"Not when you know the circumstances, as you shall hear."
At this point Drelincourt sat down, and motioned Rodd to do the same.
"To go back to the affair of twenty years ago," resumed the latter. "It seems Gumley's cupidity had been excited by the sight of the jewelry worn at different times by Mrs. Drelincourt, besides which he had sworn to be revenged on her for the horsewhipping she had administered to him a few days before the robbery. He obtained access to the dressing room through the window, by means of a ladder planted outside, purloined by him from one of the outhouses, and duly taken back when he had accomplished his purpose. He had chosen a time when he knew there was not much likelihood of his being interrupted, Lucille, Mrs. Drelincourt's maid, who slept next her mistress' dressing room, being out of the way on leave of absence. Having found the jewel casket, he emptied it of its contents, and got back to his own room at the east lodge by the way he had come. With the exception of the locket afterwards found on him----"
"To account for his possession of which I perjured myself."
"He hid away the whole of the stolen property in the thatch of the lodge, where the police failed to discover it. I ought here to mention that Gumley had a bed room at the east lodge, which he had not yet given up, although Mrs. Drelincourt had discharged him some days before. Well, finding it impossible, after his release from prison, to obtain possession of the jewelry, he left the neighborhood, only coming back to it about a week ago. At last his long waited for opportunity had arrived. As you know, a new lodge has just been built. The old one was untenanted and on the point of being pulled down. A night or two since Gumley forced his way into it, and there, under the thatch, he found the little parcel he had hidden twenty years ago. What followed is known to you."
"And yet--fools that we are--how many of us are ready to affirm that blind chance alone is the arbiter of our destinies!" Drelincourt sighed heavily, then he rose and took a turn or two across the floor, after which he resumed his seat.
"Ormsby tells me that he and his brother dunderheads have made up their minds to commit Gumley for trial on the capital charge."
"There is little doubt but they will do so."
"When do the assizes take place?"
"Three weeks from now."