"Who was the woman, then?"
"I don't know. I never set eyes on her."
"Ah!" said I thoughtfully, "talking of eyes, was Mrs. Caldershaw's glass optic in her head when you spoke to her?"
"Yes, it was. And remember, please, that I never knew--as it appears from your ingenious theory--that the secret was hidden in that eye. I came at half-past four, and went into the back room, where I talked with Anne. I related to her what I had discovered, and asked her to tell me where the diamonds were. She said she did not know."
"She did not know," I echoed in utter astonishment.
"So she said. She declared that Uncle Gabriel had given her a cipher, in which he had concealed the whereabouts of the diamonds. Anne could not read it herself, so she had no idea of where the jewels were."
"Did you ask her for the cipher?"
"Yes, I did. She refused to give it to me."
"On what grounds?"
Gertrude grew red and looked nervously into the fire. "I may as well be quite frank," she said, with an outburst of candor. "Anne really did wish me to marry her nephew, and said she would give me the cipher if I promised to marry Joseph. I refused, and then----"