'There is the treasure, Valmont,' he cried, 'on condition that you do not molest the culprit.'
'Or the accessory after the fact,' gurgled Lady Alicia in smothered tones, with a hand clasping together her high-necked dress at the throat.
'We trust to your invention, Valmont, to deliver that necklace to uncle with a detective story that will thrill him to his very heart.'
We heard the clock strike eight; then a second later smaller bells chimed a quarter-past, and another second after they tinkled the half-hour. 'Hallo!' cried Haddon, 'Ed has attended to the clock himself. What a good fellow he is.'
'I looked at my watch; it was twenty-five minutes to nine.
'Was the ceremony genuine then?' I asked.
'Ah, Valmont,' said the young man, patting his wife affectionately on the shoulder, 'nothing on earth can be more genuine than that ceremony was.'
And the volatile Lady Alicia snuggled closer to him.