own shack--15 Farley Street, near Walworth
+Crescent, a thirty-five foot, four-story, high-stooped edifice that
+we paid the same rent for you’d pay for a seven-room flat in Chicago.
+Daisy by this time was in with all kinds of push. She was what she
+called a “success.” Nights when we didn’t go out she’d sit with me and
+say:
+
+“Well, I don’t really see how I’ll ever be able to live in Chicago
+again, and Necropolis City would certainly kill me.”
+
+This same season Lady Sara Gyves dined with us twice (it was a great
+step, Daisy said, and I took it for granted she knew), and once at a
+reception Daisy stood right up close to the Marchioness of Castlecourt,
+the greatest beauty in London, and watched her drink a cup of tea.
+Daisy didn’t meet her that time, but she said to me:
+
+“Next season I’ll know her, and the season after that, if we’re
+careful, I’ll dine with her. Then, Cassius P. Kennedy, we will have
+arrived!”
+
+I said “Sure!” That’s what I mostly say to her, because she’s mostly
+right. You don’t often find that little woman making breaks.
+
+It was in our third season in London, the time the middle of May, when
+the things occurred of which I have made mention at the beginning of
+my statement. It was this way:
+
+We’d been going out a good deal, pretty nearly every night, and we
+were glad to have, for once, a quiet evening at home. Of course, that
+doesn’t mean the same as it does in Necropolis City or even Chicago.
+We dine, just the same, at half-past eight, and both of us dress for
+dinner. We have to, Daisy says, no matter how we feel, because of the
+servants. The servants in London are good servants all right, but the
+way you have to avoid shocking their sensitive feelings sometimes
+makes a free-born American rebellious. I like to think I’m an object
+of interest to my fellow creatures, but it’s a good deal of a bother
+to have it on your mind that you mustn’t destroy the illusions of the
+butler or upset the ideals of the cook.
+
+As we were waiting for dinner to be announced we heard a cab rattle
+up and stop, as it seemed, at our door. We looked at each other with
+inquiring eyes, and then heard the cab go off--on the full jump, I
+should say, by the noise it made--and a minute later the bell rang
+sharp and quick. Perkins opened the door, and Daisy and I heard a
+lady’s voice, very sweet and sort of drawling, say something in the
+vestibule. I peeped through the curtains, and there were a man and
+a woman--a distinguished-looking pair--taking off their coats and
+primping themselves up at the hall mirror. I’d never seen either of
+them before, as far as I could remember, but I could tell by their
+general make-up that they were the real thing--the kind Daisy was
+always cultivating and asking to dinner.
+
+I stepped back, and said to her, in a whisper:
+
+“Somebody’s come to dinner, and you’ve forgotten all about it.”
+
+She shook her head, and whispered back:
+
+“I haven’t asked any one to dinner; I’m sure I haven’t.”
+
+“Well, they’re here, whether we’ve asked them or not,” I hissed, “and
+you can’t turn ’em out. They expect to be fed.”
+
+“Who are they?”
+
+“Search me! Friends of yours I’ve never seen.”
+
+“For pity’s sake, don’t look surprised! Try and pretend it’s all
+right.”
+
+We lined up by the fireplace, and got our smiles all ready. The
+portière was drawn, and Perkins announced:
+
+“Major and Mrs. Thatcher.”
+
+They sailed smilingly into the room, the woman ahead, rustling in a
+long, sparkly, black dress. To my certain knowledge, I’d never seen
+either of them before. The woman was very pretty; not pretty in the
+sense that Daisy is, with beautiful features and a perfect complexion,
+but slim, and pale, and aristocratic-looking. She had black hair with
+a little wreath of red flowers in it, and the whitest neck I ever saw.
+She evidently thought she was all right as far as herself and the
+house and the dinner were concerned, for she was perfectly serene,
+and easy as an old shoe. The man behind her was a big, handsome, dense
+chap--just home from India, they said, and he looked it. He’d that dull
+way those dead swell army fellows sometimes have; it goes with a long
+mustache and an eye-glass.
+
+I looked out of the tail of my eye at Daisy, and I knew by her face she
+couldn’t remember either of them. But they were the genuine article,
+and she wasn’t going to be feazed by any situation that could boil up
+out of the society pool. She was just as easy as they were. She’d a
+smile on her face like a child, and she said the little, mild, milky
+things women say just as milkily and mildly as tho she was greeting
+her lifelong friends.
+
+Well, it went along as smoothly as a summer sea. They located
+themselves as Major and Mrs. Thatcher, and told a lot about their life
+and their movements--all of which I could see Daisy greedily gathering
+in. I didn’t know whether she remembered them or not, but I didn’t
+think she did, she was so careful about alluding to places where
+she had met them. They seemed to know her all right--Mrs. Thatcher,
+especially. She’d allude to smart houses where Daisy had been asked,
+and tony people that were getting to be friends of Daisy’s. She seemed
+to be right in the best circles herself. I wouldn’t like to say how
+many times she mentioned the names of earls and lords; one of them,
+Baron--some name like Fiddlesticks--she said was her cousin.
+
+She didn’t stay long after dinner. I don’t think I sat ten minutes
+with the major--and it was a dull ten minutes, and no mistake. There
+was nothing light and airy about him. He asked me about Chicago (which
+he pronounced “Chick-ago”), and said he had heard there was good
+sport in the Rocky Mountains, and thought of going there to hunt the
+Great Auk. I didn’t know what the Great Auk was, and I asked him. He
+looked blankly at me, and said he believed a “large form of bird,”
+which surprised me, as I had an idea it was a preadamite beast, like a
+behemoth.
+
+I was glad to have the major go, not only because he was so dull, but
+because I was so dying to find out from Daisy if she’d placed them and
+who they were. They were hardly on the steps and the front door shut on
+them before I was back in the parlor.
+
+“Who are they, for heavens’ sake?” I burst out.
+
+She shook her head, laughing a little, and looking utterly bewildered.
+
+“My dear boy,” she said, “I haven’t the least idea. It’s the most
+extraordinary thing I ever knew.”
+
+“Isn’t there anything about them you remember? Didn’t they say
+something that gave you a clew?”
+
+“Not a word, and yet they seem to know me so well. The queerest thing
+of all was that, when you were in the dining-room with the man, the
+woman, in the most confidential tone, began to ask me about some one
+called Amelia. It was _too_ dreadful! I hadn’t the faintest notion what
+she meant.”
+
+“What did you say? I’ll lay ten to one you were equal to it.”
+
+“I realized it was desperate, and, after going through the dinner so
+creditably, I wasn’t going to break down over the coffee. She said:
+‘How about poor Amelia?’ I knew by that ‘poor’ and by the expression of
+her face it was something unusual and queer. I thought a minute, and
+then looked as solemn as I could, and answered: ‘Really, the subject is
+a very painful one to me. I’d rather not talk about it.’”
+
+We both roared. It was so like Daisy to be ready that way!
+
+“And then--this is the strangest part of all--she put her hand in the
+front of her dress and drew out some little thing of chamois leather,
+and told me to give it to Amelia from her. I tried to stop her, but it
+was too late. She put it here in the crystal bowl.”
+
+Daisy went to the bowl, and took out a little limp sack of chamois
+leather.
+
+“It feels like pebbles,” she said, pinching it.
+
+And then she opened it and shook the “pebbles” into her hand. I bent
+down to look at them, my head close to hers. The palm of her hand was
+covered with small, sparkling crystals of different sizes and very
+bright. We looked at them, and then at one another. They were diamonds!
+
+For a moment we didn’t either of us say anything. Daisy had been
+laughing, and her laugh died away into a sort of scared giggle. Her
+hand began to shake a little, and it made the diamonds send out gleams
+in all directions.
+
+“What--what--does it mean?” she said, in a low sort of gasp.
+
+I just looked at them and shook my head. But I felt a cold sinking in
+that part of my organism where my courage is usually screwed to the
+sticking-place.
+
+“Are they real, do you think?” she said again, and she took the evening
+paper and poured them out on it.
+
+Spread out that way, they looked most awfully numerous and rich. There
+must have been more than a hundred of them of different sizes, and
+shaking around on the surface of the paper made them shine and sparkle
+like stars.
+
+“It’s a fortune, Cassius,” she said, almost in a whisper; “it’s a
+fortune in diamonds. Why did she leave them?”
+
+“Didn’t she say they were for Amelia?” I said, in a hollow tone.
+
+“Yes; but who is Amelia? How will we ever find her? What shall we do?
+It’s too awful!”
+
+We stood opposite one another with the paper between us, and tried to
+think. In the lamplight the diamonds winked at us with what seemed
+human malice. I turned round and picked up the bag they had come from,
+looked vaguely into it, and shook it. A last stone fell out on the
+paper, quite a large one, and added itself to the pile.
+
+“Why did she leave them here?” Daisy moaned. “What did she bother us
+for? Why didn’t she take them to Amelia herself?”
+
+“Because she was afraid,” I said, in the undertone of melodrama.
+“They’re stolen, Daisy.”
+
+I had voiced the fear in both our hearts. We sat down opposite one
+another on either side of the table, with the newspaper full of
+diamonds between us. I don’t know whether I was as pale as Daisy, but
+I felt quite as bad as she looked. And sitting thus, each staring into
+the other’s scared face, we ran over the events of the evening.
+
+We couldn’t make much of it; it was too uncanny. But from the first we
+both decided we’d felt something to be wrong. Why or how they’d come?
+who they were? what they wanted?--we couldn’t answer a single question.
+We were in a maze. The only thing that seemed certain was that they had
+one hundred and fifty diamonds of varying sizes that they had wanted,
+for some reason, to get rid of, and they’d got rid of them to us. And
+so we talked and talked till, by slow degrees, we got to the point
+where suddenly, with a simultaneous start, we looked at one another,
+and breathed out:
+
+“The Castlecourt diamonds!”
+
+We had read it all in the papers, and we had talked it over, and here
+we were with a pile of gems in a newspaper that might be the very
+stones.
+
+“And next year I’d hoped to know Lady Castlecourt. I’d been sure I
+would!” Daisy wailed. “And now--”
+
+“But you haven’t stolen the diamonds, dearest,” I said, soothingly.
+“You needn’t get in a fever about that.”
+
+“But, good heavens, I might just as well! Do you suppose there’s any
+one in the world fool enough to believe the story of what happened here
+to-night? People say it’s hard to believe everything in the Bible! Why,
+Jonah and the whale is a simple every-day affair compared to it!”
+
+It did look bad; the more we talked of it the worse it looked. We
+didn’t sleep all night, and when the dawn was coming through the
+blinds we were still talking, trying to decide what to do. At
+breakfast we sat like two graven images, not eating a thing, and all
+that day in the office I found it impossible to concentrate my mind,
+but sat thinking of what on earth we’d do with those darned diamonds.
+
+I’d suggested, the first thing, to go and give them up at the nearest
+police station. But Daisy wouldn’t hear of that. She said that no
+one would believe a word of our story--it was too impossible. And
+when I came to think of it I must say I agreed with her. I saw myself
+telling that story in a court of justice, and I realized that a look
+of conscious guilt would be painted on my face the whole time. I’d
+have felt, whether it was true or not, that nobody really ought to
+believe it, and as an honest, self-respecting citizen I ought not to
+expect them to. Here we were, strangers that nobody knew a thing about,
+anyway! Daisy said they’d take us for accomplices; and when I said
+to her we’d be a pretty rank pair of accomplices to give up the swag
+without a struggle, she said they’d think we got scared, and decided to
+do what she calls “turn State’s evidence.”
+
+She thought the best thing to do was to keep the stones till we could
+think up a more plausible story. We tried to do that, and the night
+after our meeting with Major and Mrs. Thatcher we stayed awake till
+three, thinking up “plausible stories.” We got a great collection of
+them, but it seemed impossible to get a good one without implicating
+somebody. I invented a corker, but it cast a dark suspicion on Daisy;
+and she had an even better one, but it would have undoubtedly resulted
+in the arrest of Perkins and the housemaid, and possibly myself.
+
+It was a horrible situation. Even if we could possibly have escaped
+suspicion ourselves, it would have ruined us socially and financially.
+Would the Colonial Box, Tub, and Cordage Company have retained as the
+head of its London branch a man who had got himself mixed up with a
+sensational diamond robbery? Not on your life! That concern demands a
+high standard and unspotted record in all its employees. I’d have got
+the sack at the end of the month.
+
+And Daisy! How would the bishop and two lords have felt about it? Had
+no more use for that little woman, you can bet your bottom dollar! Even
+Lady Sara Gyves, who, they say, will go anywhere to get a dinner, would
+have given her the Ice-house Laugh. _I_ know them. And I saw my Daisy
+sitting at home all alone on her reception day, and taking dinner with
+me every night. No, sir! That wouldn’t happen if Cassius P. Kennedy had
+to take those diamonds to the Thames and throw them off London Bridge
+in a weighted bag.
+
+So there we were! It was a dreadful predicament. Every morning we
+read the papers with our hearts thumping like hammers. Every ring at
+the bell made us jump, and we had a deadly fear that each time the
+portière was lifted and a caller appeared we’d see the buttons and
+helmet of a policeman with a warrant of arrest concealed upon his
+person. I began to have awful dreams and Daisy didn’t sleep at all,
+and got pale and peaked. We thought up more “plausible stories,” but
+they seemed to get less probable every time, and all our spare moments
+together, which used to be so happy and care free, were now dark and
+harassed as the meetings of conspirators.
+
+Even concealing the miserable things was a wearing anxiety. First we
+decided to divide them, Daisy to wear her half in the chamois bag hung
+around her neck, while I concealed mine in a money-belt worn under
+my clothes. We had about decided on that and I’d bought the belt,
+when we got the idea that if we were killed in an accident they’d be
+found on us, and then our memoirs would go down to posterity blackened
+with shame. So we just put them back in the bag and locked them up in
+Daisy’s jewel-case, round which we hovered as they say a murderer does
+round the hiding-place of his victim.
+
+I never knew before how burglars felt; but if it was anything like
+the way Daisy and I did, I wonder anybody ever takes to that perilous
+trade. We were the most unhappy creatures in London, feeling ourselves
+a pair of thieves, and our unpolluted, innocent home no better than a
+“fence.” There was less in the papers about the Castlecourt diamonds
+robbery, but that did not give us any peace; for, in the first place,
+we didn’t know for certain that we had the Castlecourt diamonds, and,
+in the second, when we now and then did see dark allusions to the
+sleuths being “on a new and more promising scent,” we modestly supposed
+that we might be the quarry to which it led. Daisy began to talk of
+“going to prison” as a termination of her career that might not be so
+far distant, and to the thought of which she was growing reconciled.
+
+This about covers the ground of my immediate connection with the stolen
+diamonds. Their subsequent disposition is a matter in which my wife
+is more concerned than I am. She also will be able to tell her part
+of the story with more literary frills than I can muster up. I’m no
+writing man, and all I’ve tried to do is to state my part of the affair
+honestly and clearly.
+
+
+
+
+Statement of John Burns Gilsey, private detective, especially engaged
+on the Castlecourt diamond case.
+
+
+
+
+Statement of John Burns Gilsey, private detective, especially engaged
+on the Castlecourt diamond case.
+
+
+At a quarter before eight on the evening of May fourth a telephone
+message was sent to Scotland Yard that a diamond necklace, the property
+of the Marquis of Castlecourt, had been stolen from Burridge’s Hotel.
+Brison, one of the best of their men, was detailed upon the case,
+and three days later my services were engaged by the marquis. After
+investigations which have occupied several weeks, I have become
+convinced that the case is an unusual and complicated one. The reasons
+which have led me to this conclusion I will now set down as briefly and
+clearly as possible.
+
+As has already been stated in the papers, the diamonds, on the
+afternoon of the robbery, were standing in a leather jewel-case on
+the bureau in Lady Castlecourt’s apartment. To this room access was
+obtained by three doors--that which led into Lord Castlecourt’s room,
+that which led into the sitting-room, and that which led into the hall.
+
+Lord Castlecourt’s valet, James Chawlmers, and Lady Castlecourt’s maid,
+Sophy Jeffers, had been occupied in this suite of apartments throughout
+the afternoon. At six Jeffers had laid out her ladyship’s clothes,
+taken the diamonds from the metal despatch-box in which they were
+usually carried, and set them on the bureau. She had then withdrawn
+into the sitting-room with Chawlmers, where they had remained for half
+an hour talking. During this period of time Jeffers deposes that she
+heard the rustle of a skirt in the sitting-room, and went to the door
+to see if any one had entered. No one was to be seen. She returned
+to the sitting-room, and resumed her conversation with Chawlmers. It
+is the general supposition--and it would appear to be the reasonable
+one--that the diamonds were then taken. According to Jeffers, they
+were in the case at six o’clock, and on the testimony of Lord and Lady
+Castlecourt they were gone at half-past seven. The person toward whom
+suspicion points is a housemaid, going by the name of Sara Dwight, who
+had a pass-key to the apartment.
+
+The suspicions of Sara Dwight were strengthened by her actions. At
+quarter past seven that evening she left the hotel without giving
+warning, and carrying no further baggage than a small portmanteau.
+Upon examination of her room, it was discovered that she had left a
+gown hanging on the pegs, and her box, which contained a few articles
+of coarse underclothing and a wadded cotton quilt. She had been
+uncommunicative with the other servants, but had had much conversation
+with Sophy Jeffers, who described her as a brisk, civil-spoken girl,
+whose manner of speech was above her station.
+
+The natural suspicions evoked by her behavior were intensified in the
+mind of Brison by the information that the celebrated crook Laura the
+Lady had returned to London. I myself had seen the woman at Earlscourt,
+and told Brison of the occurrence. It had appeared to Brison that
+Jeffers’ description of the housemaid had many points of resemblance
+with Laura the Lady. The theft reminded us both of the affair of the
+Comtesse de Chateaugay’s rubies, when this particular thief, who speaks
+French as well as she does English, was supposed to have been the
+moving spirit in one of the most daring jewel robberies of our time.
+
+Brison, confident that Sara Dwight and Laura the Lady were one and
+the same, concentrated his powers in an effort to find her. He was
+successful to the extent of locating a woman closely resembling Laura
+the Lady living quietly in a furnished flat in Knightsbridge with a
+man who passed as her husband. He discovered that this couple had left
+for a “business trip” on the Continent shortly before Sara Dwight’s
+appearance at Burridge’s, and had returned shortly after her departure
+therefrom.
+
+He regarded the pair and their movements as of sufficient importance
+to be watched, and for a week after their return from the Continent
+had the flat shadowed. One foggy night, while he himself was watching
+the place, the man and woman came out in evening dress, and took a
+hansom that was waiting for them. Brison followed them, and the fog
+being dense and their horse fresh, lost them in the maze of streets
+about Walworth Crescent. He is positive that the occupants of the cab
+realized they were followed and attempted to escape. He assures me that
+he saw the driver turn several times and look at his hansom, and then
+lash his horse to a desperate speed.
+
+One of the points in this nocturnal pursuit that he thinks most
+noteworthy is the manner in which the occupants of the cab disappeared.
+After keeping it well in sight for over half an hour, he lost it
+completely and suddenly in the short street that runs from Walworth
+Crescent, north, into Farley Street; ten minutes later he is under
+the impression that he sighted it again near the Hyde Park Hotel. But
+if it was the same cab it was empty, and the driver was looking for
+fares. For some hours after this Brison patrolled the streets in the
+neighborhood, but could find no trace of the suspected pair. It was
+midnight when he returned to his surveillance of the flat. The next
+morning he heard that its occupants had left. A search-warrant revealed
+the fact that they had gone with such haste that they had left many
+articles of dress, etc., behind them. There was every evidence of a
+hurried flight.
+
+All this was so much clear proof, in Brison’s opinion, of the guilt
+of Sara Dwight. Upon this hypothesis he is working, and I have not
+disturbed his confidence in the integrity of his efforts. The result
+of my investigations, which I have been quietly and systematically
+pursuing for the last three weeks, has led me to a different and
+much more sensational conclusion. That Sara Dwight may have taken the
+diamonds I do not deny. But she was merely an accomplice in the hands
+of another. The real thief, in my opinion, is Gladys, Marchioness of
+Castlecourt!
+
+My reasons for holding this theory are based upon observations taken at
+the time, upon my large and varied experience in such cases, and upon
+information that I have been collecting since the occurrence. Let me
+briefly state the result of my deductions and researches.
+
+Lady Castlecourt, who was the daughter of a penniless Irish clergyman,
+was a young girl of great beauty brought up in the direst poverty. Her
+marriage with the Marquis of Castlecourt, which took place seven years
+ago this spring, lifted her into a position of social prominence and
+financial ease. Society made much of her; she became one of its most
+brilliant ornaments. Her husband’s infatuation was well known. During
+the first years of their marriage he could refuse her nothing, and he
+stinted himself--for, tho well off, Lord Castlecourt is by no means a
+millionaire peer--in order to satisfy her whims. The lady very quickly
+developed great extravagances. She became known as one of the most
+expensively dressed women in London. It had been mentioned in certain
+society journals that Lord Castlecourt’s revenues had been so reduced
+by his wife’s extravagance that he had been forced to rent his town
+house in Grosvenor Gate, and for two seasons take rooms in Burridge’s
+Hotel.
+
+This is a simple statement of certain tendencies of the lady. Now let
+me state, with more detail, how these tendencies developed and to what
+they led.
+
+I will admit here, before I go further, that my suspicions of Lady
+Castlecourt were aroused from the first. It was, perhaps, with a
+predisposed mind that I began those explorations into her life during
+the past five years which have convinced me that she was the moving
+spirit in this theft of the diamonds.
+
+For the first two years of her married life Lady Castlecourt lived most
+of the time on the estate of Castlecourt Marsh Manor. During this
+period she became the mother of two sons, and it was after the birth
+of the second that she went to London and spent her first season there
+since her marriage. She was in blooming health, and even more beautiful
+that she had been in her girlhood. She became the fashion: no gathering
+was complete without her; her costumes were described in the papers;
+royalty admired her.
+
+I have discovered that at this time her husband gave her six hundred
+pounds per annum for a dressing allowance. During the first two years
+of her married life she lived within this. But after that she exceeded
+it to the extent of hundreds, and finally thousands, of pounds. The
+fifth year after her marriage she was in debt three thousand pounds,
+her creditors being dressmakers, furriers, jewelers, and milliners
+in London and Paris. She made no attempt to pay these debts, and the
+tradesmen, knowing her high social position and her husband’s rigid
+sense of pecuniary obligations, did not press her, and she went on
+spending with an unstinted hand.
+
+It was last year that she finally precipitated the catastrophe by
+the purchase of a coat of Russian sable for the sum of one thousand
+pounds, and a set of turquoise ornaments valued at half that amount.
+Each of these purchases was made in Paris. The two creditors, having
+been already warned of her disinclination to meet her bills, had, it
+is said, laid wagers with other firms to which she was deeply in debt,
+that they would extract the money from her within the year.
+
+It was in the summer of the past year that Lady Castlecourt was first
+threatened by Bolkonsky, the furrier, with law proceedings. In the end
+of September she went to Paris and visited the man in his own offices,
+and--I have it from an eyewitness--exhibited the greatest trepidation
+and alarm, finally begging, with tears, for an extension of a month’s
+time. To this Bolkonsky consented, warning her that, at the end of that
+time, if his account was not settled, he would acquaint his lordship
+with the situation and institute legal proceedings.
+
+Before the month was up--that was in October of the past year--his
+account was paid in full by Lady Castlecourt herself. At the same
+time other accounts in Paris and London were entirely settled or
+compromised. I find that, during the months of October and November,
+Lady Castlecourt paid off debts amounting to nearly four thousand
+pounds. In most instances she settled them personally, paying them in
+bank-notes. A few claims were paid by check. I have it from those with
+whom she transacted these monetary dealings that she seemed greatly
+relieved to be able to discharge her obligations, and that in all
+cases she requested silence on the subject as the price of her future
+patronage.
+
+I now come to a feature of the case that I admit greatly puzzles me.
+Lady Castlecourt was still wearing the diamonds when this large sum
+was disbursed by her. As far as can be ascertained, she had made no
+effort to sell them, and I can find no trace of a frustrated attempt to
+steal them. She had suddenly become possessed of four thousand pounds
+without the aid of the diamonds. They were not called into requisition
+till nearly six months later.
+
+The natural supposition would be that “some one”--an unknown donor--had
+put up the four thousand pounds; in fact, that Lady Castlecourt had a
+lover, to whom, in a desperate extremity, she had appealed. But the
+most thorough examination of her past life reveals no hint of such a
+thing. Frivolous and extravagant as she undoubtedly was, she seems to
+have been, as far as her personal conduct goes, a moral and virtuous
+lady. Her name has been associated with no man’s, either in a foolish
+flirtation or a scandalous and compromising intrigue; in fact, her
+devotion to Lord Castlecourt appears to have been of an absolutely
+genuine and sincere kind. While she did not scruple to deceive him
+as to her pecuniary dealings, she unquestionably seems to have been
+perfectly upright and honest in the matter of marital fidelity.
+
+Where, then, did Lady Castlecourt secure this large sum of money? My
+reading of the situation is briefly this:
+
+Her creditors becoming rebellious and Lady Castlecourt becoming
+terrified, she appealed to some woman friend for a loan. Who this is
+I have no idea, but among her large circle of acquaintances there
+are several ladies of sufficient means and sufficiently intimate with
+Lady Castlecourt to have been able to advance the required sum. This
+was done, as I have shown above, in the month of October, when Lady
+Castlecourt was in Paris, where she at once began to pay off her debts.
+After this she continued wearing the diamonds, and, in my opinion--such
+is her shallowness and irresponsibility of character--forgot the
+obligations of the loan, which had probably been made under a promise
+of speedy repayment, either in full or in part.
+
+It was then--this, let it be understood, is all surmise--that Lady
+Castlecourt’s new and unknown debtor began to press for a repayment.
+There might be many reasons why this should so closely have followed
+the loan. With a woman of Lady Castlecourt’s lax and unbusinesslike
+methods, unusual conditions could be readily exacted. She is of the
+class of persons that, under a pressing need for money, would agree
+to any conditions and immediately forget them. That she did agree
+to a speedy reimbursement I am positive; that once again she found
+herself confronted by an angry and threatening creditor; and that,
+in desperation and with the assistance of Sara Dwight, she stole the
+diamonds, intending probably to pawn them, is the conclusion to which
+my experience and investigations have led me.
+
+How she came to select Sara Dwight as an accomplice I am not qualified
+to state. In my opinion, fear of detection made her seek the aid of a
+confederate. Sara’s flight, with its obviously suspicious surroundings,
+has an air of prearrangement suggestive of having been carefully
+planned to divert suspicion from the real criminal. Sophy Jeffers
+assured me that Lady Castlecourt had never, to her knowledge, conversed
+at any length with the housemaid. But Jeffers is a very simple-minded
+person, whom it would be an easy matter to deceive. That Sara Dwight
+was her ladyship’s accomplice I am positive; that she took the jewels
+and now has them is also my opinion.
+
+Being convinced of her need of ready money, and of the rashness and
+lack of balance in her character, I have been expecting that Lady
+Castlecourt would make some decisive move in the way of selling the
+diamonds. With this idea agents of mine have been on the watch, but
+without so far finding any evidence that she has attempted to place the
+stones on the market. We have found no traces of them either in London
+or Paris, or the usual depots in Holland or Belgium. It is true that
+the Castlecourt diamonds, not being remarkable for size, would be easy
+to dispose of in small, separate lots, but our system of surveillance
+is so thorough that I do not see how they could escape us. I am of the
+opinion that the stones are still in the hands of Sara Dwight, who,
+whether she is an accomplished thief or not, is probably more wary and
+more versed in such dealings than Lady Castlecourt.
+
+That her ladyship should have been the object of my suspicions from
+the start may seem peculiar to those to whom she appears only as a
+person of rank, wealth, and beauty. Before the case came under my
+notice at all, I had heard her uncontrolled extravagance remarked upon,
+and that alone, coupled with the fact that Lord Castlecourt is not a
+peer of vast wealth, and that the lady’s moral character is said to be
+unblemished, would naturally arouse the suspicion of one used to the
+vagaries and intricacies of the evolution of crime.
+
+During my first interview with her ladyship I watched her closely, and
+was struck by her pallor, her impatience under questioning, her hardly
+concealed nervousness, and her indignant repudiation of the suspicions
+cast upon her servants. All the domestics in her employment agree that
+she is a kind and generous mistress, and it would be particularly
+galling to one of her disposition to think that her employees were
+suffering for her faults. Her answers to many of my questions were
+vague and evasive, and to both Brison and myself, at two different
+times, she suggested the possibility of the jewels not being stolen at
+all, but having been “mislaid.” Even Brison, whose judgment had been
+warped by her beauty and rank, was forced to admit the strangeness of
+this remark.
+
+The description given me by Sophy Jeffers of her ladyship’s deportment
+when the theft was discovered still further strengthened my suspicions.
+Lady Castlecourt’s behavior at this juncture might have passed as
+natural by those not used to the very genuine hysteria which often
+attacks criminals. That she was wrought up to a high degree of nervous
+excitement is acknowledged by all who saw her. It is alleged by
+Jeffers--quite innocently of any intention to injure her mistress,
+to whom she appears devoted--that her ladyship’s first emotion on
+discovering the loss was a fear of her husband; that when he entered
+the room she instinctively tried to conceal the empty jewel-case behind
+her, and that almost her first words to him were assurances that she
+had not been careless, but had guarded the jewels well.
+
+Fear of Lord Castlecourt was undoubtedly the most prominent feeling she
+then possessed, and it showed itself with unrestrained frankness in
+the various ways described above. Afterward she attempted to be more
+reticent, and adopted an air of what almost appeared indifference,
+surprising not only myself and Brison, but Jeffers, by her remarks,
+made with irritated impatience, that they still might “turn up
+somewhere,” and “that she did not see how we could be so sure they were
+stolen.” This change of attitude was even more convincing to me than
+her former exhibition of alarm. The very candor and childishness with
+which she showed her varying states of mind would have disarmed most
+people, but were to me almost conclusive proofs of her guilt. She is a
+woman whose shallow irresponsibility of mind is even more unusual than
+her remarkable beauty. No one but an old and seasoned criminal, or a
+creature of extraordinary simplicity, could have behaved with so much
+audacity in such a situation.
+
+Having arrived at these conclusions, I am not reduced to a passive
+attitude. I will wait and watch until such time as the diamonds
+are either pawned or sold. This may not occur for months, tho I am
+inclined to think that her ladyship’s need of money will force her to
+a recklessness which will be her undoing. Sara Dwight may be able to
+control her to a certain point, but I am under the impression that her
+ladyship, frightened and desperate, will be a very difficult person to
+handle.
+
+This brings my statement up to date. At the present writing I am simply
+awaiting developments, confident that the outcome will prove the verity
+of my original proposition and the exactitude of my subsequent line of
+argument.
+
+
+
+
+The Statement of Daisy K. Fairweather Kennedy, late of Necropolis City,
+Ohio, at present a resident of 15 Farley Street, Knightsbridge, London.
+
+
+
+
+The Statement of Daisy K. Fairweather Kennedy, late of Necropolis City,
+Ohio, at present a resident of 15 Farley Street, Knightsbridge, London.
+
+
+I believe it is not necessary for me to state how a chamois-skin bag
+containing one hundred and sixty-two diamonds came into my hands on the
+evening of May 14th. That it did come into my possession was enough for
+me. I never before thought that the possession of diamonds could make
+a woman so perfectly miserable. When I was a young girl in Necropolis
+City I used to think to own a diamond--even one small one--would be
+just about the acme of human joy. But Necropolis City is a good way
+behind me now, and I have found that the owning of a handful of them
+can be about the most wearing form of misery.
+
+I suppose there are fearless, upright people in the world who would
+have taken those diamonds straight back to the police station and
+braved public opinion. It would have been better to have had your word
+doubted, to be tried for a thief, put in jail, and probably complicated
+the diplomatic relations between England and the United States, than
+to conceal in your domicile one hundred and sixty-two precious stones
+that didn’t belong to you. I hope every one understands--and I’m sure
+every one does who knows me--that I did not want to keep the miserable
+things. What good did they do me, anyway, locked up in my jewel-box,
+in the upper right-hand bureau drawer?
+
+We knew no peace from that tragic evening when Major and Mrs.
+Thatcher dined with us. First we tried to think of ways of getting
+rid of them--of the diamonds, I mean. Cassius, who’s just a simple,
+uncomplicated man, wanted to take them right to the nearest police
+station and hand them in. I soon showed him the madness of _that_. Was
+there a soul in London who would have believed our story? Wouldn’t the
+American ambassador himself have had to bow his crested head and tame
+his heart of fire, and admit it was about the fishiest tale he had ever
+heard?
+
+It would have ruined us forever. Even if Cassius hadn’t been deposed
+from his place as the head of the English branch of the Colonial
+Box, Tub, and Cordage Company (Ltd), of Chicago and St. Louis, who
+would have known me? The trail of the diamonds would have been over
+us forever. Lady Sara Gyves would have gone round saying she always
+thought I had the face of a thief, and the bishop and the two lords
+I’ve collected with such care would have cut me dead in the Park. I
+would have received my social quietus forever. And, I just tell you,
+when I’ve worked for a thing as hard as I have for that bishop and the
+two lords and Lady Sara Gyves, I’m not going to give them up without a
+struggle.
+
+Cassius and I spent two feverish, agonized weeks trying to think what
+we would do with the diamonds. I never knew before I had so much
+inventive ability. It was wonderful the things we thought of. One of
+our ideas was to put a personal in the papers advertising for “Amelia.”
+We spent five consecutive evenings concocting different ones that would
+have the effect of rousing “Amelia’s” curiosity and deadening that of
+everybody else. It did not seem capable of construction. Twist and turn
+it as you would, you couldn’t state that you had something valuable
+in your possession for “Amelia” without making the paragraph bristle
+with a sort of mysterious importance. It was like a trap set and
+baited to catch the attention of a detective. We did insert one--“Will
+Amelia kindly publish her present address, and oblige Major and Mrs.
+Thatcher?”--which, after all, didn’t involve us. And for two weeks we
+read the papers with beating, hopeful hearts, but there was no reply. I
+thought “Amelia” never saw it. Cassius thought there was no such person.
+
+A month dragged itself away, and there we were with those horrible gems
+locked in my jewel-box. I began to look pale and miserable, and Cassius
+told me he thought the diamonds were becoming a “fixed idea” with me,
+and he’d have to take me away for a change. Once I told him I felt as
+if I’d never have any peace or be my old gay self again while they were
+in my possession. He said, that being the case, he’d take them out some
+night and throw them in the Serpentine, the pond where the despondent
+people commit suicide. But I dissuaded him from it.
+
+“Perhaps they’ll never be claimed,” I said. “And some day when we’re
+old we can have them set and Elaine can wear them.”
+
+“You might even wear them yourself,” Cassius said, trying to cheer me
+up.
+
+“What would be the good?” I answered, gloomily. “I’d be at least sixty
+before I’d dare to.”
+
+All through June I lived under this wearing strain, and I grew thinner
+and more nervous day by day. The season which is always so lovely and
+gay was no longer an exciting and joyous time for me. I drove down
+Bond Street with a frowning face, and it did not cheer me up at all
+to see how many people I seemed to know. Looking down the vistas of
+quiet, asphalted streets, where the lines of sedate house fronts are
+brightened by polished brasses on the doors and flower-boxes at the
+windows, I was no longer filled with an exhilarating determination to
+some day be an honored guest in every house that was worth entering.
+When I drove by the green ovals of the little parks, which you can’t
+enter without a private key, I experienced none of my old ambition to
+have a key too, and go in and mingle with the aristocracy sitting on
+wooden benches.
+
+Even meeting the Countess of Belsborough at a reception, and being
+asked by her, in a sociable, friendly way, if I knew her cousin
+John, who was mining somewhere in Mexico or Honduras--she wasn’t sure
+which--did not cheer me up at all. The change in me was extraordinary.
+When I first came to London, if even a curate or a clerk from the city
+had asked me such a question, I’d have made an effort to remember John,
+as if Mexico had been my front garden and I’d played all round Honduras
+when I was a child. Now I said to Lady Belsborough that neither Mexico
+nor Honduras were part of the United States quite snappishly, as if I
+thought she was stupid. And all because of those accursed diamonds!
+
+It was toward the end of June, and the days were getting warm, when the
+climax came.
+
+The pressure of the season was abating. The rhododendrons were dead in
+the Park, and there was dust on the trees. In St. James’ the grass was
+quite worn and patchy, and strangely clad people lay on it, sleeping in
+the sun. One met a great many American tourists in white shirt-waists
+and long veils. I thought of the time when I, too, innocently and
+unthinkingly, had worn a white shirt-waist, and it didn’t seem to me
+such a horrible time, after all--at least, I did not then have one
+hundred and sixty-two stolen diamonds in my jewel-box. My heart was
+lighter in those days, even if my shirt-waist had only cost a dollar
+and forty-nine cents at a department store in Necropolis City.
+
+The month ended with a spell of what the English call “frightful
+heat.” It was quite warm weather, and we sat a good deal on the little
+balcony that juts out from my window over the front door. Farley
+Street is quiet and rather out of the line of general traffic, so we
+had chairs and a table there, and used to have tea served under the
+one palm, which was all there was room for. We could not have visitors
+there, for it opened out of my bedroom. So our tea-parties on the
+balcony were strictly family affairs--just Cassius, and Elaine, and I.
+
+The last day of the month was really very warm. Every door in the
+house was open, and the servants went about gasping, with their faces
+crimson. I dined at home alone that evening, as one of the members of
+the Box, Tub, and Cordage Company was in London, at the Carlton, and
+Cassius was dining with him. I did not expect him home till late, as
+there would be lots to talk over.
+
+I had not felt well all day. The heat had given me a headache, and
+after dinner I lay on the sofa in the sitting-room, feeling quite
+miserable. Only a few of the lamps were lit, and the house was dim
+and extremely quiet. Being alone that way in the half dark got on my
+nerves, and I decided I’d go up-stairs and go to bed early. I always
+did hate sitting about by myself, and now more than ever, with the
+diamonds on my conscience.
+
+Our stairs are thickly carpeted, and as I had on thin satin slippers
+and a crêpe tea-gown I made no noise at all coming up. I always have
+a light burning in my room, so when I saw a yellow gleam below the
+door I did not think anything of it, but just softly pushed the door
+open and went in. Then I stopped dead where I stood. A man with a soft
+felt-hat on, and a handkerchief tied over the lower part of his face,
+was standing in front of the bureau!
+
+He had not heard me, and for a moment I stood without making a sound,
+watching him. The two gas-jets on either side of the bureau were lit,
+and that part of the room was flooded with light. Very quickly and
+softly he was turning over the contents of the drawers, taking out
+laces, gloves, and veils, throwing them this way and that out of his
+way, and opening every box he found. My heart gave a great leap when I
+saw him seize upon the jewel-box, and my mouth, unfortunately, emitted
+some kind of a sound--I think it was a sort of gasp of relief, but I’m
+not sure.
+
+Whatever it was, he heard. He gave a start as if he had been
+electrified, raised his head, and saw me. For just one second he
+stood staring, and then he said something--of a profane character, I
+think--and ran for the balcony.
+
+And I ran too. There was something in the way--a little table, I
+believe--and he collided with it. That checked him for a moment, and I
+got to the window first. I threw myself across it with my arms spread
+out, in an attitude like that assumed by Sara Bernhardt when she is
+barring her lover’s exit in “Fedora.” But I don’t think any actress
+ever barred her lover’s exit with as much determination and zeal as I
+barred the exit of that burglar.
+
+“You can’t go!” I cried, wildly. “You’ve forgotten something!”
+
+He paused just in front of me, and I cried again:
+
+“You haven’t got them; they’re in the jewelry-box.”
+
+He moved forward and laid his hand on my arm, to push me aside. I felt
+quite desperate, and wailed:
+
+“Oh, don’t go without opening the jewelry-box. There are some things in
+it I know you will like.”
+
+He tried to push me out of the way--gently, it is true, but with
+force. But I clung to him, clasped him by the arm with what must have
+appeared quite an affectionate grip, and continued, imploringly:
+
+“Don’t be in such a hurry. I’m sorry I interrupted you. If you’ll
+promise not to go till you’ve looked through my things and taken what
+you want, I’ll leave the room. It was quite by accident that I came in.”
+
+The burglar let go my arm, and looked at me over the handkerchief with
+a pair of eyes that seemed quite kind and pleasant.
+
+“Really,” he said, in a deep, gentlemanly voice that seemed
+familiar--“really, I don’t quite understand--”
+
+“I know you don’t,” I interrupted, impulsively. “How could you be
+expected to? And I can’t explain. It’s a most complicated matter, and
+would take too long. Only don’t be frightened and run away till you’ve
+taken something. You’ve endangered your life and risked going to prison
+to get in here; and wouldn’t it be too foolish, after that, to go
+without anything? Now, in the jewelry-box”--I indicated it, and spoke
+in what I hoped was a most insinuating tone--“there are some things
+that I think you’d like. If you’d just look at them--”
+
+“You’re a most persuasive lady,” said the burglar, “but--”
+
+He moved again toward the window. A feeling of absolute anguish that
+he was going without the diamonds pierced me. I threw myself in front
+of him again, and in some way, I can’t tell you how, caught the
+handkerchief that covered his face and pulled it down. There was the
+handsome visage and long mustache of Major Thatcher!
+
+I backed away from him in the greatest confusion. He too blushed and
+looked uncomfortable.
+
+“Oh, Major Thatcher,” I murmured, “I beg your pardon! I’m so sorry. I
+don’t know how it happened. I think the end of the handkerchief caught
+in my bracelet.”
+
+“Pray don’t mention it,” answered the major, “nothing at all.”
+
+Then we were both silent, standing opposite one another, not knowing
+what to say. It is not easy to feaze me, but it must be admitted that
+the situation was unusual.
+
+“How is Mrs. Thatcher?” I said, desperately, when the silence had
+become unbearable. And the major replied, in his deepest voice, and
+with his most abrupt military air:
+
+“Ethel’s very fit. Never was better in her life, thank you. Mr. Kennedy
+is quite well, I hope?”
+
+“Cassius is enjoying the best of health,” I answered. “He’s out
+to-night, I’m sorry to say.”
+
+“Just fancy,” said Major Thatcher. Then there was a pause, and he
+added: “How tiresome!”
+
+I could think of nothing more to say, and again we were silent. It was
+really the most uncomfortable position I ever was in. The major was a
+burglar beyond a doubt, but he looked and talked just like a gentleman;
+besides, he’d dined with us. That makes a great difference. When a man
+has broken bread at your table as a respectable fellow creature, it’s
+hard to get your mind round to regarding him severely as a criminal. I
+felt that the only thing to do was to graciously ignore it all, as you
+do when some one spills the claret on your best table-cloth. At the
+same time, there were the diamonds! I could not let the chance escape.
+
+“Oh, Major Thatcher!” I said, with an air of suddenly remembering
+something. “I don’t know whether you know that your wife left a little
+package here that evening when you dined with us. It was for Amelia.”
+
+Major Thatcher looked at me with the most heavily solemn expression.
+
+“To be sure,” he murmured, “for Amelia.”
+
+“Well,” I went on, trying to impart to my words a light society tone,
+“you know we can’t find her. Very stupid of us, I have no doubt. But
+we’ve tried, and we can’t, anywhere.”
+
+Major Thatcher stared blankly at the dressing-table.
+
+“Strange, ’pon my word!” he said.
+
+“So, Major Thatcher, if you don’t mind, I’ll give it back to you. I
+think, all things considered, it will be best for you to give it to
+Amelia yourself.”
+
+I went toward the dressing-table.
+
+“You don’t mind, do you?” I said, over my shoulder, as I opened the
+jewelry-box.
+
+“Not at all, not at all,” answered the major. “Anything to oblige a
+lady.”
+
+I drew out the sack of chamois-skin. “Here it is,” I said, holding it
+out to him. “You’ll find it in perfect condition and quite complete.
+I’m so sorry that we couldn’t seem to locate Amelia. Not knowing the
+rest of her name was rather inconvenient. There were dozens of Amelias
+in the directory.”
+
+The major took the sack, and put it in his breast-pocket.
+
+“Dozens of Amelias,” he repeated, slapping his pocket. “Who’d have
+thought it!”
+
+“We even advertised,” I continued. “Perhaps you saw the personal; it
+was in the morning _Herald_, and was very short and noncommittal, but
+no one answered it.”
+
+“We saw it,” said the major. “Yes, I recollect quite distinctly seeing
+it. It--it--indicated to us--aw--aw--”
+
+The major reddened and paused, pulling his mustache.
+
+“That we hadn’t found Amelia and still had the present,” I answered, in
+a sprightly tone. “That was just it. And so you came to get it? Very
+kind of you, indeed, Major Thatcher.”
+
+The major bowed. He was really a very fine-looking, well-mannered man.
+If he only had been the honest, respectable person we first thought him
+I would have liked to add him to my collection. I’m sure if you knew
+him better he would have been much more interesting than the bishop and
+the lords.
+
+“The kindness is on your side,” he said. “And now, Mrs. Kennedy, I
+think--I think, perhaps”--he looked at the window that gave on the
+balcony--“I think I’d better--”
+
+“You must be going!” I cried, just as I say it to the bishop when he
+puts down his cup and looks at the clock. “How unfortunate! But, of
+course, your other engagements--”
+
+I checked myself, suddenly realizing that it wasn’t just the thing to
+say to the major. When you’re talking to a burglar it doesn’t seem
+delicate or thoughtful to allude to his “other engagements.” That I
+made such a break is due to the fact that I’d never talked to a burglar
+before, and was bound to be a little green.
+
+The major did not seem to mind.
+
+“Exactly so,” he said. “My time is just now much occupied. I--er--I--”
+
+He looked again at the window.
+
+“I--er--entered that way,” he said, “but perhaps--”
+
+“I don’t think I’d go out that way if I were you,” I answered,
+hurriedly, “it would look so queer if any one saw you.”
+
+“Would the other and more usual exit be safe?” he asked. His eye, as it
+met mine, was charged with a keener intelligence than I had seen in it
+before.
+
+“It would have to be,” I answered, with spirit. “What do you suppose
+the servants would think if they saw you coming out of here? This,
+Major Thatcher, is my room.”
+
+“Dear me!” said the major, “I suppose it is. I never thought of that.”
+
+“Wait here till I see if it is all right,” I said, “and then I’ll come
+back and tell you.”
+
+I went into the hall and looked over the banister. The gas was burning
+faintly, and a bar of pink lamplight fell out from the half-drawn
+portières of the drawing-room. There was not a sound. I knew the
+servants were all in the back part of the house, quite safe till eleven
+o’clock, when, if we were home, they turned out the lights and locked
+up. I stole softly back into my room. The major was standing in front
+of the mirror untying the handkerchief that hung round his neck.
+
+“It’s all right,” I assured him, in an unconsciously lowered voice.
+“You can go quite easily; I’ll let you out. Only you mustn’t make the
+least bit of noise.”
+
+He thrust the handkerchief in his pocket and put on his hat, pulling
+the brim down over his eyes. I must confess he didn’t look half so
+distinguished this way. When the handkerchief was gone, I saw he wore
+a flannel shirt with a turned-down collar, and with his hat shading
+his face he certainly did seem a strange sort of man for me to be
+conducting down the stairs at half-past ten at night. If Perkins,
+who’d come to us bristling with respectability from a distinguished,
+evangelical, aristocratic family, should meet us, I would never hold up
+my head again.
+
+“Now, if you hear Perkins,” I whispered, “for heavens’ sake, hide
+somewhere. Run back to my room, if you can’t go anywhere else. Perkins
+_must not_ see you!”
+
+The major growled out some reply, and we tiptoed breathlessly across
+the hall to the stair-head. I was much more frightened than he was. I
+know, as I stole from step to step, my heart kept beating faster and
+faster. Such awful things might have happened: Perkins suddenly appear
+to put out the lights; Cassius come home early from the dinner, and
+open the front door just as I was about to let the major out! When we
+reached the door I was quite faint, while the major seemed as cool as
+if he’d been paying a call.
+
+“Very kind of you, I’m sure,” he said, trying to take off his hat. “I
+shan’t forget it.”
+
+“Oh, never mind being polite,” I gasped. “You’ve got the diamonds.
+That’s all that matters. Good-night. Give my regards to Mrs. Thatcher.”
+
+And he was gone! I shut the door and crept up-stairs. First I felt
+faint, and then I felt hysterical. When Cassius came home at eleven I
+was lying on the sofa in tears, and all I could say to him was to sob:
+
+“The diamonds are gone! The diamonds are gone!”
+
+He thought I’d gone mad at first, and then when I finally made him
+understand he was nearly as excited as I. He went down-stairs and
+brought up a bottle of champagne, and we celebrated at midnight up in
+our room. We had to tell lies to Perkins afterward to explain how we
+came to be one bottle short. But what did lies matter, or even Perkins’
+opinion of us? We were no longer crushed under the weight of one
+hundred and sixty-two diamonds that didn’t belong to us!
+
+That is the history of my connection with the case. From that night
+I’ve never seen or heard of the stones, nor have I seen Major or
+Mrs. Thatcher. The diamonds entered our possession and departed from
+them exactly as I have told, and tho my statement may call for great
+credulity on the part of my readers, all I can say is that I am willing
+to vouch for the truth of every word of it.
+
+
+
+
+Statement of Gladys, Marchioness of Castlecourt.
+
+
+
+
+Statement of Gladys, Marchioness of Castlecourt.
+
+
+I am sure if any one was ever punished for their misdeeds it was I. I
+suppose I ought to say sins, but it is such an unpleasant word! I can
+not imagine myself committing sins, and yet that is just what I seem
+to have done. I couldn’t have been more astonished if some one had
+told me I was going to commit a murder. One thing I have learned--you
+do not know what you may do till you have been tried and tempted. And
+then you do wrong before you realize it, and all of a sudden it comes
+upon you that you are a criminal quite unexpectedly, and no one is more
+surprised than you. I certainly know I was the most surprised person
+in London when I realized that I-- But there, I am wandering all about,
+and I want to tell my story simply and shortly.
+
+Everybody knows that when I married Lord Castlecourt I was poor.
+What everybody does not know is that I was a natural spend-thrift.
+Extravagance was in my blood, as drinking or the love of cards is in
+the blood of some men. I had never had any money at all. I used to wear
+the same gloves for years, and always made my own frocks--not badly,
+either. I’ve made gowns that Lady Bundy said-- But that has nothing to
+do with it; I’m getting away from the point.
+
+As I said before, I was poor. I didn’t know how extravagant I was
+till I married and Lord Castlecourt gave me six hundred pounds a year
+to dress on. It was a fortune to me. I’d never thought one woman
+could have so much. The first two years of our married life I did not
+run over it, because we lived most of the time in the country, and
+I was unused to it, and spent it slowly and carefully. I was still
+unaccustomed to it when, after my second boy was born, Herbert brought
+me to town for my first season since our marriage.
+
+Then I began to spend money, quantities of it, for it seemed to me that
+six hundred pounds a year was absolutely inexhaustible. When I saw
+anything pretty in a shop I bought it, and I generally forgot to ask
+the price. The shop people were always kind and agreeable, and seemed
+to have forgotten about it as completely as I.
+
+After I had bought one thing they would urge me to look at something
+else, which was put away in a drawer or laid out in a cardboard box,
+and if I liked it I bought that too. If I ever paused to think that I
+was buying a great deal, I contented myself with the assurance that I
+had six hundred pounds a year, which was so much I would never get to
+the end of it.
+
+After that first season a great many bills came in, and I was quite
+surprised to see I’d spent already, with the year hardly half gone,
+more than my six hundred pounds. I could not understand how it had
+happened, and I asked Herbert about it and showed him some of my
+bills, and for the first time in our married life he was angry with
+me. He scolded me quite sharply, and told me I must keep within
+my allowance. I was hurt, and also rather muddled, with all these
+different accounts--most of which I could not remember--and I made up
+my mind not to consult Herbert any more, as it only vexed him and made
+him cross to me, and that I can not bear. All the world must love me.
+If there is a servant-maid in the house who does not like me--and I can
+feel it in a minute if she doesn’t--I must make her, or she must go
+away. But my husband, the best and finest man in the world, to have him
+annoyed with me and scolding me over stupid bills! Never again would
+that happen. I showed him no more of them; in fact, I generally tore
+them up as they came in, for fear I should leave them lying about and
+he would find them. If I could help it, nothing in the world was ever
+going to come between Herbert and me.
+
+I also made good resolutions to be more careful in my expenditures. And
+I really tried to keep them. I don’t know how it happened that they
+did not seem to get kept. But both in London and in Paris I certainly
+did spend a great deal--I’m sure I don’t know how much. I did little
+accounts on the back of notes, and they were so confusing, and I seemed
+to have spent so much more than I thought I had, that I gave up doing
+them. After I’d covered the back of two or three notes with figures, I
+became so low-spirited I couldn’t enjoy anything for the rest of the
+day. I did not see that that did anybody any good, so I ceased keeping
+the accounts. And what was the use of keeping them? If I had not the
+money to pay them with, why should I make myself miserable by thinking
+about them? I thought it much more sensible to try to forget them, and
+most of the time I did!
+
+It went on that way for two years. When I got bills with things written
+across the bottom in red ink I paid part of them--never all; I never
+paid all of anything. Once or twice tradesmen wrote me letters, saying
+they must have their money, and then I went to see them, and told
+them how kind it was of them to trust me, and how I would pay them
+everything soon, and they seemed quite pleased and satisfied. I always
+intended doing it. I don’t know where I thought the money was coming
+from, but you never can tell what may happen. Some friends of Herbert
+had a place near the Scotch border, and found a coal-mine in the
+forest. Herbert has no lands near Scotland, but he has in other places,
+and he may find a coal-mine too. I merely cite this as an example of
+the strange ways things turn out. I didn’t exactly expect that Herbert
+would find a coal-mine, but I did expect that money would turn up in
+some unexpected way and help me out of my difficulties.
+
+The beginning of the series of really terrible events of which I am
+writing was the purchase of a Russian sable jacket from a furrier in
+Paris called Bolkonsky. It was in the early spring of last year. I had
+had no dealings with Bolkonsky before. A friend told me of the jacket,
+and took me there. It was a real _occasion_. I knew the moment that I
+saw it that it was one of those chances with which one rarely meets.
+It fitted me like a charm, and I bought it for a thousand pounds. That
+miserable Bolkonsky told me the payments might be made in any way I
+liked, and at “madame’s own time.” I also bought some good turquoises,
+that were going for nothing, from a jeweler up-stairs somewhere near
+the Rue de La Paix, who was selling out the jewels of an actress. It
+was these two people who wrecked me.
+
+Not that they were my only debtors. I knew by this time that I owed a
+great deal. When I thought about it I was frightened, and so I tried
+not to think. But sometimes when I was awake at night, and everything
+looked dark and depressed, I wondered what I would do if something
+did not happen. In these moments I thought of telling my husband,
+and I buried my head in the pillow and turned cold with misery. What
+would Herbert say when he found out his wife was thousands of pounds
+in debt--the Marquis of Castlecourt, who had never owed a penny and
+considered it a disgrace.
+
+Perhaps he would be so horrified and disgusted he would send me away
+from him--back to Ireland, or to the Continent. And what would happen
+to me then?
+
+That summer we went to Castlecourt Marsh Manor, and there my anxieties
+became almost unbearable. Bolkonsky began to dun me most cruelly. Other
+creditors wrote me letters, urging for payments. The jeweler from whom
+I had bought the turquoises sent me a letter, telling me if I didn’t
+settle his account by September he would sue me. And finally Bolkonsky
+sent a man over, whom I saw in London, and who told me that unless the
+sable jacket was paid for within two months he would “lay the matter
+before Lord Castlecourt.”
+
+We went across to Paris in September, and there I saw those dreadful
+people. My other French and English creditors I could manage, but I
+could do nothing with either Bolkonsky or the jeweler. They spoke
+harshly to me--as no one has ever spoken to me before; and Bolkonsky
+told me that “it was known Lord Castlecourt was honest and paid his
+debts, whatever his wife was.” I prayed him for time, and finally
+wept--wept to that horrible Jew; and there was another man in the
+office, too, who saw me. But I was lost to all sense of pride or
+reserve. I had only one feeling left in me--terror, agony, that they
+would tell my husband, and he would despise me and leave me.
+
+My misery seemed to have some effect on Bolkonsky, and he told me he
+would give me a month to pay up. It was then the tenth of September.
+I waited for a week in a sort of frenzy of hope that a miracle would
+occur, and the money come into my hands in some unexpected way. But,
+of course, nothing did occur. By the first of October the one thousand
+pounds was no nearer. It was then that the desperate idea entered my
+mind which has nearly ruined me, and caused me such suffering that the
+memory of it will stay with me forever.
+
+The Castlecourt diamonds, set in a necklace and valued at nine thousand
+pounds, were in my possession. I often wore them, and they were carried
+about by my maid--a faithful and honest creature called Sophy Jeffers.
+On one of my first trips to Paris a friend of mine had taken me to the
+office of a well-known dealer in precious and artificial stones who,
+without its being generally known, did a sort of pawnbroking business
+among the upper classes. My friend had gone there to pawn a pearl
+necklace, and had told me all about it--how much she obtained on the
+necklace, and how she hoped to redeem it within the year, and how she
+was to have it copied in imitation pearls. The idea that came to me
+was to go to this place and pawn the Castlecourt diamonds, having them
+duplicated in paste.
+
+I went there on the second day of October. How awful it was! I wore
+a heavy veil, and gave a fictitious name. Several men looked at the
+diamonds, and I noticed that they looked at me and whispered together.
+Finally they told me they would give me four thousand pounds on them,
+at some interest--I’ve forgotten what it was now--and that they
+would replace them with paste, so that only an expert could tell the
+difference. The next day I went back, and they gave me the money. I do
+not think they had any idea who I was. At any rate, while the papers
+were full of speculations about the Castlecourt diamonds, they made no
+sign.
+
+I paid off all my debts, both in Paris and London; I even paid a year’s
+interest on the diamonds. For a short time I breathed again, and was
+gay and light-hearted. My husband would never know that I had not paid
+my bills for five years and had been threatened with a lawsuit. It was
+delightful to get rid of this fear, and I was quite my old self. I
+suppose I ought to have felt more guilty; but when one is relieved of
+a great weight, one’s conscience is not so sensitive as it gets when
+there is really nothing to be sensitive about.
+
+It was after I had grown accustomed to feeling free and unworried
+that I began to realize what I had done. I had stolen the diamonds.
+I was a thief! It did not comfort me much to think that no one might
+ever find it out; in fact, I do not think it comforted me at all, and
+I know in the beginning I expected it would. It was what I had done
+that rankled in me. I felt that I would never be peaceful again till
+they were redeemed and put back in their old settings. That was what I
+continually dreamed of. It seemed to me if I could see them once more
+in their own case I would be happy and care free, as I had been in
+those first perfect years of my married life.
+
+The fear that at this time most haunted me and was most terrifying
+was that my husband might discover what I had done. His wife, that he
+had so loved and trusted, had become a thief! No one who has not gone
+through it knows how I felt. I did not know any one could suffer so.
+I went out constantly, to try and forget; and, when things were very
+cheerful and amusing, I sometimes did. And then I remembered--I was a
+thief; I had stolen my husband’s diamonds, and, if he ever found it
+out, what would happen to me?
+
+This was the position I was in when the false diamonds were taken.
+It was the last thing in the world I had thought could happen. When,
+that night of the Duke of Duxbury’s dinner, I saw the empty case and
+Jeffers’ terrified face, the world reeled around me. I could not for
+a moment take it in. Only, in my mind, the diamonds had become a sort
+of nightmare; anything to do with them was a menace, and I followed an
+instinct that had possession of me when I tried to hide the empty case
+from my husband.
+
+Then, when my mind had cleared and I had time to think, I saw that if
+they recovered the paste necklace they might find out that it was not
+real, and all would be lost. It was a horrible predicament. I really
+did not know what I wanted. If the diamonds were found, and seen to be
+false, it would all come out, and Herbert would know I was a thief.
+When I thought of this I tried to divert the detectives from hunting
+for them, and I told that silly, sheepish Mr. Brison that I did not see
+how he could be so sure they were stolen, that they might have been
+mislaid. Mr. Brison seemed surprised, and that made me angry, because,
+after all, a diamond necklace is not the sort of thing that gets
+mislaid, and I felt I had been foolish and had not gained anything by
+being so.
+
+The days passed, and nothing was heard of the necklace. I wished
+desperately now that it would be found. For how, unless it was, could
+I eventually redeem the real diamonds, and once more feel honest and
+respectable? If I suddenly appeared with them, how could I explain it?
+Everybody would say I had stolen them, unless I invented some story
+about their being lost and then found, and I am not clever at inventing
+stories. As to where I should get the money to redeem them, I often
+thought of that; but never could think of any way that sounded possible
+and reasonable. I have always waited for “things to turn up,” and they
+generally did; but in this case nothing that I wanted or expected
+turned up. Besides, four thousand pounds is a good deal of money to
+come into one’s hands suddenly and unexpectedly. If it were a smaller
+sum it might, but four thousand pounds was too much. There was nobody
+to die and leave it to me, and I certainly could not steal it, or make
+it myself.
+
+So, as one may see, I was beset with troubles on all sides. The season
+wore itself away, and I was glad to be done with it. For the first
+time, there had been no pleasure in it. Anxieties that no one guessed
+were always with me, and always I found myself surreptitiously watching
+my husband to see if he suspected, to see if he showed any symptoms of
+growing cold to me and being indifferent. As I drove through the Park
+in the carriage these dreary thoughts were always at my heart, and it
+was heavy as lead. I forgot the passers-by who were so amusing, and,
+with my head hanging, looked into my lap. Suppose Herbert guessed?
+Suppose Herbert found out? These were the questions that went circling
+through my brain and never stopped. Sometimes, when Herbert was beside
+me, I suddenly wanted to cry out:
+
+“Herbert, _I_ took the diamonds! _I_ was the thief! I can’t hide it any
+more, or live in this uncertainty. All I want to know is, do you hate
+me and are you going to leave me?”
+
+But I never did it. I looked at Herbert, and was afraid. What would I
+do if he left me? Go back to Ireland and die.
+
+We went to Castlecourt Marsh Manor in the end of June. By this time I
+had begun to feel quite ill. Herbert insisted on my consulting a doctor
+before I left town, and the doctor said my heart was all wrong and
+something was the matter with my nerves. But it was only the sense
+of guilt, that every day grew more oppressive. I thought I might feel
+better in the country. I had always disliked it, and now it seemed like
+a harbor of refuge, where I could be quiet with my children. I had
+grown to hate London. It was London that had played upon my weaknesses
+and drawn me into all my trouble. I had not run into debt in the
+country, and, after all, I had never been as happy as I was the two
+years after our marriage, when we had lived at Castlecourt Marsh Manor.
+Those were my _beaux jours_! How bright and beautiful they seemed now,
+when I looked back on them from these dark days of fear and disgrace!
+
+It was not much better in the country. A change of scene can not make
+a difference when the trouble is a dark secret. And that dark secret
+kept growing darker every day. I feared to speak of the diamonds to
+Herbert, and yet every letter that came for him filled me with alarm,
+lest it was either to say that they were found or that they were not
+found. Herbert went up to London at intervals and saw Mr. Gilsey, and
+at night when he came home I trembled so that I found it difficult to
+stand till he had told me all that Mr. Gilsey had said. Once when he
+was beginning to tell me that Mr. Gilsey had some idea they had traced
+the diamonds to Paris I fainted, and it was some time before they could
+bring me back.
+
+July was very hot, and I gave that as the cause of my changed
+appearance and listless manner. I was really in wretched health, and
+Herbert became exceedingly worried about me. He suggested that we
+should go on the Continent for a trip, but I shrank from the thought of
+it. I felt as if the sight of Paris, where the diamonds were waiting
+to be redeemed, would kill me outright. I did not want to leave
+Castlecourt Marsh Manor to go anywhere. I only wanted to be happy
+again--to be the way I was before I had taken the diamonds.
+
+And I knew now that this could never be till I told my husband. I knew
+that to win back my peace of mind I had to confess all, and hear him
+say he forgave me. I tried to several times, but it was impossible.
+As the moment that I had chosen for confession approached, my heart
+beat so that I could scarcely breathe, and I trembled like a person in
+a chill. With Herbert looking at me so kindly, so tenderly, the words
+died away on my lips, or I said something quite different to what I
+had intended saying. It was useless. As the days went by I knew that I
+would never dare tell, that for the rest of my life I would be crushed
+under the sense of guilt that seemed too heavy to be borne.
+
+It was late one afternoon in the middle of July that the crash came.
+Never, never shall I forget that day! So dark and awful at first, and
+then-- But I must follow the story just as it happened.
+
+Herbert and I had had tea in the library. It was warm weather, and the
+windows that led to the terrace were wide open. Through them I could
+see the beautiful landscape--rolling hills with great trees dotted over
+them, all the colors brighter and deeper than at midday, for the sun
+was getting low. I was sitting by one of the windows looking out on
+this, and thinking how different had been my feelings when I had come
+here as a bride and loved it all, and been so full of joy. My hands
+hung limp over the arms of the chair. I had no desire to move or speak.
+It is so agonizing, when you are miserable, looking back on days that
+were happy!
+
+As I was sitting this way, Thomas, one of the footmen, came in with the
+letters. I noticed that he had quite a packet of them. Some were mine,
+and I laid them on the table at my elbow. Idly and without interest I
+saw that in Herbert’s bunch there was a small box, such as jewelry is
+sent about in. Thomas left the room, and I continued looking out of the
+window until I suddenly heard Herbert give a suppressed exclamation. I
+turned toward him, and saw that he had the open box in his hand.
+
+“What does this mean?” he said. “What an extraordinary thing! Look
+here, Gladys.”
+
+And he came toward me, holding out the box. It was full of cotton wool,
+and lying on this were a great quantity of unset diamonds of different
+sizes. My heart gave a leap into my throat. I sat up, clutching the
+arms of the chair.
+
+“What are they?” I said, hearing my voice suddenly high and loud.
+“Where did they come from?”
+
+“I don’t know anything about them! It’s too odd! See what’s written on
+this piece of paper that was inside the box.”
+
+He held out a small piece of paper, on which the creases of several
+folds were plainly marked. Across it, in typing, ran two sentences. I
+snatched the paper and read the words:
+
+  We don’t want _your_ diamonds. You can keep them, and with them
+  accept our kind regards.
+
+The paper fluttered to my feet. I knew in a moment what it all meant.
+The thieves had discovered that the diamonds were paste, and had
+returned them. I was conscious of Herbert’s startled face suddenly
+charged with an expression of sharp anxiety as he cried:
+
+“Why, Gladys, what is it? You’re as white as death!”
+
+He came toward me, but I motioned him away and rose to my feet. I knew
+then that the hour had come, and tho I suspect I _was_ very white, I
+did not feel so frightened as I had done in the past.
+
+“Those _are_ your diamonds, Herbert,” I said, quietly and distinctly,
+“or, perhaps, I ought to say those are the substitutes for them. _Your_
+diamonds are in Paris, at Barriere’s, _au quatrème_, on the Rue Croix
+des Petits Champs.”
+
+“Gladys!” he exclaimed, “what do you mean? What are you talking about?
+You look so white and strange! Sit down, darling, and tell me what you
+mean.”
+
+“Oh, Herbert,” I cried, with my voice suddenly full of agony, “let me
+tell you! Don’t stop me. If you’re angry with me and hate me, wait till
+I’ve finished before you say so. I’ve got to confess it all. I’ve got
+to, dear. You must listen to me, and not frighten me till I have done;
+for if I don’t tell you now, I shall certainly die.”
+
+And then I told--I told it all. I didn’t leave out a single thing. My
+first bills, and Bolkonsky, and the jeweler, and the pawnbroking place,
+and everything was in it. Once I was started, it was not so hard, and I
+poured it out. I didn’t try to make it better, or ask to be forgiven.
+But when it was all finished, I said, in a voice that I could hear was
+suddenly husky and trembling:
+
+“And now I suppose you’ll not like me any more. It’s quite natural that
+you shouldn’t. I only ask one thing, and I know, of course, I have
+no right to ask it--that is, that you won’t send me away from you. I
+have been very wicked. I suppose I ought to be put in prison. But, oh,
+Herbert, no matter what I’ve been, I’ve loved you! That’s something.”
+
+I could not go any further, and there was no need; for my dear husband
+did not seem angry at all. He took me, all weeping and trembling, into
+his arms, and said the sweetest things to me--the sort of things one
+doesn’t write down with a pen--just between him and me.
+
+And I?--I turned my face into his shoulder and cried feebly. No
+one knows how happy I felt except a person who has been completely
+miserable and suddenly finds her misery ended. It is really worth being
+miserable to thoroughly appreciate the joy of being happy again.
+
+Well, that is really the end of the statement. Herbert went to Paris a
+few days later and redeemed the diamonds, and they are now being set in
+imitation of the old settings, which are lost. I would not go to Paris
+with him. Nor will I go to London next season. Both places are too full
+of horrible memories. Perhaps some day I shall feel about them as I
+did before the diamonds were taken, but now I do not want to leave the
+country at all. Besides, we can economize here, and the four thousand
+pounds necessary to get back the stones was a good deal for Herbert to
+have to pay out just now. And then it is so sweet and peaceful in the
+country. Nothing troubles one. Oh, how delightful a thing it is to have
+an easy conscience! One does not know how good it is till one has lost
+it.
+
+This finishes my statement. I dare say it is a very bad one, for I am
+not clever at all. But it has the one merit of being entirely truthful,
+and I have told everything--just how wicked I was, and just why I was
+so wicked. Nothing has been held back, and nothing has been set down
+falsely. It is an unprejudiced and accurate account of my share in the
+Castlecourt diamond case.
+
+
+
+
+TRANSCRIBER’S NOTES:
+
+
+  Italicized text is surrounded by underscores _italics_.
+
+  Obvious typographical errors have been corrected.
+
+  Inconsistencies in hyphenation have been standardized.
+
+  Archaic or alternate spelling has been retained from the original.
+
+*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE CASTLECOURT DIAMOND MYSTERY ***
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+    <meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html;charset=us-ascii" />
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+    <title>
+      The Castlecourt Diamond Case, by Geraldine Bonner&mdash;A Project Gutenberg eBook
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+    </style>
+  </head>
+<body>
+<div style='text-align:center; font-size:1.1em; font-weight:bold; margin-bottom:1em;'>
+The Project Gutenberg EBook of The Castlecourt Diamond Mystery, by Geraldine Bonner
+</div>
+
+<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'>
+This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere in the United States and
+most other parts of the world at no cost and with almost no restrictions
+whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or re-use it under the terms
+of the Project Gutenberg License included with this eBook or online
+at <a href="https://www.gutenberg.org">www.gutenberg.org</a>. If you
+are not located in the United States, you will have to check the laws of the
+country where you are located before using this eBook.
+</div>
+
+<div style='display:table;margin-bottom:1em;margin-top:1em;'>
+  <div style='display:table-row;'>
+    <div style='display:table-cell;padding-right:0.5em;'>Title:</div>
+    <div style='display:table-cell;'>The Castlecourt Diamond Mystery</div>
+  </div>
+  <div style='display:table-row;'>
+    <div style='display:table-cell;padding-right:0.5em;'></div>
+    <div style='display:table-cell;'>Being a Compilation of the Statements Made by the Various Participants in This Curious Case Now, For the First Time, Given to the Public</div>
+  </div>
+</div>
+  <div style='display:table-row;'>
+    <div style='display:table-cell;padding-right:0.5em;'>Author: </div>
+    <div style='display:table-cell;'>Geraldine Bonner</div>
+  </div>
+
+<div style='height:10px'></div>
+
+  <div style='display:table-row;'>
+    <div style='display:table-cell;padding-right:0.5em;'>Illustrator: </div>
+    <div style='display:table-cell;'>Harrie F. Stoner</div>
+  </div>
+
+<div style='height:10px'></div>
+
+<div style='margin-bottom:1em;'>
+Release Date: Mar 27, 2021 [eBook #64934]
+</div>
+
+<div style='margin-bottom:1em;'>
+Language: English
+</div>
+
+<div style='display:table;margin-bottom:1em;'>
+  <div style='display:table-row;'>
+    <div style='display:table-cell;vertical-align:top;'>Produced&nbsp;by:&nbsp;</div>
+    <div style='display:table-cell;'>D A Alexander, David E. Brown, and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team at https://www.pgdp.net (This file was produced from images generously made available by The Internet Archive)</div>
+  </div>
+</div>
+
+<div style='margin-top:1em;margin-bottom:1.5em;'>*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG BOOK OF THE CASTLECOURT DIAMOND MYSTERY ***</div>
+
+
+<div class="figcenter"><img src="images/cover.jpg" width="40%" alt="" /></div>
+
+<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop" />
+
+<h1>THE CASTLECOURT<br />
+DIAMOND CASE</h1>
+
+<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop" />
+<div class="chapter">
+<div class="figcenter"><img src="images/i_frontispiece.jpg" alt="" /></div>
+<p class="caption"><i>SHE MADE A SORT OF GRASP AT THE CASE</i><br />
+
+<span class="gap">[Page <a href="#Page_30">30</a></span></p>
+</div>
+
+<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop" />
+
+<div class="titlepage">
+
+<p><span class="xlarge">The Castlecourt<br />
+Diamond Case</span></p>
+
+<p>BEING A COMPILATION OF THE STATEMENTS<br />
+MADE BY THE VARIOUS PARTICIPANTS IN<br />
+THIS CURIOUS CASE NOW, FOR THE FIRST<br />
+TIME, GIVEN TO THE PUBLIC :: :: ::</p>
+
+<p><i>By</i><br />
+
+<span class="large">GERALDINE BONNER</span><br />
+
+<i>Author of &#8220;Hard Pan,&#8221; &#8220;The Pioneers,&#8221; etc.</i></p>
+
+<p><i>FRONTISPIECE ILLUSTRATION</i><br />
+
+BY<br />
+
+HARRIE F. STONER</p>
+
+<div class="figcenter"><img src="images/i_title.jpg" alt="" /></div>
+
+<p><span class="large">FUNK &amp; WAGNALLS COMPANY</span><br />
+NEW YORK AND LONDON<br />
+1906</p>
+</div>
+<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop" />
+
+
+<p class="center"><span class="smcap">Copyright, 1905</span><br />
+BY<br />
+GERALDINE BONNER<br />
+<br />
+[<i>Printed in the United States of America</i>]<br />
+Published, December, 1905</p>
+
+
+<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop" />
+
+<div class="chapter">
+<span class="pagenum" id="Page_5">[5]</span>
+<h2 class="nobreak">CONTENTS</h2>
+</div>
+
+<table border="0" cellpadding="2" cellspacing="2" summary="table">
+
+<tr><td class="tdhi">Statement of Sophy Jeffers, lady&#8217;s maid<br />
+to the Marchioness of Castlecourt</td><td class="tdr" valign="bottom"><a href="#Page_9">      9</a></td></tr>
+
+<tr><td class="tdhi">Statement of Lilly Bingham, known in<br />
+England as Laura Brice, in the<br />
+United States as Frances Latimer,<br />
+to the police of both countries as<br />
+Laura the Lady, besides having recently<br />
+figured as a housemaid at<br />
+Burridge&#8217;s Hotel, London, under<br />
+the alias of Sara Dwight</td><td class="tdr" valign="bottom"><a href="#Page_47">      47</a></td></tr>
+
+<tr><td class="tdhi">Statement of Cassius P. Kennedy, formerly<br />
+of Necropolis City, Ohio, now<br />
+Manager of the London Branch of<br />
+the Colonial Box, Tub, and Cordage<br />
+Company (Ltd.) of Chicago and St.<br />
+Louis</td><td class="tdr" valign="bottom"><a href="#Page_95">      95</a></td></tr>
+
+
+<tr><td class="tdhi">Statement of John Burns Gilsey, private<span class="pagenum" id="Page_6">&nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; [6]</span><br />
+detective, especially engaged on the<br />
+Castlecourt diamond case</td><td class="tdr" valign="bottom"><a href="#Page_127">      127</a></td></tr>
+
+<tr><td class="tdhi">The Statement of Daisy K. Fairweather<br />
+Kennedy, late of Necropolis City,<br />
+Ohio, at present a resident of 15<br />
+Farley Street, Knightsbridge, London</td><td class="tdr" valign="bottom"><a href="#Page_157">      157</a></td></tr>
+
+<tr><td class="tdhi">Statement of Gladys, Marchioness of<br />
+Castlecourt</td><td class="tdr" valign="bottom"><a href="#Page_189">      189</a></td></tr>
+</table>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_7">[7]</span></p>
+
+<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop" />
+
+<div class="chapter">
+<span class="pagenum" id="Page_8">[8]</span>
+<p class="ph1">Statement of Sophy Jeffers, lady&#8217;s<br />
+maid to the Marchioness of Castlecourt.</p>
+</div>
+
+<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop" />
+
+<div class="chapter">
+<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_9">[9]</span></p>
+
+<h2 class="nobreak">Statement of Sophy Jeffers, lady&#8217;s<br />
+maid to the Marchioness of Castlecourt.</h2>
+</div>
+
+
+<p class="drop-cap">I &nbsp; HAD been in Lady Castlecourt&#8217;s
+service two years when the Castlecourt
+diamonds were stolen. I am
+not going to give an account of how
+I was suspected and cleared. That&#8217;s
+not the part of the story I&#8217;m here
+to set down. It&#8217;s about the disappearance
+of the diamonds that I&#8217;m
+to tell, and I&#8217;m ready to do it to the
+best of my ability.</p>
+
+<p>We were in London, at Burridge&#8217;s
+Hotel, for the season. Lord
+Castlecourt&#8217;s town house at Grosvenor
+Gate was let to some rich
+Americans, and for two years now
+we had stayed at Burridge&#8217;s. It was<span class="pagenum" id="Page_10">[10]</span>
+the third of April when we came to
+town&mdash;my lord, my lady, Chawlmers
+(my lord&#8217;s man), and myself. The
+children had been sent to my lord&#8217;s
+aunt, Lady Mary Cranbury&mdash;she
+who&#8217;s unmarried, and lives at Cranbury
+Castle, near Worcester.</p>
+
+<p>Lord Castlecourt didn&#8217;t like going
+to the hotel at all. Chawlmers used
+to tell me how he&#8217;d talk sometimes.
+Chawlmers has been with my lord
+ten years, and was born on the estate
+of Castlecourt Marsh Manor.
+But my lord generally did what my
+lady wanted, and she was not at all
+partial to the country. She&#8217;d say
+to me&mdash;she was always full of her
+jokes:</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Yes, it&#8217;s an excellent place, the
+country&mdash;an excellent place to get
+away from, Jeffers. And the farther<span class="pagenum" id="Page_11">[11]</span>
+away you get the more excellent it
+seems.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>My lady had been born in Ireland,
+and lived there till she was a woman
+grown. It&#8217;s not for me to comment
+on my betters, but I&#8217;ve heard it said
+she didn&#8217;t have a decent frock to her
+back till old Lady Bundy took her
+up and brought her to London. Her
+father was a clergyman, the Rev.
+McCarren Duffy, of County Clare,
+and they do say he hadn&#8217;t a penny
+to his fortune, and that my lady ran
+wild in cotton frocks and with holes
+in her stockings till Lady Bundy saw
+her. I&#8217;ve heard tell that Lady Bundy
+said of her she&#8217;d be the most beautiful
+woman in London since the Gunnings
+(whoever they were), and just
+brought her up to town and fitted her
+out from top to toe. In a month she<span class="pagenum" id="Page_12">[12]</span>
+was the talk of the season, and before
+it was over she was betrothed
+to the Marquis of Castlecourt, who
+was a great match for her.</p>
+
+<p>But she was the beggar on horseback
+you hear people talk about.
+Lord Castlecourt wasn&#8217;t what would
+be called a millionaire, but he gave
+her more in a month than she&#8217;d had
+before in five years, and she&#8217;d spend
+it all and want more. It seemed as
+if she didn&#8217;t know the value of
+money. If she&#8217;d see a pretty thing
+in a shop she&#8217;d buy it, and if she had
+not got the ready money they&#8217;d give
+her the credit; for, being the Marchioness
+of Castlecourt, all the shop
+people were on their knees to her,
+they were that anxious to get her
+patronage. Then when the bills
+would come in she would be quite<span class="pagenum" id="Page_13">[13]</span>
+surprised and wonder how she had
+come to spend so much, and hide
+them from Lord Castlecourt. Afterward
+she&#8217;d forget all about them,
+even where she&#8217;d put them.</p>
+
+<p>Lord Castlecourt was so fond of
+her he&#8217;d have forgiven her anything.
+They&#8217;d been married five years when
+I entered my lady&#8217;s service, and he
+was as much in love with her as if
+he&#8217;d been married but a month. And
+I don&#8217;t blame him. She was the
+prettiest lady, and the most coaxing,
+I ever laid eyes on. She might well
+be Irish: there was blarney on her
+tongue for all the world, and money
+ready to drop off the ends of her
+fingers into any palm that was held
+out. There was no story of misfortune
+but would bring the tears to
+her eyes and her purse to her hand:<span class="pagenum" id="Page_14">[14]</span>
+generous and soft hearted she was
+to every creature that walked. No
+one could be angry with her long.
+I&#8217;ve seen Lord Castlecourt begin to
+scold her, and end by laughing at her
+and kissing her. Not but what she
+respected him and loved him. She
+did both, and she was afraid of him
+too. No one knew better than my
+lady when it was time to stop trifling
+with my lord and be serious.</p>
+
+<p>It was Lord Castlecourt&#8217;s custom
+to go to Paris two or three times
+every year. He had a sister married
+there of whom he was very fond,
+and he and her husband would go
+off shooting boars to a place with
+a name I can&#8217;t remember. My lady
+was always happy to go to Paris.
+She&#8217;d say she loved it, and the theaters,
+and the shops&mdash;tho what she<span class="pagenum" id="Page_15">[15]</span>
+could see in it <i>I</i> never understood.
+A dirty, messy city, and full of men
+ready to ogle an honest, Christian
+woman, as if she was what half the
+women look like that go prancing
+along the streets. My lady spent a
+good deal of her time at the dressmakers,
+and she and I were forever
+going up to top stories in little, silly
+lifts that go up of themselves. I&#8217;d a
+great deal rather have walked than
+trusted myself to such unsafe, French
+contrivances&mdash;underhand, dangerous
+things, that might burst at any moment,
+<i>I</i> say.</p>
+
+<p>The year before the time I am
+writing of we went to Paris, as usual,
+in March. We stopped at the Bristol,
+and stayed one month. My lady
+went out a great deal, and between-whiles
+was, as usual, at what they<span class="pagenum" id="Page_16">[16]</span>
+call there &#8220;<i>couturi&egrave;res&#8217;</i>,&#8221; at the jewelers&#8217;,
+or the shops on the Rue de la
+Paix. She also bought from Bolkonsky,
+the furrier, a very smart
+jacket of Russian sable that I&#8217;ll be
+bound cost a pretty penny. When
+we went back to London for the
+season her beauty and her costumes
+were the talk of the town. Old
+Lady Bundy&#8217;s maid told me that
+Lady Bundy went about saying:
+&#8220;And but for me, she&#8217;d be the mother
+of the red-headed larrykins of an
+Irish squireen!&#8221; Which didn&#8217;t seem
+to me nice talk for a lady.</p>
+
+<p>We spent that summer at Castlecourt
+Marsh Manor very quietly, as
+was my lord&#8217;s wish. My lady did
+not seem in as good spirits as usual,
+which I set down to the country life
+that she always said bored her. Once<span class="pagenum" id="Page_17">[17]</span>
+or twice she told me that she felt ill,
+which I&#8217;d never known her to say
+before, and one day in the late summer
+I discovered her in tears. She
+did not seem to be herself again
+till we went to Paris in September.
+Then she brightened up, and was
+soon in higher spirits than ever.
+She was on the go continually&mdash;often
+would go out for lunch, and not be
+back till it was time to dress for
+dinner. She enjoyed herself in
+Paris very much, she told me. And
+I think she did, for I never saw her
+more animated&mdash;almost excited with
+high spirits and success.</p>
+
+<p>The following spring we left Castlecourt
+Marsh Manor, and, as I said
+before, came to Burridge&#8217;s on April
+the third. The season was soon in full
+swing, and my lady was going out<span class="pagenum" id="Page_18">[18]</span>
+morning, noon, and night. There
+was no end to it, and I was worn
+out. When she was away in the
+afternoon I&#8217;d take forty winks on
+the sofa, and have Sara Dwight, the
+housemaid of our rooms, bring me
+a cup of tea, when she&#8217;d sometimes
+take one herself, and we&#8217;d gossip a
+bit over it.</p>
+
+<p>If I&#8217;d known what an important
+person Sara Dwight was going to
+turn out I&#8217;d have taken more notice
+of her. But, unfortunately, thieves
+don&#8217;t have a mark on their brow like
+Cain, and Sara was the last girl
+any one would have suspected was
+dishonest. All that I ever thought
+about her was that she was a neat,
+civil-spoken girl, who knew her betters
+and her elders when she saw
+them. She was quick on her feet,<span class="pagenum" id="Page_19">[19]</span>
+modest and well-mannered&mdash;not
+what you&#8217;d call good-looking: too
+pale and small for my taste, and
+Chawlmers quite agreed with me.
+The one thing I noticed about her
+were her hands, which were white
+and fine like a lady&#8217;s. Once when I
+asked her how she kept them so well,
+she laughed, and said, not having a
+pretty face, she tried to have pretty
+hands.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Because a girl ought to have
+something pretty about her, oughtn&#8217;t
+she, Miss Jeffers?&#8221; she said to me,
+quiet and respectful as could be.</p>
+
+<p>I answered, as I thought it was
+my duty, that beauty was only skin
+deep, and if your character was honest
+your face would take care of
+itself.</p>
+
+
+
+<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_20">[20]</span>She looked down at her hands, and
+smiled a little and said:</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Yes, I suppose that&#8217;s true, Miss
+Jeffers. I&#8217;ll try to remember it.
+It&#8217;s what every girl ought to feel,
+I&#8217;m sure.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>Sara Dwight had the greatest admiration
+for Lady Castlecourt.
+She&#8217;d manage to be standing about
+in doorways and on the stairs when
+my lady passed down to go to dinner
+and to the opera. Then she&#8217;d
+come back and tell me how beautiful
+my lady was, and how she envied
+me being her maid. While she was
+talking she&#8217;d help me tidy up the
+room, and sometimes&mdash;because she
+admired my lady so&mdash;I&#8217;d let her look
+at the new clothes from Paris as
+they hung in the wardrobe. Sara
+would gape with admiration over<span class="pagenum" id="Page_21">[21]</span>
+them. She spoke a little about my
+lady&#8217;s jewels, but not much. I&#8217;d
+have suspected that.</p>
+
+<p>It was in the fifth week after we
+came to town&mdash;to be exact, on the
+afternoon of the fourth day of May&mdash;that
+the diamonds were stolen. As
+I&#8217;d been so badgered and questioned
+and tormented about it, I&#8217;ve got it
+all as clear in my head as a photograph&mdash;just
+how it was and just
+what time everything happened.</p>
+
+<p>That evening my lady was going
+to dinner at the Duke of Duxbury&#8217;s.
+It was to be a great dinner&mdash;a prince
+and a prime minister, and I don&#8217;t
+know what all besides. My lady was
+to wear a new gown from Paris and
+the diamonds. She told me when she
+went out what she would want and
+when she would be back. That was<span class="pagenum" id="Page_22">[22]</span>
+at four, and I was not to expect her
+in till after six.</p>
+
+<p>Some time before that I got her
+things ready, the gown laid out, and
+the diamonds on the dressing-table.
+They were kept in a leather case of
+their own, and then put in a despatch-box
+that shut with a patent
+lock. When we traveled I always
+carried this box&mdash;that is, when my
+lady used it. A good deal of the
+time it was at the bankers&#8217;. Lord
+Castlecourt was very choice about
+the diamonds. Some of them had
+been in his family for generations.
+The way they were set now&mdash;in a
+necklace with pendants, the larger
+stones surrounded by smaller ones&mdash;had
+been a new setting made for his
+mother. My lady wanted them
+changed, and I remember that Lord<span class="pagenum" id="Page_23">[23]</span>
+Castlecourt was vexed with her, and
+she couldn&#8217;t pet and coax him back
+into a good humor for some days.</p>
+
+<p>One of the last things that I did
+that afternoon while arranging the
+dressing-table was to open the despatch-box
+and take the leather case
+out. Tho it was May, and the evenings
+were very long, I turned on
+the electric lights, and, unclasping
+the case, looked at the necklace.</p>
+
+<p>I was standing this way when
+Chawlmers comes to the side door
+of the room (the whole suite was
+connected with doors), and asks me
+if I could remember the number of
+the bootmakers where my lady
+bought her riding-boots. Some
+friend of Chawlmers wanted to know
+the address. I couldn&#8217;t at first remember
+it, and I was standing this<span class="pagenum" id="Page_24">[24]</span>
+way, trying to recollect, when I
+heard the clock strike six. I told
+Chawlmers I&#8217;d get it for him. I was
+certain it was in my lady&#8217;s desk,
+and I put the case down on the bureau,
+and Chawlmers and I together
+went into the sitting-room (the door
+open between us and my lady&#8217;s
+room) and looked for it. We found
+it in a minute, and Chawlmers was
+writing it down in his pocket-book
+when I thought I heard (so light
+and soft you could hardly say you&#8217;d
+heard anything) a rustle like a woman&#8217;s
+skirt in the next room. For
+a second I thought it was my lady,
+and I jumped, for I&#8217;d no business
+at her desk, and I knew she&#8217;d be
+vexed and scold me.</p>
+
+<p>Chawlmers didn&#8217;t hear a thing,
+and looked at me astonished. Then<span class="pagenum" id="Page_25">[25]</span>
+I ran to the door and peeped in.
+There was no one there, and I
+thought, of course, I&#8217;d been mistaken.</p>
+
+<p>We didn&#8217;t leave the room directly,
+but stood by the desk talking for a
+bit. When I told this to the detectives,
+one of the papers said it
+showed &#8220;how deceptive even the best
+servants were.&#8221; As if a valet and
+a lady&#8217;s maid couldn&#8217;t stop for a
+moment of talk! Poor things! we
+work hard enough most of the time,
+I&#8217;m sure. And that we weren&#8217;t long
+standing there idle can be seen from
+the fact that I heard half-past six
+strike. I was for urging Chawlmers
+to go then&mdash;as Lady Castlecourt
+might be in at any moment&mdash;but he
+hung about, following me into my
+lady&#8217;s room, helping me draw the<span class="pagenum" id="Page_26">[26]</span>
+curtains and turn on all the lights,
+for my lady can&#8217;t bear to dress by
+daylight.</p>
+
+<p>It was nearly seven o&#8217;clock when
+we heard the sound of her skirts in
+the passage. Chawlmers slipped off
+into his master&#8217;s rooms, shutting
+the door quietly behind him. My
+lady was looking very beautiful. She
+had on a blue hat trimmed with blue
+and gray hydrangeas, and underneath
+it her hair was like spun gold,
+and her eyes looked soft and dark.
+It never seemed to tire her to be always
+on the go. But I&#8217;d thought
+lately she&#8217;d been going too much,
+for sometimes she was pale, and once
+or twice I thought she was out of
+spirits&mdash;the way she&#8217;d been in the
+country last summer.</p>
+
+<p>She seemed so to-night, not talking<span class="pagenum" id="Page_27">[27]</span>
+as much as usual. There were
+some letters for her on the corner
+of the dressing-table, and I could
+see her face in the glass as she read
+them. One made her smile, and then
+she sat thinking and biting her lip,
+which was as red as a cherry. She
+seemed to me to be preoccupied.
+When I was making the side &#8220;<i>ondulations</i>&#8221;
+of her hair&mdash;which everybody
+knows is a most critical operation&mdash;she
+jerked her head, and said
+suddenly she wondered how the children
+were. I never before knew my
+lady to think about the children
+when her hair was being attended to.</p>
+
+<p>She was sitting in front of the
+dressing-table, her toilet complete,
+when she stretched out her hand to
+the leather case of the diamonds. I
+was looking at the reflection in the<span class="pagenum" id="Page_28">[28]</span>
+mirror, thinking that she was as perfect
+as I could make her. She, too,
+had been looking at the back of her
+head, and still held the small glass
+in one hand. The other she reached
+out for the diamonds. The case had
+a catch that you had to press, and I
+saw, to my surprise, that she raised
+the lid without pressing this. Then
+she gave a loud exclamation. There
+were no diamonds there!</p>
+
+<p>She turned round and looked at
+me, and said:</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;How odd! Where are they,
+Jeffers?&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>I felt suddenly as if I was going
+to fall dead, and afterward, when my
+lady stood by me and said it was
+nonsense to suspect me, one of the
+things she brought up as a proof of
+my innocence was the color I turned<span class="pagenum" id="Page_29">[29]</span>
+and the way I looked at that moment.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Jeffers!&#8221; she said, suddenly rising
+up quick out of her chair. And
+then, without my saying a word, she
+went white and stood staring at me.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;My lady, my lady,&#8221; was all I
+could falter out, &#8220;I don&#8217;t know&mdash;I
+don&#8217;t know!&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Where are they, Jeffers? What&#8217;s
+happened to them?&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>My voice was all husky like a person&#8217;s
+with a cold, as I stammered:</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;They were in the case an hour
+ago.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>My lady caught me by the arm,
+and her fingers gripped tight into
+my flesh.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Don&#8217;t say they&#8217;re stolen, Jeffers!&#8221;
+she cried out. &#8220;Don&#8217;t tell me
+that! Lord Castlecourt would never<span class="pagenum" id="Page_30">[30]</span>
+forgive me. He&#8217;ll never forgive
+me! They&#8217;re worth thousands and
+thousands of pounds! They <i>can&#8217;t</i>
+have been stolen!&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>She spoke so loud they heard her
+in the next room, and Lord Castlecourt
+came in. He was a tall gentleman,
+a little bald, and I can see
+him now in his black clothes, with
+the white of his shirt bosom gleaming,
+standing in the doorway looking
+at her. He had a surprised expression
+on his face, and was frowning a
+little; for he hated anything like
+loud talking or a scene.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;What&#8217;s the matter, Gladys?&#8221; he
+said. &#8220;You&#8217;re making such a noise
+I heard you in my room. Is there
+a fire?&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>She made a sort of grasp at the
+case, and tried to hide it. Chawlmers<span class="pagenum" id="Page_31">[31]</span>
+was in the doorway behind my
+lord, and I saw him staring at her
+and trying not to. He told me afterward
+she was as white as paper.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;The diamonds,&#8221; she faltered out&mdash;&#8220;your
+diamonds&mdash;your family&#8217;s&mdash;your
+mother&#8217;s.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>Lord Castlecourt gave a start, and
+seemed to stiffen. He did not move
+from where he was, but stood rigid,
+looking at her.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;What&#8217;s the matter with them?&#8221;
+he said, quick and quiet, but not as
+if he was calm.</p>
+
+<p>She threw the case she had been
+trying to hide on the dressing-table.
+It knocked over some bottles, and lay
+there open and empty. My lord
+sprang at it, took it up, and shook it.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Gone?&#8221; he said, turning to my
+lady. &#8220;Stolen, do you mean?&#8221;</p>
+
+
+
+<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_32">[32]</span>&#8220;Yes&mdash;yes&mdash;yes,&#8221; she said, like
+that&mdash;three times; and then she fell
+back in the chair and put her hands
+over her face.</p>
+
+<p>Lord Castlecourt turned to me.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;What&#8217;s this mean, Jeffers?
+You&#8217;ve had charge of the diamonds.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>I told him all I knew and as well as
+I could, what with my legs trembling
+that they&#8217;d scarce support me, and
+my tongue dry as a piece of leather.
+When I got toward the end, my lady
+interrupted me, crying out:</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Herbert, it isn&#8217;t my fault, it
+isn&#8217;t! Jeffers will tell you I&#8217;ve taken
+good care of them. I&#8217;ve not been
+careless or forgetful about them, as
+I have about other things. I <i>have</i>
+been careful of them! It isn&#8217;t my
+fault, and you mustn&#8217;t blame me!&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>Lord Castlecourt made a sort of<span class="pagenum" id="Page_33">[33]</span>
+gesture toward her to be still. I
+could see it meant that. He kept
+the case, and, going to the door,
+locked it.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;How long have you been in these
+rooms?&#8221; he said, turning round on
+me with the key in his hand.</p>
+
+<p>I told him, trembling, and almost
+crying. I had never seen my lord
+look so terribly stern. I don&#8217;t know
+whether he was angry or not, but I
+was afraid of him, and it was for
+the first time; for he&#8217;d always been
+a kind and generous master to me
+and the other servants.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Oh, my lord,&#8221; I said, feeling suddenly
+weighed down with dread and
+misery, &#8220;you surely don&#8217;t think I
+took them?&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;I&#8217;m not thinking anything,&#8221; he
+said. &#8220;You and Chawlmers are to<span class="pagenum" id="Page_34">[34]</span>
+stay in this room, and not move from
+it till you get my orders. I&#8217;ll send
+at once for the police.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>My lady turned round in her chair
+and looked at him.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;The police?&#8221; she said. &#8220;Oh, Herbert,
+wait till to-morrow! You&#8217;re
+not even sure yet that they are
+stolen.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Where are they, then?&#8221; he says,
+quick and sharp. &#8220;Jeffers says she
+saw them in that case an hour ago.
+They are not in the case now. Do
+either you or she know where they
+are?&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>I was down on my knees, picking
+up the bottles that had been knocked
+over by the empty jewel-case.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Not I, God knows,&#8221; I said, and
+I began to cry.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;The matter must be put in the<span class="pagenum" id="Page_35">[35]</span>
+hands of the police at once,&#8221; my
+lord said. &#8220;I&#8217;ll have the hotel policeman
+here in a few minutes, and the
+rooms searched. Jeffers and Chawlmers
+and their luggage will be
+searched to-morrow.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>My lady gave a sort of gasp. I
+was close to her feet, and I heard
+her. But, for myself, I just broke
+down, and, kneeling on the floor with
+the overturned bottles spilling cologne
+all around me, cried worse
+than I&#8217;ve done since I was in short
+frocks.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Oh, my lady, I didn&#8217;t take them!
+I didn&#8217;t! You know I didn&#8217;t!&#8221; I
+sobbed out.</p>
+
+<p>My lady looked very miserable.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;My poor Jeffers,&#8221; she said, and
+put her hand on my shoulder, &#8220;I&#8217;m
+sure you didn&#8217;t. If I&#8217;d only a sixpence<span class="pagenum" id="Page_36">[36]</span>
+in the world I&#8217;d stake that on
+your honesty.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>Lord Castlecourt didn&#8217;t say anything.
+He went to the bell and
+pressed it. When the boy answered
+it he gave him a message in a low
+tone, and it didn&#8217;t seem five minutes
+before two men were in the
+room. I did not know till afterward
+that one was the manager, and
+the other the hotel policeman. I
+stopped my crying the best I could,
+and heard my lord telling them that
+the diamonds were gone, and that
+Chawlmers and I had been the only
+people in the room all the afternoon.
+Then he said he wanted them to
+communicate at once with Scotland
+Yard, and have a capable detective
+sent to the hotel.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Lady Castlecourt and I are going<span class="pagenum" id="Page_37">[37]</span>
+to dinner,&#8221; he said, looking at his
+watch. &#8220;We will have to leave, at
+the latest, within the next twenty
+minutes.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>Lady Castlecourt cried out at
+that:</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Herbert, I don&#8217;t see how I can
+go to that dinner. I am altogether
+too upset, and, besides, it will be too
+late. It&#8217;s eight o&#8217;clock now.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;We can make the time up in the
+carriage,&#8221; my lord said; and he went
+into the next room with the policeman,
+where they talked together in
+low voices. I helped my lady on
+with her cloak, and she stood waiting,
+her eyebrows drawn together,
+looking very pale and worried.
+When my lord came back he said
+nothing, only nodded to my lady<span class="pagenum" id="Page_38">[38]</span>
+that he was ready, and, without a
+word, they left the room.</p>
+
+<p>I tried to tidy the bureau and pick
+up the bottles as well as I could, and
+every time I looked at the door into
+the sitting-room I saw that policeman&#8217;s
+head peering round the door-post
+at me.</p>
+
+<p>That was an awful night. I did
+not know it till afterward, but both
+Chawlmers and I were under what
+they call &#8220;surveillance.&#8221; I did not
+know either that Lord Castlecourt
+had told the policeman he believed us
+to be innocent; that we were of excellent
+character, and nothing but
+positive proof would make him think
+either of us guilty. All I felt, as I
+tossed about in bed, was that I was
+suspected, and would be arrested and
+probably put in jail. Fifteen years<span class="pagenum" id="Page_39">[39]</span>
+of honest service in noble families
+wouldn&#8217;t help me much if the detectives
+took it into their heads I
+was guilty.</p>
+
+<p>The next morning we heard about
+the disappearance of Sara Dwight,
+and things began to look brighter.
+Sara had left the hotel at a little
+after seven the evening before,
+speaking to no one, and carrying a
+small portmanteau. When they
+came to examine her room and her
+box they found a jacket and skirt
+hanging on the wall, some burnt
+papers in the grate, and the box
+almost empty, except for some cheap
+cotton underclothes and a dirty wadded
+quilt put in to fill up. Sara had
+given no notice, and had not at any
+time told any of her fellow servants<span class="pagenum" id="Page_40">[40]</span>
+that she was dissatisfied with her
+place or wanted to leave.</p>
+
+<p>That morning Mr. Brison, the
+Scotland Yard detective, had us up
+in the sitting-room asking us questions
+till I was fair muddled, and
+didn&#8217;t know truth from lies. Lord
+Castlecourt and my lady were both
+present, and Mr. Brison was forever
+politely asking my lady questions
+till she got quite angry with
+him, and said she wasn&#8217;t at all
+sure the diamonds were stolen; they
+might have been mislaid, and would
+turn up somewhere. Mr. Brison was
+surprised, and asked my lady if she
+had any idea where they were liable
+to turn up; and my lady looked annoyed,
+and said it was a silly question,
+and that she &#8220;wasn&#8217;t a clairvoyant.&#8221;</p>
+
+
+
+<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_41">[41]</span>Three days after this Mr. John
+Gilsey, who is a detective, and, I
+have heard since, a very famous
+gentleman, was engaged by Lord
+Castlecourt to &#8220;work upon the case.&#8221;
+Mr. Gilsey was very soft-spoken and
+pleasant. He did not muddle you,
+as Mr. Brison did, and it was very
+easy to tell him all you knew or
+could remember, which he always
+seemed anxious to hear. He had me
+up in the sitting-room twice, once
+alone and once with Mr. Brison, and
+they asked me a host of questions
+about Sara Dwight. I told them all
+I could think of; and when I came
+to her hands, and how they were
+white and fine, like a lady&#8217;s, I saw
+Mr. Brison look at Mr. Gilsey and
+raise his eyebrows.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Does it seem to you,&#8221; he says,<span class="pagenum" id="Page_42">[42]</span>
+scribbling words in his note-book,
+&#8220;that this sounds like Laura the
+Lady?&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>And Mr. Gilsey answered:</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;The manner of operating sounds
+like her, I must admit.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;She was in Chicago when last
+heard of,&#8221; says Mr. Brison, stopping
+in his scribbling, &#8220;but we&#8217;ve information
+within the last week that
+she&#8217;s left there.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Laura the Lady is in London,&#8221;
+Mr. Gilsey remarked, looking at his
+finger nails. &#8220;I saw her three weeks
+ago at Earlscourt.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>Mr. Brison got red in the face and
+puffed out his lips, as if he was going
+to say something, but decided not to.
+He scribbled some more, and then,
+looking at what he had written as if
+he was reading it over, says:</p>
+
+
+
+<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_43">[43]</span>&#8220;If that&#8217;s the case, there&#8217;s very
+little doubt as to who planned and
+executed this robbery.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;That&#8217;s a very comfortable state
+of affairs to arrive at,&#8221; says Mr.
+Gilsey, &#8220;and I hope it&#8217;s the correct
+one.&#8221; And that was all he said that
+time about what he thought.</p>
+
+<p>After this we stayed on at Burridge&#8217;s
+for the rest of the season, but
+it was not half as cheerful or gay as
+it had been before. My lord was often
+moody and cross, for he felt the loss
+of the diamonds bitterly; and my
+lady was out of spirits and moped,
+for she was very fond of him, and
+to have him take it this way seemed
+to upset her. Mr. Brison or Mr.
+Gilsey were constantly popping in
+and murmuring in the sitting-room,
+but they got no further on&mdash;at least,<span class="pagenum" id="Page_44">[44]</span>
+there was no talk of finding the diamonds,
+which was all that counted.</p>
+
+<p>This is all I know of the theft of
+the necklace. What happened at
+that time, and what Mr. Gilsey calls
+&#8220;the surrounding circumstances of
+the case,&#8221; I have tried to put down
+as clearly and as simply as possible.
+I have gone over them so often, and
+been forced to be so careful, that I
+think they will be found to be quite
+correct in every particular.</p>
+
+
+
+<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop" />
+
+<div class="chapter">
+<span class="pagenum" id="Page_45">[45]</span>
+<p class="ph1">Statement of Lilly Bingham, known<br />
+in England as Laura Brice, in the<br />
+United States as Frances Latimer,<br />
+to the police of both countries as<br />
+Laura the Lady, besides having recently<br />
+figured as a housemaid at<br />
+Burridge&#8217;s Hotel, London, under the<br />
+alias of Sara Dwight.</p>
+</div>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_46">[46]</span></p>
+<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop" />
+
+<div class="chapter">
+<span class="pagenum" id="Page_47">[47]</span>
+<h2 class="nobreak">Statement of Lilly Bingham, known<br />
+in England as Laura Brice, in the<br />
+United States as Frances Latimer,<br />
+to the police of both countries as<br />
+Laura the Lady, besides having recently<br />
+figured as a housemaid at<br />
+Burridge&#8217;s Hotel, London, under the<br />
+alias of Sara Dwight.</h2>
+</div>
+
+
+<p class="drop-cap">I &nbsp;NEVER was so glad of anything in
+my life as to get out of that
+beastly hole, Chicago. I&#8217;ll certainly
+never go back there unless there is
+an inducement big enough to compensate
+for the elevated railroad, the
+lake, the noise, the winds, the restaurants,
+the climate, and the people.
+Ugh, what a nightmare!</p>
+
+<p>England&#8217;s the country for me, and
+London is the focus of it. You can
+live like a Christian here, and enjoy
+all the refinements and decencies of
+life for a reasonable consideration.<span class="pagenum" id="Page_48">[48]</span>
+How my heart leaped when I saw
+the old, gray, sooty walls looming up
+through the river haze&mdash;I thought it
+best to sneak by the back way, because
+if I go up the front stairs and
+ring the bell there may be loiterers
+round who had seen Laura the Lady
+before, and might become impertinently
+curious about her future
+movements. And then when I saw
+Tom waiting for me&mdash;my own Tom,
+that I lawfully married, in a burst
+of affection, three years ago, at
+Leamington&mdash;I shouted out greetings,
+and danced on the deck, and
+waved my handkerchief. It was
+worth while having lived in Chicago
+for a year to come back to London
+and Tom and a little furnished flat
+in Knightsbridge.</p>
+
+<p>We were very respectable and<span class="pagenum" id="Page_49">[49]</span>
+quiet for a month&mdash;just a few callers
+climbing up the front stairs, and
+demure female tea-parties at intervals.
+I bought plants to put in the
+windows, and did knitting in a conspicuous
+solitude which the neighbors
+could overlook. When I saw
+the maiden lady opposite scrutinizing
+me through an opera-glass I felt
+like sending her my marriage certificate
+to run her eye over and return.
+We even hired a maid of all
+work from an agency as a touch of
+local color on this worthy domestic
+picture. But when the Castlecourt
+diamond scheme began to ripen I
+nagged at her till she was impudent
+and bundled her off. Maud Durlan
+came in then, put on a cap and
+apron, and played her part a good
+deal better than she used to when<span class="pagenum" id="Page_50">[50]</span>
+she acted soubrettes in the vaudeville.</p>
+
+<p>We were two weeks lying low,
+maturing our plans, tho when I left
+Chicago I knew what I was coming
+back for. Outwardly all was the
+same as usual&mdash;the decent callers
+still climbed the front stairs, and elderly
+ladies who, without any stretch
+of imagination, might have been my
+mother and aunts, dropped in for tea.
+I used to wonder how the people on
+the floor below&mdash;they were the family
+of a man who made rubber tires
+for bicycles&mdash;would have felt if they
+could have seen Maud, our neat and
+respectable slavy, sitting with the
+French heels of her slippers caught
+on the third shelf of the bookcase,
+dropping cigarette ashes into the
+waste-paper basket.</p>
+
+
+
+<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_51">[51]</span>When all was ready, Tom and I
+left for a &#8220;business&#8221; trip on the
+Continent. We went away in a four-wheeler,
+driven by Handsome Harry,
+the top piled with luggage, my face
+at the window smiling a last, cautioning
+good-by at Maud. Five days
+later, under the name of Sara
+Dwight, I was installed as housemaid
+on the third floor of Burridge&#8217;s
+Hotel.</p>
+
+<p>I had done work of that kind before&mdash;once
+in New York, and at another
+time in Paris; having been
+born and spent my childhood in that
+cheerful city, my French is irreproachable.
+The famous robbery of
+the Comtesse de Chateaugay&#8217;s rubies
+was my work&mdash;but I mustn&#8217;t brag
+about past exploits. I had never been
+engaged in a hotel theft of the importance<span class="pagenum" id="Page_52">[52]</span>
+of the Castlecourt one.
+The necklace was valued at between
+eight thousand and nine thousand
+pounds. The stones were not so remarkable
+for size as for quality.
+They were of an unusually even excellence
+and pure water.</p>
+
+<p>After I had been in the hotel for
+a few days and watched the Castlecourt
+party, all apprehension left
+me, and I felt confident and cool.
+They were an extremely simple layout.
+Lady Castlecourt was a beauty&mdash;a
+seductive, smiling, white and
+gold person, without any sense at
+all. Her husband adored her. Being
+a man of some brains, that was
+what might have been expected.
+What might not have been expected
+was that she appeared to reciprocate
+his affection. Having made a careful<span class="pagenum" id="Page_53">[53]</span>
+study of the manners and customs
+of the upper classes, I was not
+prepared for this. I note it as one
+of those exceptions to rule which
+occur now and then in the animal
+kingdom.</p>
+
+<p>Besides the marquis and his lady,
+there were a maid and a valet to be
+considered. The former was a
+dense, honest woman named Sophy
+Jeffers, close on to forty, and of the
+unredeemed ugliness of the normal
+lady&#8217;s maid. Such being the case,
+it was but natural to find that she
+was in love with Chawlmers, the
+valet, who was twenty-seven and
+good-looking. Jeffers was too truthful
+to tamper with her own age, but
+she did not feel it necessary to keep
+up the same rigid standard when it
+came to Chawlmers. It was less of<span class="pagenum" id="Page_54">[54]</span>
+a lie to make him ten years older
+than herself ten years younger.
+From these facts I drew my deductions
+as to the sort of adversary
+Jeffers might be, and I found that,
+by a modest avoidance of Chawlmers&#8217;
+society, I could make her my
+lifelong friend.</p>
+
+<p>The evening of the Duke of Duxbury&#8217;s
+dinner was the time I decided
+upon as the most convenient for taking
+the stones. I had heard from
+Jeffers that the marquis and marchioness
+were going. When her
+ladyship left her rooms that afternoon
+I heard her tell Jeffers that she
+would not be back till after six, and
+to have everything ready at that
+hour. Off and on for the next two
+hours I was doing work about the
+corridor with a duster. It was near<span class="pagenum" id="Page_55">[55]</span>
+six when I heard the two servants
+talking in the sitting-room. A bird&#8217;s-eye
+view through the keyhole showed
+me where they were, and that they
+were engaged in searching for something
+in the desk. It was my chance.
+With my housemaid&#8217;s pass-key I
+opened the door a crack, and peeped
+in. The leather case of the diamonds
+stood on the dressing-table not twenty
+feet from the door. It did not
+take five minutes to enter, open the
+case, take the necklace, and leave.
+Jeffers heard me. She was in the
+room almost as I closed the door.
+Before she could have got into the
+hall I was in the broom-closet hunting
+for a dust-pan. But she evidently
+suspected nothing, for the
+door did not open and there was no
+indication of disturbance.</p>
+
+
+
+<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_56">[56]</span>Two days later Tom and I returned
+from our &#8220;business trip&#8221; to
+the Continent. I quite prided myself
+on the way our luggage was labeled.
+It had just the right knock-about,
+piebald look. We drove up in a
+four-wheeler, Handsome Harry on
+the box, and Maud opened the door
+for us. For the next few days we
+were quiet and kept indoors. We
+spent the time peacefully in the
+kitchen, breaking the settings of the
+diamonds and reading about the robbery
+in the papers. As soon as things
+simmered down, Tom was to take the
+stones across to Holland, where they
+would be distributed. We threw
+away the settings, and put the diamonds
+in a small box of chamois-skin
+that I pinned to my corset with
+a safety-pin.</p>
+
+
+
+<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_57">[57]</span>That was the way things were&mdash;untroubled
+as a summer sea&mdash;till ten
+days after our return, when I began
+to get restive. I had had what they
+call in America &#8220;a strenuous time&#8221;
+at Burridge&#8217;s, working like a slave
+all day, with not a soul to speak to
+but a parcel of ignorant servant women,
+and I wanted livening up. I
+longed for the light and noise of
+Piccadilly, the crowd and the restaurants;
+but what I wanted particularly
+was to go to the theater and
+see a play called &#8220;The Forgiven
+Prodigal.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>Maud and Tom raised a clamor of
+disapproval: What was the use of
+running risks? did I think, because
+I&#8217;d been in Chicago for nearly a
+year, that I was forgotten? did I
+think the men in Scotland Yard who<span class="pagenum" id="Page_58">[58]</span>
+knew me were all dead? did I think
+the excitement of the Castlecourt
+robbery was over and done? I
+yawned at them, and then told them,
+with a gentle smile, that they were a
+&#8220;pusillanimous pair.&#8221; There might
+be many men in Scotland Yard who
+knew me, and that, as they say in
+Chicago, &#8220;is all the good it would
+do them.&#8221; They couldn&#8217;t arrest me
+for sitting peacefully at a theater
+looking at a play. As for connecting
+me with Sara Dwight, I would
+give any one a hundred pounds who,
+when I was dressed and had my war-paint
+on, would find in me a single
+suggestion of the late housemaid at
+Burridge&#8217;s. So I talked them down;
+and if I didn&#8217;t convince them of the
+reasonableness of my arguments, I<span class="pagenum" id="Page_59">[59]</span>
+at least managed to soothe their
+fears.</p>
+
+<p>I dressed myself with especial
+care, and when the last rite of my
+toilet was accomplished looked critically
+in the glass to see if anything
+of Sara Dwight remained. The survey
+contented me. Sara&#8217;s mother,
+if there be such a person, would
+have denied me. I was all in black,
+a sweeping, spangly dress I had
+bought in New York, cut low, and
+my neck is not my weak point, especially
+when <i>cr&ecirc;me des violettes</i> has
+been rubbed over it. My hair was
+waved (Maud does it very well,
+much better than she cooks, I regret
+to say), and dressed high, with a
+small red wreath of geraniums
+round it. Nose powdered to a probable,
+ladylike whiteness, a touch of<span class="pagenum" id="Page_60">[60]</span>
+rouge, a tiny <i>mouche</i> near the corner
+of one eye, and long, black gloves&mdash;and,
+presto change! I wore no jewels&mdash;their
+owners might recognize them.
+One could hardly say I &#8220;wore&#8221; the
+Castlecourt diamonds, which were
+fastened to my corset with a safety-pin.
+They were rather uncomfortable,
+but they were the only thing
+about me that were.</p>
+
+<p>As I stood in front of the glass
+putting on finishing touches, Maud
+left the room, and went to the drawing-room
+to watch for Handsome
+Harry, who was to drive our hansom.
+I did not like taking a hired driver,
+and, thank goodness, I didn&#8217;t! I was
+putting a last <i>soup&ccedil;on</i> of scarlet on
+my lips, when she came back, stepping
+softly, and with her eyes round
+and uneasy looking.</p>
+
+
+
+<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_61">[61]</span>&#8220;I don&#8217;t know whether I&#8217;m nervous,&#8221;
+she says, &#8220;but there&#8217;s a man
+just gone by in a hansom, and he
+leaned out and looked hard at our
+windows.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;I hope it amused him,&#8221; I said,
+looking critically at my lips, to see
+if they were not a little too incredibly
+ruddy. &#8220;It&#8217;s a harmless and
+innocent way of passing the time,
+so we mustn&#8217;t be hard on him if it
+doesn&#8217;t happen to be very intellectual.
+Come, help me on with my
+cloak, and don&#8217;t stand there like
+Patience on a monument staring at
+thieves.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>I was irritated with Maud, trying
+to upset my peace of mind that way.
+She&#8217;d had any amount of good times
+while I&#8217;d been at Burridge&#8217;s with
+my nose to the grindstone. And here<span class="pagenum" id="Page_62">[62]</span>
+she was, the first time I&#8217;d got a
+chance to have a spree, looking like
+a depressed owl and talking like the
+warning voice of Conscience! As she
+silently held up my cloak and I
+thrust my hand in the sleeve, I said,
+over my shoulder:</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;And you needn&#8217;t go upsetting
+Tom by telling him about strange
+men in hansoms who stare up at our
+front windows. I want to have a
+good time this evening, not feel that
+I&#8217;m sitting by a guilty being who
+jumps every time he&#8217;s spoken to as
+if the curse of Cain was on him.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>Maud said nothing, and I shook
+myself into my cloak and swept out
+to the hall, where Tom was waiting.</p>
+
+<p>There had been a slight fog all
+afternoon, and now it was thick; not
+a &#8220;pea-soup&#8221; one, but a good, damp,<span class="pagenum" id="Page_63">[63]</span>
+obscuring fog&mdash;a regular &#8220;burglar&#8217;s
+delight.&#8221; As we came down the
+steps we saw the two hansom lamps
+making blurs, like lights behind
+white cotton screens. Tom was
+grumbling about it and about going
+out generally as he helped me in. And
+just at that minute, still and quick,
+like a picture going across a magic-lantern
+slide, I saw a man on the
+other side of the street step out of
+the shadow of a porch, and glide
+swiftly and softly past the light of
+the lamp and up the street, to
+where the form of a waiting hansom
+loomed. It was all very simple and
+natural, but his walk was odd&mdash;so
+noiseless and stealthy.</p>
+
+<p>I got in, and Tom followed me.
+He hadn&#8217;t seen anything. For the
+moment I didn&#8217;t speak of it, because<span class="pagenum" id="Page_64">[64]</span>
+I wasn&#8217;t sure. But I&#8217;ve got to admit
+that my heart beat against the Castlecourt
+diamonds harder than was
+comfortable. We started, and I listened,
+and faintly, some way behind
+us, I heard the <i>ker-lump!&mdash;ker-lump!&mdash;ker-lump!</i>
+of another horse&#8217;s hoofs
+on the asphalt. I leaned forward
+over the door, and tried to look
+back. Through the mist I saw the
+two yellow eyes of the hansom behind us.
+Tom asked me what was
+the matter, and I told him. He
+whistled&mdash;a long, single note&mdash;then
+leaned back very steady and still.
+We didn&#8217;t say anything for a bit, but
+just sat tight and listened.</p>
+
+<p>It kept behind us that way for
+about ten minutes. Then I pushed
+up the trap, and said to Harry:</p>
+
+
+
+<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_65">[65]</span>&#8220;What&#8217;s this hansom behind us
+up to, Harry?&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;That&#8217;s what I want to know,&#8221; he
+says, quiet and low.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Lose it, if you can, without being
+too much of a Jehu,&#8221; I answered,
+and shut the trap.</p>
+
+<p>He tried to lose it, and we began a
+chase, slow at first, and then faster
+and faster, down one street and up
+the other. The fog by this time was
+as thick and white as wool, and we
+seemed to break through it like a
+ship, as if we were going through
+something dense and hard to penetrate.
+It seemed to me, too, a maddeningly
+quiet night. There was no
+traffic, no noise of wheels to get
+mixed with ours. The <i>ker-lump!&mdash;ker-lump!</i>
+of our horse&#8217;s hoofs came
+back as clear as sounds in a calm at<span class="pagenum" id="Page_66">[66]</span>
+sea from the long lines of house
+fronts. And that devilish hansom
+never lost us. It kept just the same
+distance behind us. We could hear
+its horse&#8217;s hoofs, like an echo of our
+own, beating through the fog. It got
+no nearer; it went no faster. It did
+not seem in a hurry, it never deviated
+from our track. There was
+something hideously unagitated and
+cool about it&mdash;a sort of deadly, sinister
+persistence. I saw it in imagination,
+like a live monster with
+bulging yellow eyes, staring with
+gloating greediness at us as we ran
+feebly along before it.</p>
+
+<p>Tom didn&#8217;t say much. He doesn&#8217;t
+in moments like this. He&#8217;s got the
+nerve all right, but not the brain.
+There&#8217;s no inventive ability in Tom,
+he&#8217;s not built for crises. Handsome<span class="pagenum" id="Page_67">[67]</span>
+Harry now and then dropped some
+remark through the trap, which was
+like a trickle of icy water down one&#8217;s
+spine. I began to realize that my
+lips were dry, and that the insides
+of my gloves were damp. I knew
+that whatever was to be done had
+to come from me. I&#8217;d got them into
+this, and, as they say in Chicago,
+&#8220;it was up to me&#8221; to get them out.</p>
+
+<p>I leaned over the doors, and looked
+at the street we were going through.
+I know that part of London like a
+book&mdash;the insides of some of the
+houses as well as the outsides; it&#8217;s a
+part of our business in which I&#8217;m supposed
+to be quite an expert. The street
+was a small one near Walworth Crescent,
+the houses not the smartest in
+the locality, but good, solid, reliable
+buildings inhabited by good, solid,<span class="pagenum" id="Page_68">[68]</span>
+reliable people. The lower floors
+were all alight. It was the heart of
+the season, and in many of them
+there were dinners afoot. I thought,
+with a flash of longing&mdash;such as a
+drowning man might feel if he
+thought of suddenly finding himself
+on terra firma&mdash;of serene, smiling
+people sitting down to soup. I&#8217;d
+have given the Castlecourt diamonds
+at that moment to have been sitting
+down with them to cold soup, sour
+soup, greasy soup, any kind of soup&mdash;only
+to be sitting down to soup!</p>
+
+<p>We turned a corner sharp, going
+now at a tearing pace, and I saw
+before us a length of street wrapped
+in fog, and blurred at regular intervals
+by the lights of lamps. It looked
+ghostlike&mdash;so white, so noiseless,
+lined on either side by dim house<span class="pagenum" id="Page_69">[69]</span>
+fronts blotted with an indistinct
+sputter of lights. There was not a
+sound but our own horse&#8217;s hoof-beats,
+and far off, like a noise muffled
+by cotton wool, the echo of our
+pursuer&#8217;s. Through the opaque,
+motionless atmosphere I saw that
+the vista into which I stared was
+deserted. There was not a human
+figure or a vehicle in sight. It was a
+lull, a brief respite, a moment of incalculable
+value to us!</p>
+
+<p>My mind was as clear as crystal,
+and I felt a sense of cool, high exhilaration.
+I have only felt this
+way in desperate moments, and this
+was a truly desperate moment&mdash;a
+pursuer on our heels and the diamonds
+in my possession!</p>
+
+<p>I leaned over the doors, and looked
+up the line of houses. It was<span class="pagenum" id="Page_70">[70]</span>
+Farley Street. Who lived in Farley
+Street? Suddenly I remembered
+that I knew all about the people
+who lived in No. 15. They were
+Americans named Kennedy&mdash;a man,
+his wife, and a little girl. He was
+manager of the London branch of a
+Chicago concern called the &#8220;Colonial
+Box, Tub, and Cordage Company,&#8221;
+that I had often heard of in America.
+We had marked the house, and made
+extensive investigations before I left,
+intending to add it to our list, as
+Mrs. Kennedy had some handsome
+jewelry and silver. Since my return
+I had seen her name in the
+papers at various entertainments,
+and Maud had told me a lot about
+her social successes. She was pretty,
+and people were taking her
+up. All this&mdash;that it takes me some<span class="pagenum" id="Page_71">[71]</span>
+minutes to tell&mdash;flashed through my
+mind in a revolution of the wheels.</p>
+
+<p>I could see now that the windows
+of No. 15 were lit up. The Kennedys
+were evidently at home, perhaps
+had a dinner on. They, along
+with the rest of the world, would in
+a minute be sitting down to soup.
+They might be sitting down now; it
+was close on to half-past eight. Why
+could not we sit down with them?</p>
+
+<p>I lifted the top, and said to Harry:</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Is the hansom round the corner
+yet?&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;No,&#8221; he answered, &#8220;it&#8217;s our only
+chance. They&#8217;re still a bit behind us.
+I can tell by the sound.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Drive to No. 15, second from the
+corner,&#8221; I said, &#8220;and go as if the
+devil was after you.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>I dropped the trap, and as we tore<span class="pagenum" id="Page_72">[72]</span>
+down to No. 15 I spoke in a series of
+broken sentences to Tom.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;We&#8217;re going in here to dinner.
+You must look as if it was all right.
+If we carry it off well, they won&#8217;t
+dare to question. We&#8217;re Major and
+Mrs. Thatcher, of the Lancers, that
+arrived Saturday from India.
+They&#8217;re Americans, and won&#8217;t know
+anything, so you can say about what
+you like. Give them India hot from
+the pan. I&#8217;ve been living in London
+while you&#8217;ve been away. That&#8217;s how
+I come to know them and you don&#8217;t.
+My Christian name&#8217;s Ethel. Do the
+dull, heavy, haw-haw style. Americans
+expect it.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>We brought up at the curb with a
+jerk, threw back the doors, and
+dashed up the steps. I caught a
+vanishing glimpse of Handsome<span class="pagenum" id="Page_73">[73]</span>
+Harry leaning far forward to lash
+the horse as the hansom went bounding
+off into the fog. As we stood
+pressed against the door, Tom whispered:</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;What the devil is their name?&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Kennedy,&#8221; I hissed at him&mdash;&#8220;Cassius
+P. Kennedy. Came originally
+from Necropolis City, Ohio;
+lived in Chicago as a clerk in the
+Colonial Box, Tub, and Cordage
+Company, and then was made manager
+of the London branch. Their
+weak point is society. If any people
+are there, keep your mouth shut.
+Be dense and unresponsive.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>We heard the rattle of the pursuing
+hansom at the end of the street,
+then through the ground glass of the
+door saw a man servant&#8217;s approaching
+figure.</p>
+
+
+
+<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_74">[74]</span>&#8220;Only stay a few minutes over the
+coffee. We&#8217;re going on to the
+opera,&#8221; I whispered, as the door
+opened.</p>
+
+<p>I swept in, Tom on my heels. We
+came as fast as we could without
+actually falling in and dashing the
+servant aside, for the noise of our
+pursuer was loud in our ears, and
+we knew we were lost if we were
+seen entering. As Tom somewhat
+hastily shut the door, I was conscious
+of the expression of surprise
+on the face of the solemn butler. He
+did not say anything, but looked it.
+I slid out of my cloak, and handed
+it, languidly, to him.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;No, I won&#8217;t go up-stairs,&#8221; I
+said, in answer to his glare of growing
+amaze.</p>
+
+<p>Then I turned to the glass in the<span class="pagenum" id="Page_75">[75]</span>
+hat-rack, and began to arrange my
+hair. I could see, reflected in it, a
+pair of porti&egrave;res, half open, and affording
+a glimpse of a room beyond,
+bathed in the subdued rosy light of
+lamps. I was conscious of movement
+there behind the porti&egrave;res&mdash;a
+stir of skirts, a sort of hush of curiosity.</p>
+
+<p>There had been the sound of voices
+when we came in. Now I noticed
+the stealthy, occasional sibilant of a
+whisper. There was no dinner-party.
+We were going to dine <i>en famille</i>.
+So much the better. My hair neat,
+I turned to the butler, and, touching
+the jet of my corsage with an
+arranging hand, murmured:</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Major and Mrs. Thatcher.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>The man drew back the curtain,
+and, with our name going before us<span class="pagenum" id="Page_76">[76]</span>
+in loud announcement, I rustled into
+the room, Tom behind me.</p>
+
+<p>Standing beside an empty fireplace,
+and facing the entrance in attitudes
+of expectancy, were a young
+man and woman. In the soft pink
+lamplight I had an impression of
+their two astonished faces, or, rather,
+astonished eyes, for they were making
+a spirited struggle to obliterate
+all surprise from their faces. The
+woman was succeeding the best. She
+did it quite well. When she saw me
+she smiled almost naturally, and
+came forward with a fair imitation
+of a hostess&#8217; welcoming manner. She
+was young and very pretty&mdash;a fine-featured,
+delicate woman, in a floating
+lace tea-gown. Her hand was
+thin and small, a real American
+hand, and gleamed with rings. I<span class="pagenum" id="Page_77">[77]</span>
+could see her husband, out of the tail
+of my eye, battling with his amazement
+and staring at Tom. Tom was
+behind me, looming up bulkily, not
+saying anything, but looking blankly
+through the glass wedged in his eye
+and pulling his mustache.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;My dear Mrs. Kennedy,&#8221; I said,
+in my sweetest and most languid
+drawl, &#8220;are we late? I hope not.
+There is such a fog, really I thought
+we&#8217;d never get here.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>My fingers touched her hand, and
+my eyes looked into hers. She was
+immensely curious and upset, but
+she smiled boldly and almost easily.
+I could see her inward wrestlings to
+place me, and to wonder if she could
+possibly have asked us, and had forgotten
+that too.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;And at last,&#8221; I continued, glibly,<span class="pagenum" id="Page_78">[78]</span>
+&#8220;I am able to present my husband.
+I was afraid you were beginning to
+think he was a sort of Mrs. Harris.
+Harry, dear, Mrs. and Mr. Kennedy.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>They all bowed. Tom held out
+his big paw, and took her little hand
+for a moment, and then dropped it.
+He had just the stolid, awkward,
+owlish look of a certain kind of
+army man.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Awfully glad to get here, I&#8217;m
+sure,&#8221; he boomed out. And then he
+said &#8220;What?&#8221; and looked at Mr.
+Kennedy.</p>
+
+<p>Mr. Kennedy was not as much
+master of the situation as his wife.
+He wasn&#8217;t exactly frightened, but
+he was inwardly distracted with not
+knowing what to do.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Pleased to meet you,&#8221; he said,<span class="pagenum" id="Page_79">[79]</span>
+loudly, to Tom, quite forgetting his
+English accent. &#8220;Glad you could
+get around here. Foggy night, all
+right!&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>I looked at the clock. Tom stood
+solemnly on the hearth-rug, staring
+at the fire. The Kennedys, for a
+moment, could think of nothing to
+say, and I had to look at the clock
+again, screw up my eyes, and remark:</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Just half-past. We&#8217;re not really
+late at all. You know, Harry is
+<i>such</i> a punctual person, and he&#8217;s
+afraid I&#8217;ve got into unpunctual
+habits while he&#8217;s been away.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;He <i>has</i> been away for some time,
+hasn&#8217;t he?&#8221; said Mrs. Kennedy, looking
+from one to the other with piquant
+eyes that yearned for information.</p>
+
+
+
+<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_80">[80]</span>&#8220;Four years with the Lancers in
+India,&#8221; Tom boomed out again.</p>
+
+<p>The Kennedys were relieved.
+They&#8217;d got hold of something. They
+both sat down, and it was obvious
+that they gathered themselves together
+for new efforts.</p>
+
+<p>I did likewise. I realized that I
+must be biographical to a reasonable
+extent&mdash;just enough to satisfy curiosity,
+without giving the impression
+that I was sitting down to tell my
+life-story the way the heroine does
+in the first act of a play.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;He arrived only last Saturday,&#8221;
+I said, &#8220;and you may imagine how
+pleased I was to be able to bring him
+to-night, in answer to your kind invitation.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Only too glad he could come,&#8221;
+murmured Mrs. Kennedy, oblivious<span class="pagenum" id="Page_81">[81]</span>
+of the terrified side-glance that her
+husband cast in her direction.
+&#8220;Very fortunate that you had this
+one evening disengaged.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;I&#8217;m taking him about everywhere,&#8221;
+I continued, with girlish
+loquacity. &#8220;People had begun to
+think that Major Thatcher was a
+myth, and I&#8217;m showing them that
+there&#8217;s a good deal of him and he&#8217;s
+very much alive. For four years,
+you know, I&#8217;ve been living here, first
+in those miserable lodgings in Half
+Moon Street, and after that in my
+flat&mdash;you know it&mdash;on Gower Street.
+A nice little place enough, but much
+nicer now, with Harry in it.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Of course,&#8221; said Mrs. Kennedy,
+as sympathetically as was compatible
+with her eagerness to pounce upon
+such crumbs of information as I let<span class="pagenum" id="Page_82">[82]</span>
+drop. &#8220;How dull these four years
+have been for you!&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Dull!&#8221; I echoed, &#8220;dull is not the
+word!&#8221; And I gave my eyes an expressive,
+acrobatic roll toward the
+ceiling.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;She couldn&#8217;t have stood it out
+there,&#8221; said Tom, in an unexpected
+bass growl. &#8220;Too hot! Ethel can&#8217;t
+stand the heat&mdash;never could.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>Then he lapsed into silence, staring
+at the fire under Mr. Kennedy&#8217;s
+fascinated gaze. Dinner was just
+then announced, and I heard him
+saying as he walked in behind us:</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Is India very hot, Mrs. Kennedy?
+Once in Delhi I sat for four
+days in a cold bath, and read the
+Waverley novels.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>To which Mrs. Kennedy answered,
+brightly:</p>
+
+
+
+<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_83">[83]</span>&#8220;I should think that would have
+put you to sleep, and you might have
+been drowned.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>That was one of the most remarkable
+dinners I ever sat through. Of
+the two couples, the Kennedys were
+the least at ease. They were more
+afraid of being found out than we
+were. The cold sweat would break
+out on Mr. Kennedy&#8217;s brow when
+the conversation edged up toward the
+subject of previous meetings, and
+Mrs. Kennedy would begin to talk
+feverishly about other things. She
+was the kind of woman who hates
+to be unequal to any social emergency;
+and I am bound to confess,
+considering how unprepared she was,
+she held her own this time with
+tact and spirit. She had the copious
+flow of small talk so many Americans<span class="pagenum" id="Page_84">[84]</span>
+seem to have at command, and
+it rippled fluently and untiringly on
+from the soup to the savory. I
+added to the impression I had already
+made by alluding to various
+titled friends of mine, letting their
+names drop carelessly from my lips
+as the pearls and diamonds fell from
+the mouth of the virtuous princess.</p>
+
+<p>Tom did well, too&mdash;excellently
+well. When the conversation showed
+signs of languishing, he began about
+India. He gave us some strange
+pieces of information about that distant
+land that I think he invented on
+the spur of the moment, and he told
+several anecdotes which were quite
+deadly and without point. When
+they were concluded, he gave a short,
+deep laugh, let his eye-glass fall out,<span class="pagenum" id="Page_85">[85]</span>
+looked at us one after the other, and
+said, &#8220;What?&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>I would have enjoyed myself immensely
+if a sense of heavy uneasiness
+had not continued to weigh on
+me. What troubled me was the uncertainty
+of not knowing whether
+we really had escaped our pursuers.
+There was the horrible possibility
+that they had seen us enter the
+house, and were waiting to grab us
+as we came out. If they were there,
+and I was caught with the diamonds
+in my possession, it would be a pretty
+dark outlook for Laura the Lady&mdash;so
+dark I could not bear to picture it,
+even in thought. As I talked and
+laughed with my hosts, my mind was
+turning over every possible means
+by which I could get rid of the
+stones before I left the house, trying<span class="pagenum" id="Page_86">[86]</span>
+to think up some way in which I
+could dispose of them, and yet which
+would not place them quite beyond
+reclaiming. I think my nerves had
+been shaken by that spectral pursuit
+in the fog. Anyway, I wasn&#8217;t willing
+to risk a second edition of it.</p>
+
+<p>We sat over dinner a little more
+than an hour. It was not yet ten
+when Mrs. Kennedy and I rose, and
+with a reminder to Tom that we
+were to &#8220;go to the opera,&#8221; I trailed
+off in advance of my hostess across
+the hall into the drawing-room.
+Here we sat down by a little gilt
+table, and disposed ourselves to endure
+that dreary period when women
+have to put up with one another&#8217;s
+society for ten minutes. It
+was my opportunity of getting rid of
+the diamonds, and I knew it.</p>
+
+
+
+<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_87">[87]</span>We had sipped our coffee for a
+few minutes, and dodged about with
+the usual commonplaces, when I suddenly
+grew grave, and, leaning toward
+Mrs. Kennedy, said:</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Now that we are alone, my dear
+Mrs. Kennedy, I must ask you about
+a matter of which I am particularly
+anxious to hear more.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>She looked at me with furtive
+alarm. I could see she was nerving
+herself for a grapple with the unknown.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;What matter?&#8221; she said.</p>
+
+<p>I lowered my voice to the key of
+confidences that are dire if not actually
+tragic:</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;How about poor Amelia?&#8221; I
+murmured.</p>
+
+<p>She dropped her eyes to her cup,
+frowning a little. I was thrilling<span class="pagenum" id="Page_88">[88]</span>
+with excitement, waiting to hear
+what she was going to say. After a
+moment she lifted her face, perfectly
+calm and grave, to mine, and said:</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Really, the subject is a very painful
+one to me. I&#8217;d rather not talk
+about it.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>It was a master-stroke. I could
+not have done better myself. I
+eyed her with open admiration.
+You never would have thought it of
+her; she seemed so young. After she
+had spoken she gave a sigh, and
+again looked down at her cup, with
+an expression on her face of pensive
+musing. At that moment the voices
+of the men leaving the dining-room
+struck on my ear.</p>
+
+<p>I put my hand into the front of
+my dress, and undid the safety-pin.<span class="pagenum" id="Page_89">[89]</span>
+My manner became furtive and hurried.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Mrs. Kennedy,&#8221; I said, leaning
+across the table, and speaking almost
+in a whisper, &#8220;I entirely sympathize
+with your feelings, but I am <i>very
+much</i> worried about Amelia. You
+know the&mdash;the&mdash;circumstances.&#8221; She
+raised her eyes, looked into mine,
+and nodded darkly. &#8220;Well, I have
+something here for her. It&#8217;s nothing
+much,&#8221; I said, in answer to a look
+of protest I saw rising in her face&mdash;&#8220;just
+the merest trifle I would like
+you to give her. <i>She</i> will understand.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>I drew out the bag, and I saw her
+looking at it with curious, uneasy
+eyes. The men were approaching
+through the back drawing-room. I<span class="pagenum" id="Page_90">[90]</span>
+rose to my feet, and still with the
+secret, hurried air, I said:</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Don&#8217;t give yourself any trouble
+about it. It&#8217;s just from me to her.
+Our husbands, of course, mustn&#8217;t
+know. I&#8217;ll put it here. Poor
+Amelia!&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>There was a crystal and silver
+bowl on the table, and I put the bag
+into it and placed a book over it.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Mrs. Thatcher,&#8221; she said, quickly,
+&#8220;really, I&mdash;&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Hush!&#8221; I said, dramatically,
+&#8220;it&#8217;s for Amelia! <i>We</i> understand!&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>And then the men entered the
+room.</p>
+
+<p>We left a few minutes later. The
+butler called a cab for us, and even
+if a person had never been a thief
+he ought to have had some idea of
+how we felt as we issued out of that<span class="pagenum" id="Page_91">[91]</span>
+house and walked down the steps.
+We neither of us spoke till we got
+inside the hansom and drove off&mdash;safe
+for that time, anyway.</p>
+
+<p>We went to Handsome Harry&#8217;s
+place for that night, and sent him
+back for Maud, with the message
+she must get out immediately with
+what things she could bring. By
+eleven she was with us with her
+trunk and mine on top of a four-wheeler.
+The next morning we had
+scattered&mdash;I for Calais <i>en route</i> for
+Paris, Tom for Edinburgh. Maud
+went to join a vaudeville company
+that she acts with &#8220;between-whiles.&#8221;
+We had to leave a good
+many things in the flat; but I felt
+we&#8217;d got out cheaply, and had no
+regrets.</p>
+
+<p>That is the history of my connection<span class="pagenum" id="Page_92">[92]</span>
+with the Castlecourt diamond
+robbery. Of course, it was not the
+end of the connection of our gang
+with the case, but my actual participation
+ended here. I was simply an
+interested spectator from this on.
+My statement is merely the record of
+my own personal share in the theft,
+and as such is written with as much
+clearness and fulness as I, who am
+unused to the pen, have got at my
+command.</p>
+
+
+
+<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop" />
+
+<div class="chapter">
+<span class="pagenum" id="Page_93">[93]</span>
+<p class="ph1">Statement of Cassius P. Kennedy,<br />
+formerly of Necropolis City, Ohio,<br />
+now Manager of the London Branch<br />
+of the Colonial Box, Tub, and Cordage<br />
+Company (Ltd.) of Chicago and<br />
+St. Louis.</p>
+</div>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_94">[94]</span></p>
+<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop" />
+
+<div class="chapter">
+<span class="pagenum" id="Page_95">[95]</span>
+<h2 class="nobreak">Statement of Cassius P. Kennedy,<br />
+formerly of Necropolis City, Ohio,<br />
+now Manager of the London Branch<br />
+of the Colonial Box, Tub, and Cordage<br />
+Company (Ltd.) of Chicago and<br />
+St. Louis.</h2>
+</div>
+
+
+<p class="drop-cap">WE HAD been in London two
+years when a series of extraordinary
+events took place which
+involved us, through no fault of our
+own, in the most unpleasant predicament
+that ever overtook two honest,
+respectable Americans in a foreign
+country.</p>
+
+<p>I had been sent over to start the
+English branch of the Colonial Box,
+Tub, and Cordage Company, one of
+the biggest concerns of the Middle
+West, and it wasn&#8217;t two months before
+I realized that the venture was
+going to catch on, and I was going<span class="pagenum" id="Page_96">[96]</span>
+to be at the head of a booming business.
+I&#8217;d brought my wife and little
+girl along with me. We&#8217;d been married
+five years&mdash;met in Necropolis
+City, and lived there and afterward
+in Chicago, where I got my first big
+promotion. She was Daisy K. Fairweather,
+of Buncumville, Indiana,
+and had been the belle of the place.
+She&#8217;d also attracted considerable attention
+in St. Louis and Kansas City,
+where she&#8217;d visited round a good
+deal. There was nothing green about
+Daisy K. Fairweather&mdash;never had
+been.</p>
+
+<p>Daisy and I didn&#8217;t know many
+people when we first came over, but
+that little woman wasn&#8217;t here six
+months before she&#8217;d sized up the
+situation, and made up her mind
+just how and where she was going<span class="pagenum" id="Page_97">[97]</span>
+to butt in. The first thing she did
+was to conform to those particular
+ones among the local customs that
+seemed to her the most high-toned.
+In Chicago we&#8217;d always dined at
+half-past six, and given the hired
+girls every Thursday off. In London
+we dined the first year at half-past
+seven, and the second at half-past
+eight. We had four servants
+and a butler called Perkins, who ran
+everything in sight&mdash;myself included.
+I always dressed for dinner
+after Perkins came, and tried to
+look as if it was my lifelong custom.
+I&#8217;d have sunk out of sight in a sea
+of shame rather than have had Perkins
+think I had not been brought
+up to it.</p>
+
+<p>Daisy caught on to everything, and
+then passed the word on to me. She<span class="pagenum" id="Page_98">[98]</span>
+was always springing innovations on
+me, and I did the best I could to keep
+my end up. She stopped talking the
+way she used to in Necropolis City,
+and made Elaine&mdash;that&#8217;s our little
+girl&mdash;quit calling me &#8220;Popper&#8221; and
+call me &#8220;Daddy.&#8221; She called her
+front hair her &#8220;fringe&#8221; and her shirt-waist
+her &#8220;bloos,&#8221; and she made me
+careful of what I said before the servants.
+&#8220;Servants talk so!&#8221; she&#8217;d
+say, just as if she&#8217;d heard them. In
+Necropolis City, or even Chicago,
+we never bothered about the &#8220;help&#8221;
+talking. They said what they wanted
+and we said what we wanted, and
+that was all there was to it. But I
+supposed it was all right. Whatever
+Daisy K. Fairweather Kennedy says
+goes with me.</p>
+
+<p>By the second season Daisy&#8217;d<span class="pagenum" id="Page_99">[99]</span>
+broken quite a way into society, and
+knew a bishop and two lords. We
+were asked out a good deal, and we&#8217;d
+some worthy little dinners at our
+own shack&mdash;15 Farley Street, near
+Walworth Crescent, a thirty-five
+foot, four-story, high-stooped edifice
+that we paid the same rent for you&#8217;d
+pay for a seven-room flat in Chicago.
+Daisy by this time was in with all
+kinds of push. She was what she
+called a &#8220;success.&#8221; Nights when we
+didn&#8217;t go out she&#8217;d sit with me and
+say:</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Well, I don&#8217;t really see how I&#8217;ll
+ever be able to live in Chicago again,
+and Necropolis City would certainly
+kill me.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>This same season Lady Sara Gyves
+dined with us twice (it was a great
+step, Daisy said, and I took it for<span class="pagenum" id="Page_100">[100]</span>
+granted she knew), and once at a reception
+Daisy stood right up close to
+the Marchioness of Castlecourt, the
+greatest beauty in London, and
+watched her drink a cup of tea.
+Daisy didn&#8217;t meet her that time, but
+she said to me:</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Next season I&#8217;ll know her, and
+the season after that, if we&#8217;re careful,
+I&#8217;ll dine with her. Then, Cassius
+P. Kennedy, we will have arrived!&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>I said &#8220;Sure!&#8221; That&#8217;s what I
+mostly say to her, because she&#8217;s
+mostly right. You don&#8217;t often find
+that little woman making breaks.</p>
+
+<p>It was in our third season in London,
+the time the middle of May,
+when the things occurred of which
+I have made mention at the beginning<span class="pagenum" id="Page_101">[101]</span>
+of my statement. It was this
+way:</p>
+
+<p>We&#8217;d been going out a good deal,
+pretty nearly every night, and we
+were glad to have, for once, a quiet
+evening at home. Of course, that
+doesn&#8217;t mean the same as it does in
+Necropolis City or even Chicago.
+We dine, just the same, at half-past
+eight, and both of us dress for dinner.
+We have to, Daisy says, no
+matter how we feel, because of the
+servants. The servants in London
+are good servants all right, but the
+way you have to avoid shocking their
+sensitive feelings sometimes makes
+a free-born American rebellious. I
+like to think I&#8217;m an object of interest
+to my fellow creatures, but it&#8217;s
+a good deal of a bother to have it on
+your mind that you mustn&#8217;t destroy<span class="pagenum" id="Page_102">[102]</span>
+the illusions of the butler or upset
+the ideals of the cook.</p>
+
+<p>As we were waiting for dinner to
+be announced we heard a cab rattle
+up and stop, as it seemed, at our
+door. We looked at each other with
+inquiring eyes, and then heard the
+cab go off&mdash;on the full jump, I
+should say, by the noise it made&mdash;and
+a minute later the bell rang
+sharp and quick. Perkins opened
+the door, and Daisy and I heard a
+lady&#8217;s voice, very sweet and sort of
+drawling, say something in the vestibule.
+I peeped through the curtains,
+and there were a man and
+a woman&mdash;a distinguished-looking
+pair&mdash;taking off their coats and
+primping themselves up at the hall
+mirror. I&#8217;d never seen either of
+them before, as far as I could remember,<span class="pagenum" id="Page_103">[103]</span>
+but I could tell by their
+general make-up that they were the
+real thing&mdash;the kind Daisy was always
+cultivating and asking to dinner.</p>
+
+<p>I stepped back, and said to her, in
+a whisper:</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Somebody&#8217;s come to dinner, and
+you&#8217;ve forgotten all about it.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>She shook her head, and whispered
+back:</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;I haven&#8217;t asked any one to dinner;
+I&#8217;m sure I haven&#8217;t.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Well, they&#8217;re here, whether we&#8217;ve
+asked them or not,&#8221; I hissed, &#8220;and
+you can&#8217;t turn &#8217;em out. They expect
+to be fed.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Who are they?&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Search me! Friends of yours
+I&#8217;ve never seen.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;For pity&#8217;s sake, don&#8217;t look surprised!<span class="pagenum" id="Page_104">[104]</span>
+Try and pretend it&#8217;s all
+right.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>We lined up by the fireplace, and
+got our smiles all ready. The porti&egrave;re
+was drawn, and Perkins announced:</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Major and Mrs. Thatcher.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>They sailed smilingly into the
+room, the woman ahead, rustling in
+a long, sparkly, black dress. To my
+certain knowledge, I&#8217;d never seen
+either of them before. The woman
+was very pretty; not pretty in the
+sense that Daisy is, with beautiful
+features and a perfect complexion,
+but slim, and pale, and aristocratic-looking.
+She had black hair with a
+little wreath of red flowers in it,
+and the whitest neck I ever saw. She
+evidently thought she was all right
+as far as herself and the house and<span class="pagenum" id="Page_105">[105]</span>
+the dinner were concerned, for she
+was perfectly serene, and easy as
+an old shoe. The man behind her
+was a big, handsome, dense chap&mdash;just
+home from India, they said,
+and he looked it. He&#8217;d that dull
+way those dead swell army fellows
+sometimes have; it goes with a long
+mustache and an eye-glass.</p>
+
+<p>I looked out of the tail of my eye
+at Daisy, and I knew by her face
+she couldn&#8217;t remember either of
+them. But they were the genuine
+article, and she wasn&#8217;t going to be
+feazed by any situation that could
+boil up out of the society pool. She
+was just as easy as they were. She&#8217;d
+a smile on her face like a child, and
+she said the little, mild, milky things
+women say just as milkily and mildly<span class="pagenum" id="Page_106">[106]</span>
+as tho she was greeting her lifelong
+friends.</p>
+
+<p>Well, it went along as smoothly as
+a summer sea. They located themselves
+as Major and Mrs. Thatcher,
+and told a lot about their life and
+their movements&mdash;all of which I
+could see Daisy greedily gathering
+in. I didn&#8217;t know whether she remembered
+them or not, but I didn&#8217;t
+think she did, she was so careful
+about alluding to places where she
+had met them. They seemed to
+know her all right&mdash;Mrs. Thatcher,
+especially. She&#8217;d allude to smart
+houses where Daisy had been asked,
+and tony people that were getting
+to be friends of Daisy&#8217;s. She seemed
+to be right in the best circles herself.
+I wouldn&#8217;t like to say how many
+times she mentioned the names of<span class="pagenum" id="Page_107">[107]</span>
+earls and lords; one of them, Baron&mdash;some
+name like Fiddlesticks&mdash;she
+said was her cousin.</p>
+
+<p>She didn&#8217;t stay long after dinner.
+I don&#8217;t think I sat ten minutes with
+the major&mdash;and it was a dull ten
+minutes, and no mistake. There was
+nothing light and airy about him.
+He asked me about Chicago (which
+he pronounced &#8220;Chick-ago&#8221;), and
+said he had heard there was good
+sport in the Rocky Mountains, and
+thought of going there to hunt the
+Great Auk. I didn&#8217;t know what the
+Great Auk was, and I asked him. He
+looked blankly at me, and said he believed
+a &#8220;large form of bird,&#8221; which
+surprised me, as I had an idea it was
+a preadamite beast, like a behemoth.</p>
+
+<p>I was glad to have the major go,
+not only because he was so dull, but<span class="pagenum" id="Page_108">[108]</span>
+because I was so dying to find out
+from Daisy if she&#8217;d placed them and
+who they were. They were hardly
+on the steps and the front door shut
+on them before I was back in the
+parlor.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Who are they, for heavens&#8217;
+sake?&#8221; I burst out.</p>
+
+<p>She shook her head, laughing a
+little, and looking utterly bewildered.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;My dear boy,&#8221; she said, &#8220;I
+haven&#8217;t the least idea. It&#8217;s the most
+extraordinary thing I ever knew.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Isn&#8217;t there anything about them
+you remember? Didn&#8217;t they say
+something that gave you a clew?&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Not a word, and yet they seem to
+know me so well. The queerest
+thing of all was that, when you were
+in the dining-room with the man, the
+woman, in the most confidential tone,<span class="pagenum" id="Page_109">[109]</span>
+began to ask me about some one
+called Amelia. It was <i>too</i> dreadful!
+I hadn&#8217;t the faintest notion what she
+meant.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;What did you say? I&#8217;ll lay ten
+to one you were equal to it.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;I realized it was desperate, and,
+after going through the dinner so
+creditably, I wasn&#8217;t going to break
+down over the coffee. She said:
+&#8216;How about poor Amelia?&#8217; I knew
+by that &#8216;poor&#8217; and by the expression
+of her face it was something unusual
+and queer. I thought a minute, and
+then looked as solemn as I could, and
+answered: &#8216;Really, the subject is a
+very painful one to me. I&#8217;d rather
+not talk about it.&#8217;&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>We both roared. It was so like
+Daisy to be ready that way!</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;And then&mdash;this is the strangest<span class="pagenum" id="Page_110">[110]</span>
+part of all&mdash;she put her hand in the
+front of her dress and drew out
+some little thing of chamois leather,
+and told me to give it to Amelia from
+her. I tried to stop her, but it was
+too late. She put it here in the crystal
+bowl.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>Daisy went to the bowl, and took
+out a little limp sack of chamois
+leather.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;It feels like pebbles,&#8221; she said,
+pinching it.</p>
+
+<p>And then she opened it and shook
+the &#8220;pebbles&#8221; into her hand. I bent
+down to look at them, my head close
+to hers. The palm of her hand was
+covered with small, sparkling crystals
+of different sizes and very
+bright. We looked at them, and
+then at one another. They were diamonds!</p>
+
+
+
+<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_111">[111]</span>For a moment we didn&#8217;t either of
+us say anything. Daisy had been
+laughing, and her laugh died away
+into a sort of scared giggle. Her
+hand began to shake a little, and it
+made the diamonds send out gleams
+in all directions.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;What&mdash;what&mdash;does it mean?&#8221;
+she said, in a low sort of gasp.</p>
+
+<p>I just looked at them and shook
+my head. But I felt a cold sinking in
+that part of my organism where my
+courage is usually screwed to the
+sticking-place.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Are they real, do you think?&#8221;
+she said again, and she took the evening
+paper and poured them out
+on it.</p>
+
+<p>Spread out that way, they looked
+most awfully numerous and rich.
+There must have been more than a<span class="pagenum" id="Page_112">[112]</span>
+hundred of them of different sizes,
+and shaking around on the surface
+of the paper made them shine and
+sparkle like stars.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;It&#8217;s a fortune, Cassius,&#8221; she said,
+almost in a whisper; &#8220;it&#8217;s a fortune
+in diamonds. Why did she leave
+them?&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Didn&#8217;t she say they were for
+Amelia?&#8221; I said, in a hollow tone.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Yes; but who is Amelia? How
+will we ever find her? What shall
+we do? It&#8217;s too awful!&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>We stood opposite one another
+with the paper between us, and tried
+to think. In the lamplight the diamonds
+winked at us with what
+seemed human malice. I turned
+round and picked up the bag they
+had come from, looked vaguely into
+it, and shook it. A last stone fell out<span class="pagenum" id="Page_113">[113]</span>
+on the paper, quite a large one, and
+added itself to the pile.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Why did she leave them here?&#8221;
+Daisy moaned. &#8220;What did she
+bother us for? Why didn&#8217;t she take
+them to Amelia herself?&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Because she was afraid,&#8221; I said,
+in the undertone of melodrama.
+&#8220;They&#8217;re stolen, Daisy.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>I had voiced the fear in both our
+hearts. We sat down opposite one
+another on either side of the table,
+with the newspaper full of diamonds
+between us. I don&#8217;t know whether
+I was as pale as Daisy, but I felt
+quite as bad as she looked. And sitting
+thus, each staring into the
+other&#8217;s scared face, we ran over the
+events of the evening.</p>
+
+<p>We couldn&#8217;t make much of it; it
+was too uncanny. But from the first<span class="pagenum" id="Page_114">[114]</span>
+we both decided we&#8217;d felt something
+to be wrong. Why or how they&#8217;d
+come? who they were? what they
+wanted?&mdash;we couldn&#8217;t answer a single
+question. We were in a maze.
+The only thing that seemed certain
+was that they had one hundred and
+fifty diamonds of varying sizes that
+they had wanted, for some reason, to
+get rid of, and they&#8217;d got rid of them
+to us. And so we talked and talked
+till, by slow degrees, we got to the
+point where suddenly, with a simultaneous
+start, we looked at one another,
+and breathed out:</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;The Castlecourt diamonds!&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>We had read it all in the papers,
+and we had talked it over, and here
+we were with a pile of gems in a
+newspaper that might be the very
+stones.</p>
+
+
+
+<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_115">[115]</span>&#8220;And next year I&#8217;d hoped to know
+Lady Castlecourt. I&#8217;d been sure I
+would!&#8221; Daisy wailed. &#8220;And
+now&mdash;&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;But you haven&#8217;t stolen the diamonds,
+dearest,&#8221; I said, soothingly.
+&#8220;You needn&#8217;t get in a fever about
+that.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;But, good heavens, I might just
+as well! Do you suppose there&#8217;s any
+one in the world fool enough to believe
+the story of what happened
+here to-night? People say it&#8217;s hard
+to believe everything in the Bible!
+Why, Jonah and the whale is a simple
+every-day affair compared to
+it!&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>It did look bad; the more we
+talked of it the worse it looked. We
+didn&#8217;t sleep all night, and when the
+dawn was coming through the blinds<span class="pagenum" id="Page_116">[116]</span>
+we were still talking, trying to decide
+what to do. At breakfast we sat
+like two graven images, not eating a
+thing, and all that day in the office
+I found it impossible to concentrate
+my mind, but sat thinking of what
+on earth we&#8217;d do with those darned
+diamonds.</p>
+
+<p>I&#8217;d suggested, the first thing, to go
+and give them up at the nearest police
+station. But Daisy wouldn&#8217;t
+hear of that. She said that no one
+would believe a word of our story&mdash;it
+was too impossible. And when I
+came to think of it I must say I
+agreed with her. I saw myself telling
+that story in a court of justice,
+and I realized that a look of conscious
+guilt would be painted on my
+face the whole time. I&#8217;d have felt,
+whether it was true or not, that nobody<span class="pagenum" id="Page_117">[117]</span>
+really ought to believe it, and
+as an honest, self-respecting citizen
+I ought not to expect them to. Here
+we were, strangers that nobody knew
+a thing about, anyway! Daisy said
+they&#8217;d take us for accomplices; and
+when I said to her we&#8217;d be a pretty
+rank pair of accomplices to give up
+the swag without a struggle, she
+said they&#8217;d think we got scared, and
+decided to do what she calls &#8220;turn
+State&#8217;s evidence.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>She thought the best thing to do
+was to keep the stones till we could
+think up a more plausible story.
+We tried to do that, and the night
+after our meeting with Major and
+Mrs. Thatcher we stayed awake
+till three, thinking up &#8220;plausible
+stories.&#8221; We got a great collection
+of them, but it seemed impossible to<span class="pagenum" id="Page_118">[118]</span>
+get a good one without implicating
+somebody. I invented a corker, but
+it cast a dark suspicion on Daisy;
+and she had an even better one, but
+it would have undoubtedly resulted
+in the arrest of Perkins and the
+housemaid, and possibly myself.</p>
+
+<p>It was a horrible situation. Even
+if we could possibly have escaped
+suspicion ourselves, it would have
+ruined us socially and financially.
+Would the Colonial Box, Tub, and
+Cordage Company have retained as
+the head of its London branch a man
+who had got himself mixed up with
+a sensational diamond robbery? Not
+on your life! That concern demands
+a high standard and unspotted record
+in all its employees. I&#8217;d have
+got the sack at the end of the month.</p>
+
+<p>And Daisy! How would the bishop<span class="pagenum" id="Page_119">[119]</span>
+and two lords have felt about
+it? Had no more use for that little
+woman, you can bet your bottom
+dollar! Even Lady Sara Gyves,
+who, they say, will go anywhere
+to get a dinner, would have given
+her the Ice-house Laugh. <i>I</i> know
+them. And I saw my Daisy sitting
+at home all alone on her reception
+day, and taking dinner with me
+every night. No, sir! That wouldn&#8217;t
+happen if Cassius P. Kennedy had
+to take those diamonds to the
+Thames and throw them off London
+Bridge in a weighted bag.</p>
+
+<p>So there we were! It was a dreadful
+predicament. Every morning
+we read the papers with our hearts
+thumping like hammers. Every
+ring at the bell made us jump, and
+we had a deadly fear that each time<span class="pagenum" id="Page_120">[120]</span>
+the porti&egrave;re was lifted and a caller
+appeared we&#8217;d see the buttons and
+helmet of a policeman with a warrant
+of arrest concealed upon his
+person. I began to have awful
+dreams and Daisy didn&#8217;t sleep at all,
+and got pale and peaked. We
+thought up more &#8220;plausible stories,&#8221;
+but they seemed to get less probable
+every time, and all our spare moments
+together, which used to be so
+happy and care free, were now dark
+and harassed as the meetings of conspirators.</p>
+
+<p>Even concealing the miserable
+things was a wearing anxiety. First
+we decided to divide them, Daisy to
+wear her half in the chamois bag
+hung around her neck, while I concealed
+mine in a money-belt worn
+under my clothes. We had about decided<span class="pagenum" id="Page_121">[121]</span>
+on that and I&#8217;d bought the
+belt, when we got the idea that if we
+were killed in an accident they&#8217;d be
+found on us, and then our memoirs
+would go down to posterity blackened
+with shame. So we just put
+them back in the bag and locked
+them up in Daisy&#8217;s jewel-case, round
+which we hovered as they say a
+murderer does round the hiding-place
+of his victim.</p>
+
+<p>I never knew before how burglars
+felt; but if it was anything like the
+way Daisy and I did, I wonder
+anybody ever takes to that perilous
+trade. We were the most unhappy
+creatures in London, feeling ourselves
+a pair of thieves, and our unpolluted,
+innocent home no better
+than a &#8220;fence.&#8221; There was less in
+the papers about the Castlecourt<span class="pagenum" id="Page_122">[122]</span>
+diamonds robbery, but that did not
+give us any peace; for, in the first
+place, we didn&#8217;t know for certain
+that we had the Castlecourt diamonds,
+and, in the second, when we
+now and then did see dark allusions
+to the sleuths being &#8220;on a new and
+more promising scent,&#8221; we modestly
+supposed that we might be the quarry
+to which it led. Daisy began to
+talk of &#8220;going to prison&#8221; as a termination
+of her career that might
+not be so far distant, and to the
+thought of which she was growing
+reconciled.</p>
+
+<p>This about covers the ground of
+my immediate connection with the
+stolen diamonds. Their subsequent
+disposition is a matter in which my
+wife is more concerned than I am.
+She also will be able to tell her part<span class="pagenum" id="Page_123">[123]</span>
+of the story with more literary frills
+than I can muster up. I&#8217;m no writing
+man, and all I&#8217;ve tried to do is to
+state my part of the affair honestly
+and clearly.</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_124">[124]</span></p>
+
+
+<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop" />
+
+<div class="chapter">
+<span class="pagenum" id="Page_125">[125]</span>
+<p class="ph1">Statement of John Burns Gilsey, private<br />
+detective, especially engaged on<br />
+the Castlecourt diamond case.</p>
+</div>
+<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_126">[126]</span></p>
+<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop" />
+
+<div class="chapter">
+<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_127">[127]</span></p>
+
+<h2 class="nobreak">Statement of John Burns Gilsey, private<br />
+detective, especially engaged on<br />
+the Castlecourt diamond case.</h2>
+</div>
+
+
+<p class="drop-cap2">AT A quarter before eight on the
+evening of May fourth a telephone
+message was sent to Scotland
+Yard that a diamond necklace,
+the property of the Marquis of Castlecourt,
+had been stolen from Burridge&#8217;s
+Hotel. Brison, one of the
+best of their men, was detailed upon
+the case, and three days later my
+services were engaged by the marquis.
+After investigations which
+have occupied several weeks, I have
+become convinced that the case is an
+unusual and complicated one. The
+reasons which have led me to this
+conclusion I will now set down as
+briefly and clearly as possible.</p>
+
+
+
+<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_128">[128]</span>As has already been stated in the
+papers, the diamonds, on the afternoon
+of the robbery, were standing
+in a leather jewel-case on the bureau
+in Lady Castlecourt&#8217;s apartment.
+To this room access was obtained by
+three doors&mdash;that which led into
+Lord Castlecourt&#8217;s room, that which
+led into the sitting-room, and that
+which led into the hall.</p>
+
+<p>Lord Castlecourt&#8217;s valet, James
+Chawlmers, and Lady Castlecourt&#8217;s
+maid, Sophy Jeffers, had been occupied
+in this suite of apartments
+throughout the afternoon. At six
+Jeffers had laid out her ladyship&#8217;s
+clothes, taken the diamonds from the
+metal despatch-box in which they
+were usually carried, and set them
+on the bureau. She had then withdrawn
+into the sitting-room with<span class="pagenum" id="Page_129">[129]</span>
+Chawlmers, where they had remained
+for half an hour talking.
+During this period of time Jeffers
+deposes that she heard the rustle of
+a skirt in the sitting-room, and went
+to the door to see if any one had
+entered. No one was to be seen. She
+returned to the sitting-room, and resumed
+her conversation with Chawlmers.
+It is the general supposition&mdash;and
+it would appear to be the
+reasonable one&mdash;that the diamonds
+were then taken. According to Jeffers,
+they were in the case at six
+o&#8217;clock, and on the testimony of
+Lord and Lady Castlecourt they
+were gone at half-past seven. The
+person toward whom suspicion
+points is a housemaid, going by the
+name of Sara Dwight, who had a
+pass-key to the apartment.</p>
+
+
+
+<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_130">[130]</span>The suspicions of Sara Dwight
+were strengthened by her actions.
+At quarter past seven that evening
+she left the hotel without giving
+warning, and carrying no further
+baggage than a small portmanteau.
+Upon examination of her room, it
+was discovered that she had left a
+gown hanging on the pegs, and her
+box, which contained a few articles of
+coarse underclothing and a wadded
+cotton quilt. She had been uncommunicative
+with the other servants,
+but had had much conversation with
+Sophy Jeffers, who described her as
+a brisk, civil-spoken girl, whose manner
+of speech was above her station.</p>
+
+<p>The natural suspicions evoked by
+her behavior were intensified in the
+mind of Brison by the information
+that the celebrated crook Laura the<span class="pagenum" id="Page_131">[131]</span>
+Lady had returned to London. I
+myself had seen the woman at Earlscourt,
+and told Brison of the occurrence.
+It had appeared to Brison
+that Jeffers&#8217; description of the
+housemaid had many points of resemblance
+with Laura the Lady. The
+theft reminded us both of the affair
+of the Comtesse de Chateaugay&#8217;s rubies,
+when this particular thief, who
+speaks French as well as she does
+English, was supposed to have been
+the moving spirit in one of the most
+daring jewel robberies of our time.</p>
+
+<p>Brison, confident that Sara Dwight
+and Laura the Lady were one and
+the same, concentrated his powers in
+an effort to find her. He was successful
+to the extent of locating a
+woman closely resembling Laura the
+Lady living quietly in a furnished<span class="pagenum" id="Page_132">[132]</span>
+flat in Knightsbridge with a man
+who passed as her husband. He
+discovered that this couple had left
+for a &#8220;business trip&#8221; on the Continent
+shortly before Sara Dwight&#8217;s
+appearance at Burridge&#8217;s, and had
+returned shortly after her departure
+therefrom.</p>
+
+<p>He regarded the pair and their
+movements as of sufficient importance
+to be watched, and for a week
+after their return from the Continent
+had the flat shadowed. One
+foggy night, while he himself was
+watching the place, the man and
+woman came out in evening dress,
+and took a hansom that was waiting
+for them. Brison followed them,
+and the fog being dense and their
+horse fresh, lost them in the maze of
+streets about Walworth Crescent.<span class="pagenum" id="Page_133">[133]</span>
+He is positive that the occupants of
+the cab realized they were followed
+and attempted to escape. He assures
+me that he saw the driver
+turn several times and look at his
+hansom, and then lash his horse to
+a desperate speed.</p>
+
+<p>One of the points in this nocturnal
+pursuit that he thinks most noteworthy
+is the manner in which the
+occupants of the cab disappeared.
+After keeping it well in sight for
+over half an hour, he lost it completely
+and suddenly in the short
+street that runs from Walworth
+Crescent, north, into Farley Street;
+ten minutes later he is under the
+impression that he sighted it again
+near the Hyde Park Hotel. But if
+it was the same cab it was empty,
+and the driver was looking for fares.<span class="pagenum" id="Page_134">[134]</span>
+For some hours after this Brison
+patrolled the streets in the neighborhood,
+but could find no trace of
+the suspected pair. It was midnight
+when he returned to his surveillance
+of the flat. The next morning
+he heard that its occupants had
+left. A search-warrant revealed the
+fact that they had gone with such
+haste that they had left many articles
+of dress, etc., behind them.
+There was every evidence of a hurried
+flight.</p>
+
+<p>All this was so much clear proof,
+in Brison&#8217;s opinion, of the guilt of
+Sara Dwight. Upon this hypothesis
+he is working, and I have not disturbed
+his confidence in the integrity
+of his efforts. The result of my
+investigations, which I have been
+quietly and systematically pursuing<span class="pagenum" id="Page_135">[135]</span>
+for the last three weeks, has led me
+to a different and much more sensational
+conclusion. That Sara Dwight
+may have taken the diamonds I do
+not deny. But she was merely an
+accomplice in the hands of another.
+The real thief, in my opinion, is
+Gladys, Marchioness of Castlecourt!</p>
+
+<p>My reasons for holding this theory
+are based upon observations taken at
+the time, upon my large and varied
+experience in such cases, and upon
+information that I have been collecting
+since the occurrence. Let me
+briefly state the result of my deductions
+and researches.</p>
+
+<p>Lady Castlecourt, who was the
+daughter of a penniless Irish clergyman,
+was a young girl of great
+beauty brought up in the direst poverty.
+Her marriage with the Marquis<span class="pagenum" id="Page_136">[136]</span>
+of Castlecourt, which took place
+seven years ago this spring, lifted
+her into a position of social prominence
+and financial ease. Society
+made much of her; she became one
+of its most brilliant ornaments. Her
+husband&#8217;s infatuation was well
+known. During the first years of
+their marriage he could refuse her
+nothing, and he stinted himself&mdash;for,
+tho well off, Lord Castlecourt is
+by no means a millionaire peer&mdash;in
+order to satisfy her whims. The lady
+very quickly developed great extravagances.
+She became known as
+one of the most expensively dressed
+women in London. It had been
+mentioned in certain society journals
+that Lord Castlecourt&#8217;s revenues
+had been so reduced by his
+wife&#8217;s extravagance that he had been<span class="pagenum" id="Page_137">[137]</span>
+forced to rent his town house in
+Grosvenor Gate, and for two seasons
+take rooms in Burridge&#8217;s Hotel.</p>
+
+<p>This is a simple statement of certain
+tendencies of the lady. Now let
+me state, with more detail, how these
+tendencies developed and to what
+they led.</p>
+
+<p>I will admit here, before I go
+further, that my suspicions of Lady
+Castlecourt were aroused from the
+first. It was, perhaps, with a predisposed
+mind that I began those explorations
+into her life during the
+past five years which have convinced
+me that she was the moving spirit
+in this theft of the diamonds.</p>
+
+<p>For the first two years of her
+married life Lady Castlecourt lived
+most of the time on the estate of
+Castlecourt Marsh Manor. During<span class="pagenum" id="Page_138">[138]</span>
+this period she became the mother
+of two sons, and it was after the
+birth of the second that she went to
+London and spent her first season
+there since her marriage. She was
+in blooming health, and even more
+beautiful that she had been in her
+girlhood. She became the fashion:
+no gathering was complete without
+her; her costumes were described in
+the papers; royalty admired her.</p>
+
+<p>I have discovered that at this time
+her husband gave her six hundred
+pounds per annum for a dressing
+allowance. During the first two
+years of her married life she lived
+within this. But after that she exceeded
+it to the extent of hundreds,
+and finally thousands, of pounds.
+The fifth year after her marriage she
+was in debt three thousand pounds,<span class="pagenum" id="Page_139">[139]</span>
+her creditors being dressmakers, furriers,
+jewelers, and milliners in London
+and Paris. She made no attempt
+to pay these debts, and the tradesmen,
+knowing her high social position
+and her husband&#8217;s rigid sense of
+pecuniary obligations, did not press
+her, and she went on spending with
+an unstinted hand.</p>
+
+<p>It was last year that she finally
+precipitated the catastrophe by the
+purchase of a coat of Russian sable
+for the sum of one thousand pounds,
+and a set of turquoise ornaments
+valued at half that amount. Each
+of these purchases was made in
+Paris. The two creditors, having
+been already warned of her disinclination
+to meet her bills, had, it is
+said, laid wagers with other firms to
+which she was deeply in debt, that<span class="pagenum" id="Page_140">[140]</span>
+they would extract the money from
+her within the year.</p>
+
+<p>It was in the summer of the past
+year that Lady Castlecourt was first
+threatened by Bolkonsky, the furrier,
+with law proceedings. In the
+end of September she went to Paris
+and visited the man in his own
+offices, and&mdash;I have it from an eyewitness&mdash;exhibited
+the greatest trepidation
+and alarm, finally begging,
+with tears, for an extension of a
+month&#8217;s time. To this Bolkonsky
+consented, warning her that, at the
+end of that time, if his account was
+not settled, he would acquaint his
+lordship with the situation and institute
+legal proceedings.</p>
+
+<p>Before the month was up&mdash;that
+was in October of the past year&mdash;his
+account was paid in full by Lady<span class="pagenum" id="Page_141">[141]</span>
+Castlecourt herself. At the same
+time other accounts in Paris and
+London were entirely settled or compromised.
+I find that, during the
+months of October and November,
+Lady Castlecourt paid off debts
+amounting to nearly four thousand
+pounds. In most instances she settled
+them personally, paying them in
+bank-notes. A few claims were paid
+by check. I have it from those with
+whom she transacted these monetary
+dealings that she seemed greatly relieved
+to be able to discharge her
+obligations, and that in all cases she
+requested silence on the subject as
+the price of her future patronage.</p>
+
+<p>I now come to a feature of the
+case that I admit greatly puzzles me.
+Lady Castlecourt was still wearing
+the diamonds when this large sum<span class="pagenum" id="Page_142">[142]</span>
+was disbursed by her. As far as can
+be ascertained, she had made no effort
+to sell them, and I can find no
+trace of a frustrated attempt to
+steal them. She had suddenly become
+possessed of four thousand
+pounds without the aid of the diamonds.
+They were not called into
+requisition till nearly six months
+later.</p>
+
+<p>The natural supposition would be
+that &#8220;some one&#8221;&mdash;an unknown donor&mdash;had
+put up the four thousand
+pounds; in fact, that Lady Castlecourt
+had a lover, to whom, in a
+desperate extremity, she had appealed.
+But the most thorough examination
+of her past life reveals
+no hint of such a thing. Frivolous
+and extravagant as she undoubtedly
+was, she seems to have been, as far<span class="pagenum" id="Page_143">[143]</span>
+as her personal conduct goes, a moral
+and virtuous lady. Her name has
+been associated with no man&#8217;s, either
+in a foolish flirtation or a scandalous
+and compromising intrigue; in
+fact, her devotion to Lord Castlecourt
+appears to have been of an
+absolutely genuine and sincere kind.
+While she did not scruple to deceive
+him as to her pecuniary dealings, she
+unquestionably seems to have been
+perfectly upright and honest in the
+matter of marital fidelity.</p>
+
+<p>Where, then, did Lady Castlecourt
+secure this large sum of money? My
+reading of the situation is briefly
+this:</p>
+
+<p>Her creditors becoming rebellious
+and Lady Castlecourt becoming terrified,
+she appealed to some woman
+friend for a loan. Who this is I<span class="pagenum" id="Page_144">[144]</span>
+have no idea, but among her large
+circle of acquaintances there are
+several ladies of sufficient means and
+sufficiently intimate with Lady Castlecourt
+to have been able to advance
+the required sum. This was done,
+as I have shown above, in the month
+of October, when Lady Castlecourt
+was in Paris, where she at once began
+to pay off her debts. After this
+she continued wearing the diamonds,
+and, in my opinion&mdash;such is her shallowness
+and irresponsibility of character&mdash;forgot
+the obligations of the
+loan, which had probably been made
+under a promise of speedy repayment,
+either in full or in part.</p>
+
+<p>It was then&mdash;this, let it be understood,
+is all surmise&mdash;that Lady Castlecourt&#8217;s
+new and unknown debtor
+began to press for a repayment.<span class="pagenum" id="Page_145">[145]</span>
+There might be many reasons why
+this should so closely have followed
+the loan. With a woman
+of Lady Castlecourt&#8217;s lax and unbusinesslike
+methods, unusual conditions
+could be readily exacted. She
+is of the class of persons that, under
+a pressing need for money, would
+agree to any conditions and immediately
+forget them. That she did
+agree to a speedy reimbursement I
+am positive; that once again she
+found herself confronted by an angry
+and threatening creditor; and that, in
+desperation and with the assistance
+of Sara Dwight, she stole the diamonds,
+intending probably to pawn
+them, is the conclusion to which my
+experience and investigations have
+led me.</p>
+
+<p>How she came to select Sara<span class="pagenum" id="Page_146">[146]</span>
+Dwight as an accomplice I am not
+qualified to state. In my opinion,
+fear of detection made her seek the
+aid of a confederate. Sara&#8217;s flight,
+with its obviously suspicious surroundings,
+has an air of prearrangement
+suggestive of having been carefully
+planned to divert suspicion from
+the real criminal. Sophy Jeffers assured
+me that Lady Castlecourt had
+never, to her knowledge, conversed
+at any length with the housemaid.
+But Jeffers is a very simple-minded
+person, whom it would be an easy
+matter to deceive. That Sara Dwight
+was her ladyship&#8217;s accomplice I am
+positive; that she took the jewels
+and now has them is also my opinion.</p>
+
+<p>Being convinced of her need of
+ready money, and of the rashness<span class="pagenum" id="Page_147">[147]</span>
+and lack of balance in her character,
+I have been expecting that Lady
+Castlecourt would make some decisive
+move in the way of selling the
+diamonds. With this idea agents of
+mine have been on the watch, but
+without so far finding any evidence
+that she has attempted to place the
+stones on the market. We have
+found no traces of them either in
+London or Paris, or the usual depots
+in Holland or Belgium. It is true
+that the Castlecourt diamonds, not
+being remarkable for size, would be
+easy to dispose of in small, separate
+lots, but our system of surveillance
+is so thorough that I do not see how
+they could escape us. I am of the
+opinion that the stones are still in
+the hands of Sara Dwight, who,
+whether she is an accomplished thief<span class="pagenum" id="Page_148">[148]</span>
+or not, is probably more wary and
+more versed in such dealings than
+Lady Castlecourt.</p>
+
+<p>That her ladyship should have
+been the object of my suspicions
+from the start may seem peculiar
+to those to whom she appears only
+as a person of rank, wealth, and
+beauty. Before the case came under
+my notice at all, I had heard her
+uncontrolled extravagance remarked
+upon, and that alone, coupled with
+the fact that Lord Castlecourt is
+not a peer of vast wealth, and that
+the lady&#8217;s moral character is said
+to be unblemished, would naturally
+arouse the suspicion of one used to
+the vagaries and intricacies of the
+evolution of crime.</p>
+
+<p>During my first interview with
+her ladyship I watched her closely,<span class="pagenum" id="Page_149">[149]</span>
+and was struck by her pallor, her
+impatience under questioning, her
+hardly concealed nervousness, and
+her indignant repudiation of the suspicions
+cast upon her servants. All
+the domestics in her employment
+agree that she is a kind and generous
+mistress, and it would be particularly
+galling to one of her disposition
+to think that her employees
+were suffering for her faults. Her
+answers to many of my questions were
+vague and evasive, and to both Brison
+and myself, at two different times,
+she suggested the possibility of the
+jewels not being stolen at all, but
+having been &#8220;mislaid.&#8221; Even Brison,
+whose judgment had been warped
+by her beauty and rank, was
+forced to admit the strangeness of
+this remark.</p>
+
+
+
+<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_150">[150]</span>The description given me by
+Sophy Jeffers of her ladyship&#8217;s deportment
+when the theft was discovered
+still further strengthened
+my suspicions. Lady Castlecourt&#8217;s
+behavior at this juncture might have
+passed as natural by those not used
+to the very genuine hysteria which
+often attacks criminals. That she
+was wrought up to a high degree
+of nervous excitement is acknowledged
+by all who saw her. It is alleged
+by Jeffers&mdash;quite innocently
+of any intention to injure her mistress,
+to whom she appears devoted&mdash;that
+her ladyship&#8217;s first emotion on
+discovering the loss was a fear of her
+husband; that when he entered the
+room she instinctively tried to conceal
+the empty jewel-case behind her,
+and that almost her first words to<span class="pagenum" id="Page_151">[151]</span>
+him were assurances that she had
+not been careless, but had guarded
+the jewels well.</p>
+
+<p>Fear of Lord Castlecourt was undoubtedly
+the most prominent feeling
+she then possessed, and it showed
+itself with unrestrained frankness
+in the various ways described above.
+Afterward she attempted to be more
+reticent, and adopted an air of what
+almost appeared indifference, surprising
+not only myself and Brison,
+but Jeffers, by her remarks, made
+with irritated impatience, that they
+still might &#8220;turn up somewhere,&#8221;
+and &#8220;that she did not see how we
+could be so sure they were stolen.&#8221;
+This change of attitude was even
+more convincing to me than her
+former exhibition of alarm. The
+very candor and childishness with<span class="pagenum" id="Page_152">[152]</span>
+which she showed her varying states
+of mind would have disarmed most
+people, but were to me almost conclusive
+proofs of her guilt. She is
+a woman whose shallow irresponsibility
+of mind is even more unusual
+than her remarkable beauty. No
+one but an old and seasoned criminal,
+or a creature of extraordinary
+simplicity, could have behaved with
+so much audacity in such a situation.</p>
+
+<p>Having arrived at these conclusions,
+I am not reduced to a passive
+attitude. I will wait and watch until
+such time as the diamonds are either
+pawned or sold. This may not occur
+for months, tho I am inclined to
+think that her ladyship&#8217;s need of
+money will force her to a recklessness
+which will be her undoing. Sara
+Dwight may be able to control her to<span class="pagenum" id="Page_153">[153]</span>
+a certain point, but I am under the
+impression that her ladyship, frightened
+and desperate, will be a very
+difficult person to handle.</p>
+
+<p>This brings my statement up to
+date. At the present writing I am
+simply awaiting developments, confident
+that the outcome will prove
+the verity of my original proposition
+and the exactitude of my subsequent
+line of argument.</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_154">[154]</span></p>
+
+
+<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop" />
+
+<div class="chapter">
+<span class="pagenum" id="Page_155">[155]</span>
+<p class="ph1">The Statement of Daisy K. Fairweather<br />
+Kennedy, late of Necropolis<br />
+City, Ohio, at present a resident of 15<br />
+Farley Street, Knightsbridge, London.</p>
+</div>
+<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_156">[156]</span></p>
+<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop" />
+
+<div class="chapter">
+<span class="pagenum" id="Page_157">[157]</span>
+
+<h2 class="nobreak">The Statement of Daisy K. Fairweather<br />
+Kennedy, late of Necropolis<br />
+City, Ohio, at present a resident of 15<br />
+Farley Street, Knightsbridge, London.</h2>
+</div>
+
+
+<p class="drop-cap">I &nbsp;BELIEVE it is not necessary for me
+to state how a chamois-skin bag
+containing one hundred and sixty-two
+diamonds came into my hands
+on the evening of May 14th. That it
+did come into my possession was
+enough for me. I never before
+thought that the possession of diamonds
+could make a woman so perfectly
+miserable. When I was a
+young girl in Necropolis City I used
+to think to own a diamond&mdash;even
+one small one&mdash;would be just about
+the acme of human joy. But Necropolis
+City is a good way behind
+me now, and I have found that the<span class="pagenum" id="Page_158">[158]</span>
+owning of a handful of them can be
+about the most wearing form of
+misery.</p>
+
+<p>I suppose there are fearless, upright
+people in the world who would
+have taken those diamonds straight
+back to the police station and braved
+public opinion. It would have been
+better to have had your word doubted,
+to be tried for a thief, put in jail,
+and probably complicated the diplomatic
+relations between England and
+the United States, than to conceal in
+your domicile one hundred and sixty-two
+precious stones that didn&#8217;t belong
+to you. I hope every one understands&mdash;and
+I&#8217;m sure every one
+does who knows me&mdash;that I did not
+want to keep the miserable things.
+What good did they do me, anyway,<span class="pagenum" id="Page_159">[159]</span>
+locked up in my jewel-box, in the
+upper right-hand bureau drawer?</p>
+
+<p>We knew no peace from that tragic
+evening when Major and Mrs.
+Thatcher dined with us. First we
+tried to think of ways of getting rid
+of them&mdash;of the diamonds, I mean.
+Cassius, who&#8217;s just a simple, uncomplicated
+man, wanted to take
+them right to the nearest police station
+and hand them in. I soon
+showed him the madness of <i>that</i>.
+Was there a soul in London who
+would have believed our story?
+Wouldn&#8217;t the American ambassador
+himself have had to bow his crested
+head and tame his heart of fire, and
+admit it was about the fishiest tale
+he had ever heard?</p>
+
+<p>It would have ruined us forever.
+Even if Cassius hadn&#8217;t been deposed<span class="pagenum" id="Page_160">[160]</span>
+from his place as the head of the
+English branch of the Colonial Box,
+Tub, and Cordage Company (Ltd),
+of Chicago and St. Louis, who would
+have known me? The trail of the
+diamonds would have been over us
+forever. Lady Sara Gyves would
+have gone round saying she always
+thought I had the face of a thief,
+and the bishop and the two lords
+I&#8217;ve collected with such care would
+have cut me dead in the Park. I
+would have received my social quietus
+forever. And, I just tell you,
+when I&#8217;ve worked for a thing as
+hard as I have for that bishop and
+the two lords and Lady Sara Gyves,
+I&#8217;m not going to give them up without
+a struggle.</p>
+
+<p>Cassius and I spent two feverish,
+agonized weeks trying to think what<span class="pagenum" id="Page_161">[161]</span>
+we would do with the diamonds. I
+never knew before I had so much
+inventive ability. It was wonderful
+the things we thought of. One of
+our ideas was to put a personal in
+the papers advertising for &#8220;Amelia.&#8221;
+We spent five consecutive evenings
+concocting different ones that would
+have the effect of rousing &#8220;Amelia&#8217;s&#8221;
+curiosity and deadening that
+of everybody else. It did not seem
+capable of construction. Twist and
+turn it as you would, you couldn&#8217;t
+state that you had something valuable
+in your possession for &#8220;Amelia&#8221;
+without making the paragraph bristle
+with a sort of mysterious importance.
+It was like a trap set and
+baited to catch the attention of a
+detective. We did insert one&mdash;&#8220;Will
+Amelia kindly publish her<span class="pagenum" id="Page_162">[162]</span>
+present address, and oblige Major
+and Mrs. Thatcher?&#8221;&mdash;which, after
+all, didn&#8217;t involve us. And for two
+weeks we read the papers with beating,
+hopeful hearts, but there was
+no reply. I thought &#8220;Amelia&#8221; never
+saw it. Cassius thought there was
+no such person.</p>
+
+<p>A month dragged itself away, and
+there we were with those horrible
+gems locked in my jewel-box. I began
+to look pale and miserable, and
+Cassius told me he thought the diamonds
+were becoming a &#8220;fixed idea&#8221;
+with me, and he&#8217;d have to take me
+away for a change. Once I told him
+I felt as if I&#8217;d never have any peace
+or be my old gay self again while
+they were in my possession. He said,
+that being the case, he&#8217;d take them
+out some night and throw them in<span class="pagenum" id="Page_163">[163]</span>
+the Serpentine, the pond where the
+despondent people commit suicide.
+But I dissuaded him from it.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Perhaps they&#8217;ll never be claimed,&#8221;
+I said. &#8220;And some day when
+we&#8217;re old we can have them set and
+Elaine can wear them.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;You might even wear them yourself,&#8221;
+Cassius said, trying to cheer
+me up.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;What would be the good?&#8221; I
+answered, gloomily. &#8220;I&#8217;d be at least
+sixty before I&#8217;d dare to.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>All through June I lived under
+this wearing strain, and I grew
+thinner and more nervous day by
+day. The season which is always so
+lovely and gay was no longer an exciting
+and joyous time for me. I
+drove down Bond Street with a
+frowning face, and it did not cheer<span class="pagenum" id="Page_164">[164]</span>
+me up at all to see how many people
+I seemed to know. Looking down
+the vistas of quiet, asphalted streets,
+where the lines of sedate house
+fronts are brightened by polished
+brasses on the doors and flower-boxes
+at the windows, I was no longer filled
+with an exhilarating determination to
+some day be an honored guest in
+every house that was worth entering.
+When I drove by the green ovals of
+the little parks, which you can&#8217;t
+enter without a private key, I experienced
+none of my old ambition
+to have a key too, and go in and
+mingle with the aristocracy sitting
+on wooden benches.</p>
+
+<p>Even meeting the Countess of
+Belsborough at a reception, and being
+asked by her, in a sociable,
+friendly way, if I knew her cousin<span class="pagenum" id="Page_165">[165]</span>
+John, who was mining somewhere in
+Mexico or Honduras&mdash;she wasn&#8217;t
+sure which&mdash;did not cheer me up at
+all. The change in me was extraordinary.
+When I first came to London,
+if even a curate or a clerk from
+the city had asked me such a question,
+I&#8217;d have made an effort to remember
+John, as if Mexico had been
+my front garden and I&#8217;d played all
+round Honduras when I was a child.
+Now I said to Lady Belsborough
+that neither Mexico nor Honduras
+were part of the United States quite
+snappishly, as if I thought she was
+stupid. And all because of those
+accursed diamonds!</p>
+
+<p>It was toward the end of June,
+and the days were getting warm,
+when the climax came.</p>
+
+<p>The pressure of the season was<span class="pagenum" id="Page_166">[166]</span>
+abating. The rhododendrons were
+dead in the Park, and there was dust
+on the trees. In St. James&#8217; the grass
+was quite worn and patchy, and
+strangely clad people lay on it, sleeping
+in the sun. One met a great
+many American tourists in white
+shirt-waists and long veils. I
+thought of the time when I, too, innocently
+and unthinkingly, had worn
+a white shirt-waist, and it didn&#8217;t
+seem to me such a horrible time,
+after all&mdash;at least, I did not then
+have one hundred and sixty-two
+stolen diamonds in my jewel-box.
+My heart was lighter in those days,
+even if my shirt-waist had only cost
+a dollar and forty-nine cents at a
+department store in Necropolis City.</p>
+
+<p>The month ended with a spell of
+what the English call &#8220;frightful<span class="pagenum" id="Page_167">[167]</span>
+heat.&#8221; It was quite warm weather,
+and we sat a good deal on the little
+balcony that juts out from my window
+over the front door. Farley
+Street is quiet and rather out of the
+line of general traffic, so we had
+chairs and a table there, and used
+to have tea served under the one
+palm, which was all there was room
+for. We could not have visitors
+there, for it opened out of my bedroom.
+So our tea-parties on the
+balcony were strictly family affairs&mdash;just
+Cassius, and Elaine, and I.</p>
+
+<p>The last day of the month was really
+very warm. Every door in the
+house was open, and the servants
+went about gasping, with their faces
+crimson. I dined at home alone that
+evening, as one of the members of
+the Box, Tub, and Cordage Company<span class="pagenum" id="Page_168">[168]</span>
+was in London, at the Carlton, and
+Cassius was dining with him. I did
+not expect him home till late, as
+there would be lots to talk over.</p>
+
+<p>I had not felt well all day. The
+heat had given me a headache, and
+after dinner I lay on the sofa in the
+sitting-room, feeling quite miserable.
+Only a few of the lamps were lit,
+and the house was dim and extremely
+quiet. Being alone that way in
+the half dark got on my nerves, and
+I decided I&#8217;d go up-stairs and go
+to bed early. I always did hate sitting
+about by myself, and now more
+than ever, with the diamonds on my
+conscience.</p>
+
+<p>Our stairs are thickly carpeted,
+and as I had on thin satin slippers
+and a cr&ecirc;pe tea-gown I made no
+noise at all coming up. I always<span class="pagenum" id="Page_169">[169]</span>
+have a light burning in my room,
+so when I saw a yellow gleam below
+the door I did not think anything
+of it, but just softly pushed
+the door open and went in. Then I
+stopped dead where I stood. A man
+with a soft felt-hat on, and a handkerchief
+tied over the lower part of
+his face, was standing in front of
+the bureau!</p>
+
+<p>He had not heard me, and for a
+moment I stood without making a
+sound, watching him. The two gas-jets
+on either side of the bureau
+were lit, and that part of the room
+was flooded with light. Very quickly
+and softly he was turning over
+the contents of the drawers, taking
+out laces, gloves, and veils, throwing
+them this way and that out of his
+way, and opening every box he<span class="pagenum" id="Page_170">[170]</span>
+found. My heart gave a great leap
+when I saw him seize upon the
+jewel-box, and my mouth, unfortunately,
+emitted some kind of a sound&mdash;I
+think it was a sort of gasp of
+relief, but I&#8217;m not sure.</p>
+
+<p>Whatever it was, he heard. He
+gave a start as if he had been electrified,
+raised his head, and saw me.
+For just one second he stood staring,
+and then he said something&mdash;of a
+profane character, I think&mdash;and ran
+for the balcony.</p>
+
+<p>And I ran too. There was something
+in the way&mdash;a little table, I believe&mdash;and
+he collided with it. That
+checked him for a moment, and I
+got to the window first. I threw
+myself across it with my arms spread
+out, in an attitude like that assumed
+by Sara Bernhardt when she is barring<span class="pagenum" id="Page_171">[171]</span>
+her lover&#8217;s exit in &#8220;Fedora.&#8221;
+But I don&#8217;t think any actress ever
+barred her lover&#8217;s exit with as much
+determination and zeal as I barred
+the exit of that burglar.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;You can&#8217;t go!&#8221; I cried, wildly.
+&#8220;You&#8217;ve forgotten something!&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>He paused just in front of me, and
+I cried again:</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;You haven&#8217;t got them; they&#8217;re in
+the jewelry-box.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>He moved forward and laid his
+hand on my arm, to push me aside.
+I felt quite desperate, and wailed:</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Oh, don&#8217;t go without opening the
+jewelry-box. There are some things
+in it I know you will like.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>He tried to push me out of the
+way&mdash;gently, it is true, but with
+force. But I clung to him, clasped
+him by the arm with what must have<span class="pagenum" id="Page_172">[172]</span>
+appeared quite an affectionate grip,
+and continued, imploringly:</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Don&#8217;t be in such a hurry. I&#8217;m
+sorry I interrupted you. If you&#8217;ll
+promise not to go till you&#8217;ve looked
+through my things and taken what
+you want, I&#8217;ll leave the room. It
+was quite by accident that I came
+in.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>The burglar let go my arm, and
+looked at me over the handkerchief
+with a pair of eyes that seemed quite
+kind and pleasant.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Really,&#8221; he said, in a deep, gentlemanly
+voice that seemed familiar&mdash;&#8220;really,
+I don&#8217;t quite understand&mdash;&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;I know you don&#8217;t,&#8221; I interrupted,
+impulsively. &#8220;How could you be
+expected to? And I can&#8217;t explain.
+It&#8217;s a most complicated matter, and<span class="pagenum" id="Page_173">[173]</span>
+would take too long. Only don&#8217;t be
+frightened and run away till you&#8217;ve
+taken something. You&#8217;ve endangered
+your life and risked going to
+prison to get in here; and wouldn&#8217;t
+it be too foolish, after that, to go
+without anything? Now, in the jewelry-box&#8221;&mdash;I
+indicated it, and spoke
+in what I hoped was a most insinuating
+tone&mdash;&#8220;there are some things
+that I think you&#8217;d like. If you&#8217;d
+just look at them&mdash;&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;You&#8217;re a most persuasive lady,&#8221;
+said the burglar, &#8220;but&mdash;&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>He moved again toward the window.
+A feeling of absolute anguish
+that he was going without the diamonds
+pierced me. I threw myself
+in front of him again, and in some
+way, I can&#8217;t tell you how, caught
+the handkerchief that covered his<span class="pagenum" id="Page_174">[174]</span>
+face and pulled it down. There was
+the handsome visage and long mustache
+of Major Thatcher!</p>
+
+<p>I backed away from him in the
+greatest confusion. He too blushed
+and looked uncomfortable.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Oh, Major Thatcher,&#8221; I murmured,
+&#8220;I beg your pardon! I&#8217;m
+so sorry. I don&#8217;t know how it happened.
+I think the end of the handkerchief
+caught in my bracelet.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Pray don&#8217;t mention it,&#8221; answered
+the major, &#8220;nothing at all.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>Then we were both silent, standing
+opposite one another, not knowing
+what to say. It is not easy to feaze
+me, but it must be admitted that the
+situation was unusual.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;How is Mrs. Thatcher?&#8221; I said,
+desperately, when the silence had become
+unbearable. And the major<span class="pagenum" id="Page_175">[175]</span>
+replied, in his deepest voice, and with
+his most abrupt military air:</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Ethel&#8217;s very fit. Never was better
+in her life, thank you. Mr. Kennedy
+is quite well, I hope?&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Cassius is enjoying the best of
+health,&#8221; I answered. &#8220;He&#8217;s out to-night,
+I&#8217;m sorry to say.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Just fancy,&#8221; said Major Thatcher.
+Then there was a pause, and he
+added: &#8220;How tiresome!&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>I could think of nothing more to
+say, and again we were silent. It
+was really the most uncomfortable
+position I ever was in. The major
+was a burglar beyond a doubt, but
+he looked and talked just like a gentleman;
+besides, he&#8217;d dined with us.
+That makes a great difference.
+When a man has broken bread at
+your table as a respectable fellow<span class="pagenum" id="Page_176">[176]</span>
+creature, it&#8217;s hard to get your mind
+round to regarding him severely as a
+criminal. I felt that the only thing
+to do was to graciously ignore it all,
+as you do when some one spills the
+claret on your best table-cloth. At
+the same time, there were the diamonds!
+I could not let the chance
+escape.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Oh, Major Thatcher!&#8221; I said,
+with an air of suddenly remembering
+something. &#8220;I don&#8217;t know
+whether you know that your wife
+left a little package here that evening
+when you dined with us. It was
+for Amelia.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>Major Thatcher looked at me with
+the most heavily solemn expression.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;To be sure,&#8221; he murmured, &#8220;for
+Amelia.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Well,&#8221; I went on, trying to impart<span class="pagenum" id="Page_177">[177]</span>
+to my words a light society
+tone, &#8220;you know we can&#8217;t find her.
+Very stupid of us, I have no doubt.
+But we&#8217;ve tried, and we can&#8217;t, anywhere.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>Major Thatcher stared blankly at
+the dressing-table.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Strange, &#8217;pon my word!&#8221; he said.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;So, Major Thatcher, if you don&#8217;t
+mind, I&#8217;ll give it back to you. I
+think, all things considered, it will
+be best for you to give it to Amelia
+yourself.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>I went toward the dressing-table.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;You don&#8217;t mind, do you?&#8221; I
+said, over my shoulder, as I opened
+the jewelry-box.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Not at all, not at all,&#8221; answered
+the major. &#8220;Anything to oblige a
+lady.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>I drew out the sack of chamois-skin.<span class="pagenum" id="Page_178">[178]</span>
+&#8220;Here it is,&#8221; I said, holding
+it out to him. &#8220;You&#8217;ll find it in perfect
+condition and quite complete.
+I&#8217;m so sorry that we couldn&#8217;t seem
+to locate Amelia. Not knowing the
+rest of her name was rather inconvenient.
+There were dozens of
+Amelias in the directory.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>The major took the sack, and put
+it in his breast-pocket.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Dozens of Amelias,&#8221; he repeated,
+slapping his pocket. &#8220;Who&#8217;d have
+thought it!&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;We even advertised,&#8221; I continued.
+&#8220;Perhaps you saw the personal;
+it was in the morning <i>Herald</i>,
+and was very short and noncommittal,
+but no one answered it.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;We saw it,&#8221; said the major.
+&#8220;Yes, I recollect quite distinctly<span class="pagenum" id="Page_179">[179]</span>
+seeing it. It&mdash;it&mdash;indicated to us&mdash;aw&mdash;aw&mdash;&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>The major reddened and paused,
+pulling his mustache.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;That we hadn&#8217;t found Amelia
+and still had the present,&#8221; I answered,
+in a sprightly tone. &#8220;That
+was just it. And so you came to get
+it? Very kind of you, indeed, Major
+Thatcher.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>The major bowed. He was really
+a very fine-looking, well-mannered
+man. If he only had been the honest,
+respectable person we first
+thought him I would have liked to
+add him to my collection. I&#8217;m
+sure if you knew him better he
+would have been much more interesting
+than the bishop and the lords.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;The kindness is on your side,&#8221;
+he said. &#8220;And now, Mrs. Kennedy,<span class="pagenum" id="Page_180">[180]</span>
+I think&mdash;I think, perhaps&#8221;&mdash;he
+looked at the window that gave on
+the balcony&mdash;&#8220;I think I&#8217;d better&mdash;&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;You must be going!&#8221; I cried,
+just as I say it to the bishop when
+he puts down his cup and looks at
+the clock. &#8220;How unfortunate! But,
+of course, your other engagements&mdash;&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>I checked myself, suddenly realizing
+that it wasn&#8217;t just the thing to
+say to the major. When you&#8217;re
+talking to a burglar it doesn&#8217;t seem
+delicate or thoughtful to allude to
+his &#8220;other engagements.&#8221; That I
+made such a break is due to the fact
+that I&#8217;d never talked to a burglar
+before, and was bound to be a little
+green.</p>
+
+<p>The major did not seem to mind.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Exactly so,&#8221; he said. &#8220;My time<span class="pagenum" id="Page_181">[181]</span>
+is just now much occupied. I&mdash;er&mdash;I&mdash;&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>He looked again at the window.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;I&mdash;er&mdash;entered that way,&#8221; he
+said, &#8220;but perhaps&mdash;&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;I don&#8217;t think I&#8217;d go out that way
+if I were you,&#8221; I answered, hurriedly,
+&#8220;it would look so queer if any one
+saw you.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Would the other and more usual
+exit be safe?&#8221; he asked. His eye,
+as it met mine, was charged with a
+keener intelligence than I had seen
+in it before.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;It would have to be,&#8221; I answered,
+with spirit. &#8220;What do you suppose
+the servants would think if they saw
+you coming out of here? This, Major
+Thatcher, is my room.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Dear me!&#8221; said the major, &#8220;I<span class="pagenum" id="Page_182">[182]</span>
+suppose it is. I never thought of
+that.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Wait here till I see if it is all
+right,&#8221; I said, &#8220;and then I&#8217;ll come
+back and tell you.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>I went into the hall and looked
+over the banister. The gas was
+burning faintly, and a bar of pink
+lamplight fell out from the half-drawn
+porti&egrave;res of the drawing-room.
+There was not a sound. I
+knew the servants were all in the
+back part of the house, quite safe
+till eleven o&#8217;clock, when, if we were
+home, they turned out the lights and
+locked up. I stole softly back into
+my room. The major was standing
+in front of the mirror untying the
+handkerchief that hung round his
+neck.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;It&#8217;s all right,&#8221; I assured him, in<span class="pagenum" id="Page_183">[183]</span>
+an unconsciously lowered voice.
+&#8220;You can go quite easily; I&#8217;ll let
+you out. Only you mustn&#8217;t make
+the least bit of noise.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>He thrust the handkerchief in his
+pocket and put on his hat, pulling
+the brim down over his eyes. I must
+confess he didn&#8217;t look half so distinguished
+this way. When the
+handkerchief was gone, I saw he wore
+a flannel shirt with a turned-down
+collar, and with his hat shading his
+face he certainly did seem a strange
+sort of man for me to be conducting
+down the stairs at half-past ten at
+night. If Perkins, who&#8217;d come to
+us bristling with respectability from
+a distinguished, evangelical, aristocratic
+family, should meet us, I
+would never hold up my head again.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Now, if you hear Perkins,&#8221; I<span class="pagenum" id="Page_184">[184]</span>
+whispered, &#8220;for heavens&#8217; sake, hide
+somewhere. Run back to my room,
+if you can&#8217;t go anywhere else. Perkins
+<i>must not</i> see you!&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>The major growled out some reply,
+and we tiptoed breathlessly
+across the hall to the stair-head. I
+was much more frightened than he
+was. I know, as I stole from step
+to step, my heart kept beating faster
+and faster. Such awful things
+might have happened: Perkins suddenly
+appear to put out the lights;
+Cassius come home early from the
+dinner, and open the front door just
+as I was about to let the major out!
+When we reached the door I was
+quite faint, while the major seemed
+as cool as if he&#8217;d been paying a call.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Very kind of you, I&#8217;m sure,&#8221; he<span class="pagenum" id="Page_185">[185]</span>
+said, trying to take off his hat. &#8220;I
+shan&#8217;t forget it.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Oh, never mind being polite,&#8221; I
+gasped. &#8220;You&#8217;ve got the diamonds.
+That&#8217;s all that matters. Good-night.
+Give my regards to Mrs. Thatcher.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>And he was gone! I shut the door
+and crept up-stairs. First I felt faint,
+and then I felt hysterical. When
+Cassius came home at eleven I was
+lying on the sofa in tears, and all I
+could say to him was to sob:</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;The diamonds are gone! The
+diamonds are gone!&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>He thought I&#8217;d gone mad at first,
+and then when I finally made him
+understand he was nearly as excited
+as I. He went down-stairs and
+brought up a bottle of champagne,
+and we celebrated at midnight up in
+our room. We had to tell lies to<span class="pagenum" id="Page_186">[186]</span>
+Perkins afterward to explain how
+we came to be one bottle short. But
+what did lies matter, or even Perkins&#8217;
+opinion of us? We were no
+longer crushed under the weight of
+one hundred and sixty-two diamonds
+that didn&#8217;t belong to us!</p>
+
+<p>That is the history of my connection
+with the case. From that night
+I&#8217;ve never seen or heard of the
+stones, nor have I seen Major or Mrs.
+Thatcher. The diamonds entered
+our possession and departed from
+them exactly as I have told, and tho
+my statement may call for great credulity
+on the part of my readers, all
+I can say is that I am willing to
+vouch for the truth of every word
+of it.</p>
+
+
+
+<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop" />
+
+<div class="chapter">
+<span class="pagenum" id="Page_187">[187]</span>
+<p class="ph1">Statement of Gladys, Marchioness of<br />
+Castlecourt.</p>
+</div>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_188">[188]</span></p>
+<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop" />
+
+<div class="chapter">
+<span class="pagenum" id="Page_189">[189]</span>
+<h2 class="nobreak">Statement of Gladys, Marchioness of<br />
+Castlecourt.</h2>
+</div>
+
+
+<p class="drop-cap">I &nbsp;AM sure if any one was ever punished
+for their misdeeds it was I.
+I suppose I ought to say sins, but
+it is such an unpleasant word! I can
+not imagine myself committing sins,
+and yet that is just what I seem to
+have done. I couldn&#8217;t have been
+more astonished if some one had told
+me I was going to commit a murder.
+One thing I have learned&mdash;you do
+not know what you may do till you
+have been tried and tempted. And
+then you do wrong before you realize
+it, and all of a sudden it comes upon
+you that you are a criminal quite
+unexpectedly, and no one is more surprised
+than you. I certainly know I<span class="pagenum" id="Page_190">[190]</span>
+was the most surprised person in
+London when I realized that I&mdash; But
+there, I am wandering all about, and
+I want to tell my story simply and
+shortly.</p>
+
+<p>Everybody knows that when I
+married Lord Castlecourt I was
+poor. What everybody does not
+know is that I was a natural spend-thrift.
+Extravagance was in my
+blood, as drinking or the love of
+cards is in the blood of some men.
+I had never had any money at all.
+I used to wear the same gloves for
+years, and always made my own
+frocks&mdash;not badly, either. I&#8217;ve made
+gowns that Lady Bundy said&mdash; But
+that has nothing to do with it; I&#8217;m
+getting away from the point.</p>
+
+<p>As I said before, I was poor. I
+didn&#8217;t know how extravagant I was<span class="pagenum" id="Page_191">[191]</span>
+till I married and Lord Castlecourt
+gave me six hundred pounds a year
+to dress on. It was a fortune to me.
+I&#8217;d never thought one woman could
+have so much. The first two years
+of our married life I did not run over
+it, because we lived most of the time
+in the country, and I was unused to
+it, and spent it slowly and carefully.
+I was still unaccustomed to it when,
+after my second boy was born, Herbert
+brought me to town for my first
+season since our marriage.</p>
+
+<p>Then I began to spend money,
+quantities of it, for it seemed to me
+that six hundred pounds a year was
+absolutely inexhaustible. When I
+saw anything pretty in a shop I
+bought it, and I generally forgot to
+ask the price. The shop people were
+always kind and agreeable, and<span class="pagenum" id="Page_192">[192]</span>
+seemed to have forgotten about it as
+completely as I.</p>
+
+<p>After I had bought one thing they
+would urge me to look at something
+else, which was put away in a drawer
+or laid out in a cardboard box, and
+if I liked it I bought that too. If I
+ever paused to think that I was buying
+a great deal, I contented myself
+with the assurance that I had six
+hundred pounds a year, which was
+so much I would never get to the
+end of it.</p>
+
+<p>After that first season a great
+many bills came in, and I was quite
+surprised to see I&#8217;d spent already,
+with the year hardly half gone, more
+than my six hundred pounds. I
+could not understand how it had
+happened, and I asked Herbert
+about it and showed him some of my<span class="pagenum" id="Page_193">[193]</span>
+bills, and for the first time in our
+married life he was angry with me.
+He scolded me quite sharply, and
+told me I must keep within my allowance.
+I was hurt, and also rather
+muddled, with all these different
+accounts&mdash;most of which I could not
+remember&mdash;and I made up my mind
+not to consult Herbert any more, as
+it only vexed him and made him
+cross to me, and that I can not bear.
+All the world must love me. If
+there is a servant-maid in the house
+who does not like me&mdash;and I can feel
+it in a minute if she doesn&#8217;t&mdash;I must
+make her, or she must go away. But
+my husband, the best and finest man
+in the world, to have him annoyed
+with me and scolding me over stupid
+bills! Never again would that happen.
+I showed him no more of them;<span class="pagenum" id="Page_194">[194]</span>
+in fact, I generally tore them up as
+they came in, for fear I should
+leave them lying about and he would
+find them. If I could help it, nothing
+in the world was ever going to
+come between Herbert and me.</p>
+
+<p>I also made good resolutions to be
+more careful in my expenditures.
+And I really tried to keep them. I
+don&#8217;t know how it happened that
+they did not seem to get kept. But
+both in London and in Paris I certainly
+did spend a great deal&mdash;I&#8217;m
+sure I don&#8217;t know how much. I did
+little accounts on the back of notes,
+and they were so confusing, and I
+seemed to have spent so much more
+than I thought I had, that I gave up
+doing them. After I&#8217;d covered the
+back of two or three notes with figures,
+I became so low-spirited I<span class="pagenum" id="Page_195">[195]</span>
+couldn&#8217;t enjoy anything for the rest
+of the day. I did not see that that
+did anybody any good, so I ceased
+keeping the accounts. And what was
+the use of keeping them? If I had
+not the money to pay them with, why
+should I make myself miserable by
+thinking about them? I thought it
+much more sensible to try to forget
+them, and most of the time I did!</p>
+
+<p>It went on that way for two years.
+When I got bills with things written
+across the bottom in red ink I paid
+part of them&mdash;never all; I never
+paid all of anything. Once or twice
+tradesmen wrote me letters, saying
+they must have their money, and
+then I went to see them, and told
+them how kind it was of them to
+trust me, and how I would pay them
+everything soon, and they seemed<span class="pagenum" id="Page_196">[196]</span>
+quite pleased and satisfied. I always
+intended doing it. I don&#8217;t
+know where I thought the money was
+coming from, but you never can
+tell what may happen. Some friends
+of Herbert had a place near the
+Scotch border, and found a coal-mine
+in the forest. Herbert has no
+lands near Scotland, but he has in
+other places, and he may find a coal-mine
+too. I merely cite this as an
+example of the strange ways things
+turn out. I didn&#8217;t exactly expect
+that Herbert would find a coal-mine,
+but I did expect that money would
+turn up in some unexpected way and
+help me out of my difficulties.</p>
+
+<p>The beginning of the series of
+really terrible events of which I am
+writing was the purchase of a Russian
+sable jacket from a furrier in<span class="pagenum" id="Page_197">[197]</span>
+Paris called Bolkonsky. It was in the
+early spring of last year. I had had
+no dealings with Bolkonsky before.
+A friend told me of the jacket, and
+took me there. It was a real <i>occasion</i>.
+I knew the moment that I saw
+it that it was one of those chances
+with which one rarely meets. It fitted
+me like a charm, and I bought it for
+a thousand pounds. That miserable
+Bolkonsky told me the payments
+might be made in any way I liked,
+and at &#8220;madame&#8217;s own time.&#8221; I also
+bought some good turquoises, that
+were going for nothing, from a jeweler
+up-stairs somewhere near the
+Rue de La Paix, who was selling out
+the jewels of an actress. It was
+these two people who wrecked me.</p>
+
+<p>Not that they were my only debtors.
+I knew by this time that I<span class="pagenum" id="Page_198">[198]</span>
+owed a great deal. When I thought
+about it I was frightened, and so I
+tried not to think. But sometimes
+when I was awake at night, and
+everything looked dark and depressed,
+I wondered what I would do if
+something did not happen. In these
+moments I thought of telling my
+husband, and I buried my head in
+the pillow and turned cold with
+misery. What would Herbert say
+when he found out his wife was
+thousands of pounds in debt&mdash;the
+Marquis of Castlecourt, who had
+never owed a penny and considered
+it a disgrace.</p>
+
+<p>Perhaps he would be so horrified
+and disgusted he would send me
+away from him&mdash;back to Ireland, or
+to the Continent. And what would
+happen to me then?</p>
+
+
+
+<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_199">[199]</span>That summer we went to Castlecourt
+Marsh Manor, and there my
+anxieties became almost unbearable.
+Bolkonsky began to dun me most cruelly.
+Other creditors wrote me letters,
+urging for payments. The jeweler
+from whom I had bought the
+turquoises sent me a letter, telling
+me if I didn&#8217;t settle his account by
+September he would sue me. And
+finally Bolkonsky sent a man over,
+whom I saw in London, and who
+told me that unless the sable jacket
+was paid for within two months he
+would &#8220;lay the matter before Lord
+Castlecourt.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>We went across to Paris in September,
+and there I saw those dreadful
+people. My other French and
+English creditors I could manage, but
+I could do nothing with either Bolkonsky<span class="pagenum" id="Page_200">[200]</span>
+or the jeweler. They spoke
+harshly to me&mdash;as no one has ever
+spoken to me before; and Bolkonsky
+told me that &#8220;it was known Lord
+Castlecourt was honest and paid his
+debts, whatever his wife was.&#8221; I
+prayed him for time, and finally
+wept&mdash;wept to that horrible Jew;
+and there was another man in the
+office, too, who saw me. But I was
+lost to all sense of pride or reserve.
+I had only one feeling left in me&mdash;terror,
+agony, that they would tell
+my husband, and he would despise
+me and leave me.</p>
+
+<p>My misery seemed to have some
+effect on Bolkonsky, and he told me
+he would give me a month to pay up.
+It was then the tenth of September.
+I waited for a week in a sort of
+frenzy of hope that a miracle would<span class="pagenum" id="Page_201">[201]</span>
+occur, and the money come into my
+hands in some unexpected way. But,
+of course, nothing did occur. By the
+first of October the one thousand
+pounds was no nearer. It was then
+that the desperate idea entered my
+mind which has nearly ruined me,
+and caused me such suffering that
+the memory of it will stay with me
+forever.</p>
+
+<p>The Castlecourt diamonds, set in
+a necklace and valued at nine thousand
+pounds, were in my possession.
+I often wore them, and they were
+carried about by my maid&mdash;a faithful
+and honest creature called Sophy
+Jeffers. On one of my first trips to
+Paris a friend of mine had taken me
+to the office of a well-known dealer
+in precious and artificial stones who,
+without its being generally known,<span class="pagenum" id="Page_202">[202]</span>
+did a sort of pawnbroking business
+among the upper classes. My friend
+had gone there to pawn a pearl necklace,
+and had told me all about it&mdash;how
+much she obtained on the
+necklace, and how she hoped to redeem
+it within the year, and how she
+was to have it copied in imitation
+pearls. The idea that came to me
+was to go to this place and pawn the
+Castlecourt diamonds, having them
+duplicated in paste.</p>
+
+<p>I went there on the second day of
+October. How awful it was! I wore
+a heavy veil, and gave a fictitious
+name. Several men looked at the
+diamonds, and I noticed that they
+looked at me and whispered together.
+Finally they told me they would give
+me four thousand pounds on them,
+at some interest&mdash;I&#8217;ve forgotten<span class="pagenum" id="Page_203">[203]</span>
+what it was now&mdash;and that they
+would replace them with paste, so
+that only an expert could tell the
+difference. The next day I went
+back, and they gave me the money.
+I do not think they had any idea
+who I was. At any rate, while the
+papers were full of speculations
+about the Castlecourt diamonds, they
+made no sign.</p>
+
+<p>I paid off all my debts, both in
+Paris and London; I even paid a
+year&#8217;s interest on the diamonds. For
+a short time I breathed again, and
+was gay and light-hearted. My husband
+would never know that I had
+not paid my bills for five years and
+had been threatened with a lawsuit.
+It was delightful to get rid of this
+fear, and I was quite my old self.
+I suppose I ought to have felt more<span class="pagenum" id="Page_204">[204]</span>
+guilty; but when one is relieved of
+a great weight, one&#8217;s conscience is
+not so sensitive as it gets when there
+is really nothing to be sensitive
+about.</p>
+
+<p>It was after I had grown accustomed
+to feeling free and unworried
+that I began to realize what I had
+done. I had stolen the diamonds.
+I was a thief! It did not comfort me
+much to think that no one might
+ever find it out; in fact, I do not
+think it comforted me at all, and I
+know in the beginning I expected
+it would. It was what I had done
+that rankled in me. I felt that I
+would never be peaceful again till
+they were redeemed and put back
+in their old settings. That was what
+I continually dreamed of. It seemed
+to me if I could see them once more<span class="pagenum" id="Page_205">[205]</span>
+in their own case I would be happy
+and care free, as I had been in those
+first perfect years of my married
+life.</p>
+
+<p>The fear that at this time most
+haunted me and was most terrifying
+was that my husband might discover
+what I had done. His wife,
+that he had so loved and trusted, had
+become a thief! No one who has not
+gone through it knows how I felt.
+I did not know any one could suffer
+so. I went out constantly, to try and
+forget; and, when things were very
+cheerful and amusing, I sometimes
+did. And then I remembered&mdash;I was
+a thief; I had stolen my husband&#8217;s
+diamonds, and, if he ever found it
+out, what would happen to me?</p>
+
+<p>This was the position I was in
+when the false diamonds were taken.<span class="pagenum" id="Page_206">[206]</span>
+It was the last thing in the world I
+had thought could happen. When,
+that night of the Duke of Duxbury&#8217;s
+dinner, I saw the empty case and
+Jeffers&#8217; terrified face, the world
+reeled around me. I could not for
+a moment take it in. Only, in my
+mind, the diamonds had become a
+sort of nightmare; anything to do
+with them was a menace, and I followed
+an instinct that had possession
+of me when I tried to hide the empty
+case from my husband.</p>
+
+<p>Then, when my mind had cleared
+and I had time to think, I saw that
+if they recovered the paste necklace
+they might find out that it was not
+real, and all would be lost. It was
+a horrible predicament. I really did
+not know what I wanted. If the diamonds
+were found, and seen to be<span class="pagenum" id="Page_207">[207]</span>
+false, it would all come out, and Herbert
+would know I was a thief.
+When I thought of this I tried to
+divert the detectives from hunting
+for them, and I told that silly, sheepish
+Mr. Brison that I did not see
+how he could be so sure they were
+stolen, that they might have been
+mislaid. Mr. Brison seemed surprised,
+and that made me angry, because,
+after all, a diamond necklace
+is not the sort of thing that gets mislaid,
+and I felt I had been foolish
+and had not gained anything by being
+so.</p>
+
+<p>The days passed, and nothing was
+heard of the necklace. I wished
+desperately now that it would be
+found. For how, unless it was, could
+I eventually redeem the real diamonds,
+and once more feel honest<span class="pagenum" id="Page_208">[208]</span>
+and respectable? If I suddenly appeared
+with them, how could I explain
+it? Everybody would say I
+had stolen them, unless I invented
+some story about their being lost
+and then found, and I am not clever
+at inventing stories. As to where I
+should get the money to redeem
+them, I often thought of that; but
+never could think of any way that
+sounded possible and reasonable. I
+have always waited for &#8220;things to
+turn up,&#8221; and they generally did;
+but in this case nothing that I wanted
+or expected turned up. Besides,
+four thousand pounds is a good deal
+of money to come into one&#8217;s hands
+suddenly and unexpectedly. If it
+were a smaller sum it might, but
+four thousand pounds was too much.
+There was nobody to die and leave<span class="pagenum" id="Page_209">[209]</span>
+it to me, and I certainly could not
+steal it, or make it myself.</p>
+
+<p>So, as one may see, I was beset
+with troubles on all sides. The season
+wore itself away, and I was glad
+to be done with it. For the first
+time, there had been no pleasure in
+it. Anxieties that no one guessed
+were always with me, and always I
+found myself surreptitiously watching
+my husband to see if he suspected,
+to see if he showed any symptoms
+of growing cold to me and being
+indifferent. As I drove through
+the Park in the carriage these dreary
+thoughts were always at my heart,
+and it was heavy as lead. I forgot
+the passers-by who were so amusing,
+and, with my head hanging, looked
+into my lap. Suppose Herbert
+guessed? Suppose Herbert found<span class="pagenum" id="Page_210">[210]</span>
+out? These were the questions that
+went circling through my brain and
+never stopped. Sometimes, when
+Herbert was beside me, I suddenly
+wanted to cry out:</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Herbert, <i>I</i> took the diamonds!
+<i>I</i> was the thief! I can&#8217;t hide it any
+more, or live in this uncertainty.
+All I want to know is, do you hate
+me and are you going to leave me?&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>But I never did it. I looked at
+Herbert, and was afraid. What
+would I do if he left me? Go back
+to Ireland and die.</p>
+
+<p>We went to Castlecourt Marsh
+Manor in the end of June. By this
+time I had begun to feel quite ill.
+Herbert insisted on my consulting a
+doctor before I left town, and the
+doctor said my heart was all wrong
+and something was the matter with<span class="pagenum" id="Page_211">[211]</span>
+my nerves. But it was only the
+sense of guilt, that every day grew
+more oppressive. I thought I might
+feel better in the country. I had
+always disliked it, and now it seemed
+like a harbor of refuge, where I
+could be quiet with my children. I
+had grown to hate London. It was
+London that had played upon my
+weaknesses and drawn me into all
+my trouble. I had not run into debt
+in the country, and, after all, I had
+never been as happy as I was the
+two years after our marriage, when
+we had lived at Castlecourt Marsh
+Manor. Those were my <i>beaux jours</i>!
+How bright and beautiful they
+seemed now, when I looked back on
+them from these dark days of fear
+and disgrace!</p>
+
+<p>It was not much better in the<span class="pagenum" id="Page_212">[212]</span>
+country. A change of scene can not
+make a difference when the trouble
+is a dark secret. And that dark secret
+kept growing darker every day.
+I feared to speak of the diamonds to
+Herbert, and yet every letter that
+came for him filled me with alarm,
+lest it was either to say that they
+were found or that they were not
+found. Herbert went up to London
+at intervals and saw Mr. Gilsey, and
+at night when he came home I trembled
+so that I found it difficult to
+stand till he had told me all that Mr.
+Gilsey had said. Once when he was
+beginning to tell me that Mr. Gilsey
+had some idea they had traced the
+diamonds to Paris I fainted, and it
+was some time before they could
+bring me back.</p>
+
+<p>July was very hot, and I gave<span class="pagenum" id="Page_213">[213]</span>
+that as the cause of my changed appearance
+and listless manner. I was
+really in wretched health, and Herbert
+became exceedingly worried
+about me. He suggested that we
+should go on the Continent for a
+trip, but I shrank from the thought
+of it. I felt as if the sight of Paris,
+where the diamonds were waiting to
+be redeemed, would kill me outright.
+I did not want to leave Castlecourt
+Marsh Manor to go anywhere. I
+only wanted to be happy again&mdash;to
+be the way I was before I had taken
+the diamonds.</p>
+
+<p>And I knew now that this could
+never be till I told my husband. I
+knew that to win back my peace of
+mind I had to confess all, and hear
+him say he forgave me. I tried to
+several times, but it was impossible.<span class="pagenum" id="Page_214">[214]</span>
+As the moment that I had chosen for
+confession approached, my heart beat
+so that I could scarcely breathe, and
+I trembled like a person in a chill.
+With Herbert looking at me so kindly,
+so tenderly, the words died away
+on my lips, or I said something quite
+different to what I had intended saying.
+It was useless. As the days
+went by I knew that I would never
+dare tell, that for the rest of my
+life I would be crushed under the
+sense of guilt that seemed too heavy
+to be borne.</p>
+
+<p>It was late one afternoon in the
+middle of July that the crash came.
+Never, never shall I forget that day!
+So dark and awful at first, and
+then&mdash; But I must follow the story
+just as it happened.</p>
+
+<p>Herbert and I had had tea in the<span class="pagenum" id="Page_215">[215]</span>
+library. It was warm weather, and
+the windows that led to the terrace
+were wide open. Through them I
+could see the beautiful landscape&mdash;rolling
+hills with great trees dotted
+over them, all the colors brighter and
+deeper than at midday, for the sun
+was getting low. I was sitting by
+one of the windows looking out on
+this, and thinking how different had
+been my feelings when I had come
+here as a bride and loved it all, and
+been so full of joy. My hands hung
+limp over the arms of the chair. I
+had no desire to move or speak. It
+is so agonizing, when you are miserable,
+looking back on days that were
+happy!</p>
+
+<p>As I was sitting this way, Thomas,
+one of the footmen, came in with the
+letters. I noticed that he had quite<span class="pagenum" id="Page_216">[216]</span>
+a packet of them. Some were mine,
+and I laid them on the table at my
+elbow. Idly and without interest I
+saw that in Herbert&#8217;s bunch there
+was a small box, such as jewelry is
+sent about in. Thomas left the room,
+and I continued looking out of the
+window until I suddenly heard Herbert
+give a suppressed exclamation.
+I turned toward him, and saw that
+he had the open box in his hand.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;What does this mean?&#8221; he said.
+&#8220;What an extraordinary thing!
+Look here, Gladys.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>And he came toward me, holding
+out the box. It was full of cotton
+wool, and lying on this were a great
+quantity of unset diamonds of different
+sizes. My heart gave a leap into
+my throat. I sat up, clutching the
+arms of the chair.</p>
+
+
+
+<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_217">[217]</span>&#8220;What are they?&#8221; I said, hearing
+my voice suddenly high and loud.
+&#8220;Where did they come from?&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;I don&#8217;t know anything about
+them! It&#8217;s too odd! See what&#8217;s
+written on this piece of paper that
+was inside the box.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>He held out a small piece of paper,
+on which the creases of several folds
+were plainly marked. Across it, in
+typing, ran two sentences. I snatched
+the paper and read the words:</p>
+
+<div class="blockquot">
+
+<p>We don&#8217;t want <i>your</i> diamonds. You can
+keep them, and with them accept our kind
+regards.</p>
+</div>
+
+<p>The paper fluttered to my feet.
+I knew in a moment what it all
+meant. The thieves had discovered
+that the diamonds were paste, and
+had returned them. I was conscious<span class="pagenum" id="Page_218">[218]</span>
+of Herbert&#8217;s startled face suddenly
+charged with an expression of sharp
+anxiety as he cried:</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Why, Gladys, what is it? You&#8217;re
+as white as death!&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>He came toward me, but I motioned
+him away and rose to my
+feet. I knew then that the hour had
+come, and tho I suspect I <i>was</i> very
+white, I did not feel so frightened
+as I had done in the past.</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Those <i>are</i> your diamonds, Herbert,&#8221;
+I said, quietly and distinctly,
+&#8220;or, perhaps, I ought to say those
+are the substitutes for them. <i>Your</i>
+diamonds are in Paris, at Barriere&#8217;s,
+<i>au quatr&egrave;me</i>, on the Rue Croix des
+Petits Champs.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Gladys!&#8221; he exclaimed, &#8220;what
+do you mean? What are you talking
+about? You look so white and<span class="pagenum" id="Page_219">[219]</span>
+strange! Sit down, darling, and tell
+me what you mean.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;Oh, Herbert,&#8221; I cried, with my
+voice suddenly full of agony, &#8220;let
+me tell you! Don&#8217;t stop me. If
+you&#8217;re angry with me and hate me,
+wait till I&#8217;ve finished before you say
+so. I&#8217;ve got to confess it all. I&#8217;ve
+got to, dear. You must listen to me,
+and not frighten me till I have done;
+for if I don&#8217;t tell you now, I shall
+certainly die.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>And then I told&mdash;I told it all. I
+didn&#8217;t leave out a single thing. My
+first bills, and Bolkonsky, and the
+jeweler, and the pawnbroking place,
+and everything was in it. Once I
+was started, it was not so hard, and
+I poured it out. I didn&#8217;t try to
+make it better, or ask to be forgiven.<span class="pagenum" id="Page_220">[220]</span>
+But when it was all finished, I said,
+in a voice that I could hear was
+suddenly husky and trembling:</p>
+
+<p>&#8220;And now I suppose you&#8217;ll not
+like me any more. It&#8217;s quite natural
+that you shouldn&#8217;t. I only ask one
+thing, and I know, of course, I have
+no right to ask it&mdash;that is, that you
+won&#8217;t send me away from you. I
+have been very wicked. I suppose
+I ought to be put in prison. But,
+oh, Herbert, no matter what I&#8217;ve
+been, I&#8217;ve loved you! That&#8217;s something.&#8221;</p>
+
+<p>I could not go any further, and
+there was no need; for my dear husband
+did not seem angry at all. He
+took me, all weeping and trembling,
+into his arms, and said the sweetest
+things to me&mdash;the sort of things<span class="pagenum" id="Page_221">[221]</span>
+one doesn&#8217;t write down with a pen&mdash;just
+between him and me.</p>
+
+<p>And I?&mdash;I turned my face into
+his shoulder and cried feebly. No
+one knows how happy I felt except
+a person who has been completely
+miserable and suddenly finds her
+misery ended. It is really worth being
+miserable to thoroughly appreciate
+the joy of being happy again.</p>
+
+<p>Well, that is really the end of the
+statement. Herbert went to Paris
+a few days later and redeemed the
+diamonds, and they are now being
+set in imitation of the old settings,
+which are lost. I would not go to
+Paris with him. Nor will I go to
+London next season. Both places
+are too full of horrible memories.
+Perhaps some day I shall feel about<span class="pagenum" id="Page_222">[222]</span>
+them as I did before the diamonds
+were taken, but now I do not want
+to leave the country at all. Besides,
+we can economize here, and the four
+thousand pounds necessary to get
+back the stones was a good deal
+for Herbert to have to pay out
+just now. And then it is so sweet
+and peaceful in the country. Nothing
+troubles one. Oh, how delightful
+a thing it is to have an easy conscience!
+One does not know how
+good it is till one has lost it.</p>
+
+<p>This finishes my statement. I
+dare say it is a very bad one, for I
+am not clever at all. But it has the
+one merit of being entirely truthful,
+and I have told everything&mdash;just
+how wicked I was, and just why I
+was so wicked. Nothing has been<span class="pagenum" id="Page_223">[223]</span>
+held back, and nothing has been set
+down falsely. It is an unprejudiced
+and accurate account of my share
+in the Castlecourt diamond case.</p>
+
+
+<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop" />
+
+
+<div class="chapter">
+<div class="transnote">
+<p class="ph1">TRANSCRIBER&#8217;S NOTES:</p>
+
+<p>Obvious typographical errors have been corrected.</p>
+
+<p>Inconsistencies in hyphenation have been standardized.</p>
+
+<p>Archaic or alternate spelling has been retained from the original.</p>
+</div></div>
+<div style='margin-top:1.5em;margin-bottom:1em;'>*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG BOOK OF THE CASTLECOURT DIAMOND MYSTERY ***</div>
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