“‘No. She knows that Wear holds you in her power somehow, but doesn’t know the actual facts. I was obliged to get up a plausible yarn as wide of the real truth as I could, in order to induce her to keep Wear on, now that she is so impertinent, until I could get rid of her diplomatically.’
“‘And when must I go?’
“‘To-morrow night, at nine o’clock, a certain Captain Cochrane will call to escort you to his ship. You must have everything in readiness to leave with him. But you will not be able to take any luggage with you, as Wear must not know you are going away.’
“‘Send Wear out of the way somewhere. Pack her off to the Crystal Palace for the day.’
“‘It won’t do. Our servants are not used to treats, and Wear would suspect something in a minute. Besides, I don’t want anybody except Captain Cochrane to know that I am cognisant of your departure. It may save a good deal of awkwardness for me in future.’
“This conversation, as you may easily believe, was listened to by me with the greatest eagerness, and I was desperately afraid of missing a word. Here was full proof to me, of Harley’s innocence. But my knowledge was, I knew, useless as evidence, since I had no witness but myself to bring forward. True, there is Wear. But she may be bought over by the other side. And at present our task must be the frustration of Hugh Stavanger’s attempt to escape with the diamonds. For, in spite of his assertion to the contrary, I believe him to be still in possession of the greater part of the stolen property. If he goes away with Captain Cochrane, he will contrive to take his booty on board with him.
“There is one thing that makes my discoveries incomplete. Otherwise I would have come home to tell you all this, never to return here, instead of sitting up all night to write this. The name of the ship in which Hugh Stavanger is to sail did not transpire, so Hilton will not be able to do anything to help until to-morrow night. He must then watch for the arrival of this captain, and be prepared to follow him and his intended companion wherever they may go. It may be necessary to try to obtain a passage with them. Is there any office on board a ship that Hilton can take?
“To-morrow night, if I see an opportunity of hearing what these bad people have to say to each other, I will try to gain some additional information, for use in case Hilton fails to get on board with them, or to intercept Hugh Stavanger’s attempt to escape. Perhaps I may learn something more during the day. But this meeting is too early for me to have any prospect of hiding unobserved, for the rest of the household will all be up and stirring. Even if I could secrete myself again, I might not be able to escape detection and reach my own room unobserved, as I have been able to do this last night.
“The fact is, I feel somewhat unnerved, and am afraid of betraying myself. In a few hours I must go through the farce of teaching Fanny, although I feel dead tired already. I shall not need to feign a headache. Still, if needs were, I could spend many a night in the work of love upon which I have entered, and the day will wear away as others do. Then as soon as I feel that my further presence here is useless, I will try to slip out unobserved and exchange experiences with Hilton, if there is time before the two men leave the house. As you know, I brought very little luggage with me, and I will put on as many clothes as possible, leaving the few things I cannot use. They are not marked, and I could not be traced through them, especially as I am dyed and painted to look like somebody else for awhile.”
This was all. Annie left off abruptly. Possibly she had feared interruption; or had had only time enough to catch the early morning post. Anyhow, she had done her part of the investigations well, and had sent a very comprehensive report.