“Oh, the man saw father and dropped the jewels, and ran off down the corridor. Father chased him a little way, but, of course, it was no good; so he went back and shouted and rang every bell he could see and gave the alarm, but the man was never found. Still, he left the diamonds. That was the great thing, after all. You must look at them to-night at dinner. They really are wonderful. Are you a judge of precious stones at all?”
“I am, rather,” said Jimmy; “in fact, a jeweller I once knew told me I had a natural gift in that direction. And so, of course, Sir Thomas was pretty grateful to your father?”
“He simply gushed. He couldn’t do enough for him. You see, if the diamonds had been stolen I’m sure Lady Julia would have made Sir Thomas buy her another rope just as good. He’s terrified of her, I’m certain. He tries not to show it; but he is. And besides having to pay another hundred thousand dollars, he would never have heard the last of it. It would have ruined his reputation for being infallible and doing everything better than anybody else.”
“But didn’t the mere fact that the thief got the jewels and was only stopped by a fluke from getting away with them do that?”
Molly bubbled with laughter.
“She never knew. Sir Thomas got back to the hotel an hour before she did. I’ve never seen such a busy hour. He had the manager up and harangued him, and swore him to secrecy—which the poor manager was only too glad to agree to, because it wouldn’t have done the hotel any good to have it known. And the manager harangued the servants, and the servants harangued each other, and everybody talked at the same time, and father and I promised not to tell a soul; so Lady Julia doesn’t know a word about it to this day. And I don’t see why she ever should; though one of these days I’ve a good mind to tell Lord Dreever! Think what a hold he would have over them! They’d never be able to bully him again.”
“I shouldn’t,” said Jimmy, trying to keep a touch of coldness out of his voice. This championship of Lord Dreever, however sweet and admirable, was a little distressing.
She looked up quickly.
“You don’t think I really meant to, do you?”
“No, no,” said Jimmy hastily. “Of course not.”