Arthur Sherburne Hardy

“ But for a thief who steals a collar of diamonds, to leave behind him still greater booty, is unusual, whether this thief enters by force or is admitted by an accomplice."
"But, Monsieur Joly," interrupted Madame de Caraman, "you forget—for certainly I have read of such cases—that while engaged in a robbery one may be disturbed—some noise alarms the intruder—"
"Madame," said M. Joly, "the Curé of St.-Médard calls me a sceptic, because in seeking to account for what I do not understand I adopt always the most natural explanation. He, on the contrary, always adopts the most unnatural one. ”

“ It is well known that there exist people who willingly sacrifice the diamonds of others to meet their own obligations. I pass over that point, which is a delicate one, for another even more so. For I admit that I know that beside Madame de Caraman's bed—on the left as you face it, Monsieur Joly—there is in the wall an iron safe. ”

“ Personally I much prefer this heirloom to anything so banal as a collar of diamonds—a point, you observe, in my favor. But enough of myself. Let us pass to Madame de Caraman. Obviously she is above suspicion. For why should a woman steal her own diamonds? But why does a woman do anything? Who knows, perhaps Madame de Caraman, like many worthy persons, has made the acquaintance of Shylock on the Rialto of Paris. There is another possibility. The diamonds are not stolen, but lost. ”

“ It was only yesterday at four o'clock that I telegraphed him."
M. Joly said to himself that the promptness of the Prefecture was not that of Bourg-la-Reine, and that it had availed him nothing.
"Pray be seated," said Madame de Caraman.
"You have not yet seen Madame de Caraman, I suppose," said her husband.
Confused by the remark, M. Joly interrogated the blue eyes. "I have lost half a day," he replied stiffly.
"Not at all; you are in error, Monsieur Joly. No one loses any time in Bourg-la-Reine. Observe Madame de Wimpffen, for example. She grows younger every hour." ”

“ So the lady in white was not Madame de Caraman, and the waxed mustache did not belong to her husband. M. Joly revised his catalogue.
"Oh no, Monsieur Joly, believe me, you have lost nothing. On the contrary, let me explain to you." M. de Sade selected carefully a cigarette from a silver case and tapped it lightly on the table. "Every investigation of this nature naturally proceeds logically from a basis of facts. You expect to obtain these facts from Madame de Caraman, since it is she who has lost this precious collar of diamonds. Well, you will be disappointed. ”

“ In the salon? Show him out, by all means."
The transition from the modest garden of Monrepos to the terrace overlooking the valley of the Bièvre might well have filled him with envy, had not his entire attention been given to the three persons at the breakfast table. Between an officer in uniform and a tall aristocratic person with a waxed mustache sat a little lady in white, with so elusive a charm that the machinery which registered impressions that might prove useful to him failed to work with its customary automatic precision. ”

“ It vexed him to find that Madame de Caraman entertained so poor an opinion of official activity and appreciated so little the value of time. But he had taken matters into his own hands and made certain preliminary inquiries. Prom Paul, the butler, a little man prodigal of smiles and bows, he learned that Madame de Caraman and her cousin, Madame de Wimpffen, having dined in Paris at General Texier's, had returned at midnight; that on their return they had retired at once, while Captain de Wimpffen and M. de Sade had passed an hour at billiards before going to their rooms at one o'clock ”

“ She even opens the window and passes out into the park. For Monsieur de Wimpffen from his balcony sees the light of her lamp crossing the terrace, and on the hem of her cloak, which on her return she drops on the floor of the salon, are found some of those pine-needles with which the pines I see below the terrace strew the ground—"
"By what Canon of Art do we expose these charming Creatures to the Weather?" ”