E. Phillips Oppenheim

“ I sympathised with the Duke. In this faint, enchanting light, she was ravishingly beautiful.
"Do not be too confident, dear host," she murmured. "If women were only made of sterner stuff, a lock has never been fashioned which could keep a pearl lover from your jewel chamber." ”

“ Faraday remarked quietly. "Are the jewels kept in safes?"
The young man smiled.
"The room in which they are is in itself a safe. There are steel shutters to the windows, and steel safes let into the wall. There is a man on guard outside, day and night, and the only key in existence which could unlock the safes is in the possession of the Duke himself."
My eyes met Leonard's. For the first time I understood the only three words of admonition which we had received:
Watch the Duke. ”

“ I assured her. "Where the chief stands sometimes I can't quite make up my mind, but I don't think a jewel robbery, even on such a scale as this, is quite in his line. If our presence here has anything to do with jewels at all, and I think it has," I added, dropping my voice, "I should say that we were here indirectly to aid their guardians."
"Then why doesn't the Duke mention it to us?" she asked curiously.
"It's beyond me," I confessed.
She laid her hand upon my arm and drew me very near indeed.
"Maurice," she whispered, "there's something wrong about Faraday." ”

“ The Duke, as you may have noticed, is very much in love with the Princess of Chantilly. The Princess is one of those women in whom the love of jewels amounts to a passion. The Lorringham pink pearls are, as you may know, priceless. More than anything in the world the Princess desires to wear those pearls. ”

“ Fancy being in constant possession of a key which secures a treasure like that!"
"And you mean to say that no one has ever made any attempt to steal them?" Rose asked.
"Once only, twenty-two years ago, in the late Duke's time," Formby admitted. "A gang of burglars—they say that Charles Peace was one of them—broke into the Castle, but they never got anywhere near the room. Soon after that these shutters were built, and the safes let into the wall, and quite recently an American expert came over, who designed the lock. Robbery is now an impossibility." ”

“ I hastened to assure him. "I just wondered, that's all."
"The Duke," he told me impressively, "is one of the richest men in England. He spends money in a princely fashion but he has never yet succeeded in spending half his income. What about a game of snooker—you and Cotton, too, if he likes? We are breaking up after this. Sir Charles wants to dance."
I left Cotton there and went in search of Rose. I found her on the balcony in our own sitting room, looking down at the guests—strange, picturesque figures as they strolled about the moon-dappled lawn, listening to the music. ”

“ Then from the spot where the arm had come, a figure dressed in black stole out, the figure of a man of medium height, without betraying collar or shirt front, black as a bat save for the pale blur of an indistinguishable face, and noiseless. ”

“ Leonard modestly pleaded guilty, and our host showed his first signs of real interest.
"You'll play for the Castle this afternoon?" he begged. "We're playing the rest of the County, and they're bringing a pretty hot side. Our batting's all right but our bowling's rotten."
"I haven't played for two years," Leonard said, a little doubtfully.
"At three o'clock," the Duke announced, ignoring Leonard's hesitation. "You'll find a couple of pros down at the nets if you want a knock first. Don't give your bowling away too much, as some of the enemy are prowling around." ”

“ Thomson explained, "in the trust deed relating to the jewels they can none of them be moved outside the United Kingdom. The Princess would never live in England for more than a month or so in the year, which means that she would be separated from the jewels she loves for the greater part of the time. The Duke has taken every sort of legal opinion, and there is no doubt that if they were stolen from the Castle and returned to him in some foreign country, there is no law which could compel him to bring them back here. ”

“ Lister," he protested, "if the man Edwards had been drugged as you suggest, could he have attacked you in the way he did and got the better of you in a scrap? Further, how was it possible for any one to open the door of the jewel chamber without a key?"
He rolled up the sleeve of his flannel shirt a little higher, touched the spring of his platinum bracelet, showed us the key and replaced it. I said nothing. I continued to watch the Duke's face.
"Perhaps the most satisfactory part of your hallucination," he went on, "is the fact that the jewels have neither been disturbed nor removed. ”

“ I observed, "I don't wonder the Duke thought I was a meddlesome idiot."
"His Grace has probably forgiven you," Mr. Thomson remarked, "for the Princess has relented at last. If you buy an evening paper on your way home, you will see that they were married by special license this afternoon." ”

“ The young man lowered his voice a little. There was inherited awe in its inflexion.
"The Lorringham pink pearls," he said, "are the most famous in history, although they are very seldom seen. They were last worn, in fact, by Eleanor, Duchess of Lorringham, at Queen Victoria's wedding. The seven tiaras are famous throughout the world. The earliest dates from the time of Charles the First."
"And they are really on view?" Rose asked.
"Not to the public. Whenever there is a house party here, they are generally shown to the guests."
"They are immensely valuable, these jewels?" Faraday enquired. ”

“ Leonard persisted.
"Not the slightest," I admitted. "Of course, this place is a perfect treasure house. They say that the jewels alone are insured for more than two millions. There may be some robbery scheme on."
"Perhaps," Rose suggested, "we are to be the thieves. In that case, I'll keep one of the famous pink pearls if I have to swallow it." ”

“ There were eleven altogether, and the watch for the next twenty-four hours had just been put in. For the first time I saw there the name of Edwards. He was on duty, it seemed, from three to six on the following morning. ”