In order to carry out his plans to the end, he did really require more money, and a considerable amount at that; else he would never have gone to the extent of robbing the visitors at the house where he was himself a guest; of actually robbing his expected bride of her necklace.
But, so far as that was concerned, he merely argued to himself that it was only anticipating the future. That he was taking only what he had a right to take—or would have a right to take later on.
But, when he did not keep his word, and Nan threatened him with exposure, he came very near being desperate.
He had arrived at that position where this was the last play out of the pack, so to speak. He had thrown aside every other chance he had in his career, for this one effort—to win a position in the world, a bride, and a fortune, all at one cast.
Jimmy Duryea was never a murderer at heart; never had he been cruelly inclined. He would go out of his way to do a kindness to another, if it in no way interfered with his own successes.
But that same characteristic worked to the opposite extreme, as well.
Woe betide the circumstance or the person who stood in the way of his success. He was thoroughly implacable in that respect. So, when that Friday night came, and he had not returned the jewels, and Nan threatened him—and when, the following morning, he discovered that Nan had gone to the city with Mrs. Remsen, causing him to believe that she would seek out Nick Carter and tell him all before her return—he realized that he was “up against it hard,” and that he was confronting the struggle of his life.
And so, as Nick Carter had just told Nan, the coming of the detective to the house that Monday afternoon was no surprise to Jimmy Duryea. It was only a confirmation of his expectation.
He had decided, long before Nick Carter appeared, just how he would conduct himself when that incident happened; and we have seen how he did it.