"I hope you'll excuse me."
"I'm to wait for the answer," he said, and took up his position beside his wares.
Constance opened the letter, with a hand trembling with eagerness. It ran:
Miss Wardour:—By all means keep the secret of the diamonds, and trust all to me. I think it best not to come to you, as Belknap keeps a constant watch upon your movements; dismiss him as soon as you like. Have no fears regarding Heath, I have his enemies well roped; be assured that I shall be on hand when needed, and when you see me expect to have the question of the diamond mystery forever set at rest. If you have anything to say, send verbal instructions by boy; he is to be trusted.
Yours sincerely,
Neil J. Bathurst.
Constance heaved a sigh of relief, as she finished the perusal of this note, and after a moment's reflection, she said:
"Tell Mr. Bathurst that I will obey his instructions, and that Mr. Belknap will be dismissed from my service to-day."
"Yes, madam. Now if you will please to select some of these things for the sake of appearance."
"Of course. You are very thoughtful. Are you a young detective too?"
The boy looked up with a gleam of pride in his eyes.
"I have been in Mr. Bathurst's service two years, madam."
"Oh, then I have no fears as to your discretion; so I will ask you a question, knowing that you are wise enough to refuse me an answer if I am asking too much."
The boy smiled, and stood attentive.
"May I ask if Mr. Bathurst is really now in W——, and when he arrived?"
The boy laughed an odd laugh, and full of mischief.
"Mr. Bathurst is here," he said. "I can't tell just when he did arrive."
"Then you did not come together?"
"We! Oh, no, indeed!" laughing again. "Mr. Bathurst is too smart for that."
Constance smiled with a returning feeling of ease and restfulness.
"Ah, I see I can trust Mr. Bathurst—and you, and lest I ask the wrong question if I continue, I will not ask another one; tell Mr. Bathurst I rely on him to straighten all the tangles; and that I like his messenger almost as much as his message."
"My, but ain't she a rum young lady," mused the boy, as he trudged away from Wardour Place with his lightened tray of ivories, "and handsome! jingo! if I was Mr. Bathurst I'd work for her, just to see her smile, and no pay; but Lord, he don't care, he don't; he'll work just as hard for any old crone; he's another rum one."
"Ah, what a relief," breathed Constance, reading for the third time Bathurst's reassuring note. "I begin to feel like myself once more. Now I am ready for you, Mr. private detective Belknap."
And, truly, Constance was herself once more. Poor Mrs. Aliston, sitting aloof, and almost abandoned during the days of her niece's perturbation of mind, was the first to receive the benefit of the returning sunshine. Constance, for reasons which any woman can guess, had kept her anxiety, concerning Doctor Heath, a profound secret from this good lady; and she, watching the signs of the times, made no comments, but speculated profoundly—and, wide of the mark.
"You should have gone with me to drive, yesterday, Con.," said Mrs. Aliston to Constance, who, sitting in her aunt's room, half an hour after the departure of her small messenger, was endeavoring to atone for her neglect of the past few days by chatting cheerily upon every subject but the one which was of deepest interest to herself.
"You should have been with me and seen Sybil Lamotte."
"Sybil! Did you call there?"
"Oh, no. I can't get on with Mrs. Lamotte well enough to brave such a call alone; she is too stately and non-committal for me."
"You don't understand her, auntie; but Sybil, did you speak with her?"
"Yes, we met just over the bridge, and Sybil stopped the carriage to ask after you; I think she is anxious to see you."
"Poor Sybil," said Constance, contritely, "I have neglected her of late; but we will drive there to-morrow; to-day I don't just feel like going out. Does Sybil look well, auntie?"
Mrs. Aliston leaned forward and lifted a plump forefinger to give emphasis to her words.
"Con., Sybil is dying or going mad, I can't tell which."
"Auntie! why?"
But Mrs. Aliston went on rapidly. "I never saw such a change; two weeks ago, one week ago, even the last time she came here, Sybil seemed nerved to bear her trouble, she carried herself well and seemed firm as a rock."
"Outwardly."
"Outwardly of course, one couldn't feel much secret pride, compelled to live under the same roof with that low man she has married; but Sybil is not calm outwardly now, she has lost all that brilliant color."
"So much the better, it was the outward token of a mental excitement that would soon drive her mad; Sybil should never have attempted to brave criticism, and bear her shame so publicly. Every time she has allowed that man to appear beside her in the streets of W——, has shortened her life as surely as slow poison could do it."
"Well! mark my word, she won't undergo the ordeal much longer; her eyes have lost their steady light and luster, and have a wild, frightened, expectant look impossible to describe; when a horse came suddenly up behind us, she started and almost screamed with fright, and I could see her hands tremble and her lips quiver for minutes after; hands, they are mere claws! and she is growing more shadowy every day."
"Auntie, hush! you have made me as nervous as you picture Sybil. I shall not rest until I see her."
"There is a gentleman to see you, Miss Constance," said Nelly, from the doorway, which position she had gained unnoticed by the two ladies.
Constance gave a nervous start, and then arose hastily.
"Who is it, Nelly?" she asked, merely for appearance sake, for she fully expected to see Mr. Belkhap.
"He didn't give his name, Miss, but said he come by appointment. It's the same gentleman as called a few days ago."
"Oh! then he won't detain me long," said the young lady, a resolute look coming into her eyes. "Auntie, I'll be with you again in a very few moments."
"He won't be very graciously received," was Mrs. Aliston's mental comment. "I know that gleam of the eye, and what it means."
But Mrs. Aliston was mistaken for once.
"Oh, Mr. Belknap," Constance said, sweeping into his presence with her proudest air, and smiling upon him her sweetest smile. "I am glad you have come."
"Promptness is our first lesson in my profession," replied he, with an affable smile.
"Yes! and have you learned anything new since Monday?"
"Nothing of importance. The party under suspicion has been entertaining a friend, and has been out very little."
"Oh!"
"One thing occurred on Monday last, not long after I had left you, which I can't help looking on with suspicion."
"Indeed! and may I hear it?"
"I think so. Without stopping to explain my modes of taking observations, I will give the bare fact. On Monday afternoon, while Doctor Heath was alone in his office, a boy, carrying on his head a tray of carvings, stopped at the foot of the stairs, set down his tray, ran up the flight like a young cat, and just as quietly, and slipped a note underneath the office door."
"Really!" in real surprise, and some disturbance of mind. "And you know nothing more about the note?"
"Nothing; but I shall soon I trust."
"Then you intend following up this case, Mr. Belknap?"
He looked up with a start of astonishment.
"Is not that your intention?"
"Decidedly not."
"But—have you consulted with Mr. Lamotte?"
"I have consulted with no one, sir. I thought over the matter once more, and decided to let my own mind guide my actions."
"But Mr. Lamotte thinks the case should be pushed."
"Mr. Lamotte is my neighbor, not my guardian. He is good enough to advise me sometimes; I think he would scarcely presume to dictate."
"Ah! then I am to consider myself no longer in your service?"
She bowed her head.
"After I have cancelled my indebtedness to you," she said, serenely.
With a look of vexation that he could not hide, the private detective drew from his pocket a memorandum book, and from thence a slip of paper, which he handed to Constance.
"That is my statement," he said.
She ran her eye over the itemized account, smiling a little as she did so. Then, rising swiftly, she said:
"Excuse me for one moment."
He bowed silently, and she went out, returning soon with a bank cheque, which she placed in his hands, saying:
"So ends the case of the Wardour diamonds. I shall not take it up again."
"What! do you really mean that?"
"I really do."
The detective opened his lips, as if about to remonstrate, then closed them suddenly, and moved toward the door.
"Do you still cling to your intention of notifying the town authorities, and setting them upon Doctor Heath?" she asked.
He turned toward her, with a peculiar smile upon his face.
"You have offered a reward for your jewels, I believe?"
"You mistake, I have offered a reward for the apprehension of the thief or thieves."
"And—as you have withdrawn the case, shall you withdraw your reward also?"
"By no means."
"Then—if I bring you both the jewels and the thieves my reward should be doubled?"
A queer gleam shot from her eyes, as she answered, without hesitation:
"And so I shall. Place my robbers in the county jail, and put my diamonds in my hands, and you shall receive a double reward."
"Then, for the present, I shall keep my clews in my own hands; Miss Wardour, I wish you good morning." And the private detective stalked from the room with the air of a man who was overflowing with desirable information.
"That's a queer woman," mused Mr. Belknap, as he turned his face away from Wardour. "I can't make her out. If it were not altogether too fishy, I should say she had a suspicion concerning those diamonds. I intend to look a little closer into the doings of Miss Wardour; and, blow hot, or blow cold, I'm bound to have my reward, if not by this, why by that."
With this enigmatical reflection, he looked up to behold, sitting by the roadside, a tramp of sinister aspect, who turned his head indolently as the detective approached, and then applied himself closer to a luncheon of broken victuals, eating like a man famished. Mr. Belknap, who, on this occasion, had visited Wardour on foot, came quite close upon the man, and then halted suddenly, putting his hand in his pocket, as if with charitable intent; instantly the tramp dropped his fragment of bread, and sprang to his feet, with outstretched hands, as if greedy for the expected bounty. He was a dirty, ragged fellow, undersized, but strong and sinewy, with an ugly scarred face, and a boorish gait and manner. As the private detective withdrew his hand from his pocket and tendered the tramp a small coin, a passer-by, had there been such, would have called the scene a tableaux of alms-giving; but what the detective said was:
"Well, Roake, here you are; are you ready for business?"
