letters?”
“Oh, you are well mated! The Princess now does me the honour of being jealous. Think of that! As if it were possible that I should take any interest in you, for I have seen real men in my time.”
The Prince regarded her with his most severe expression.
“Are you not flattering yourself somewhat, young lady?”
“Oh, dear no! I take it as the reverse of flattering to be supposed that I have any liking for such a ninny as you are. Flattering, indeed! And she has haughtily dismissed me, if you please.”
“The Princess has? What have you been saying to her?”
“Oh, I made the most innocent remark, and it was the truth too, which shows that honesty is not always the best policy. I merely told her that you had offered me ten times the amount of money she is paying me. You needn’t jump as if somebody had shot off a gun at your ear. You know you did make such an offer.”
“You confounded little mischief-maker,” cried the Prince in anger. “Did you tell her what it was for?”
“No. She did not ask.”
“I will thank you to apply the cleverness you seem to possess to the undoing of the harm you have so light-heartedly caused.”
“How can I? I am ordered to leave to-night, when I did so wish to stay and see the diamond dénouement.”
“You are not going to-night. I shall speak to the Princess about it if that should be necessary. Your mention of the diamonds reminds me that my respected father-in-law, Mr. Briggs, informs me that a celebrated detective, whom it seems he has engaged—Taylor, I think the name is—will be here to-morrow to explain the diamond mystery, so you see you have a competitor.”
“Oh, is Cadbury coming? That is too jolly for anything. I simply must stay and hear his explanation, for he is a very famous detective, and the conclusions he has arrived at must be most interesting.”
“I think some explanations are due to me as well. My worthy father-in-law seems to have commissioned this person without thinking it necessary to consult me in the least; in fact, Mr. Briggs goes about the castle looking so dark and lowering when he meets me, that I sometimes doubt whether this is my own house or not.”
“And is it?”
“Is it what?”
“Is it your own house? I was told it was mortgaged up to the tallest turret. Still, you can’t blame Mr. Briggs for being anxious about the diamonds; they belong to his daughter.”
“They belong to my wife.”
“True. That complicates matters a bit, and gives both Chicago and Vienna a right to look black. And now, your Highness, I must take my leave of you; and if the diamonds come safely in the morning, remember I intend to claim salvage on them. Meanwhile, I am going to write a nice little story about them.”
In the morning the diamonds arrived by special messenger, who first took a formal receipt for them, and then most obsequiously took his departure. By the same train came Mr. Cadbury Taylor, as modest as ever, but giving some indication in his bearing of the importance of the discovery his wonderful system had aided him in making. He blandly evaded the curiosity of Mr. Briggs, and said it would perhaps be better to reveal the secret in the presence of the Prince and Princess, as his investigations had led him to conclusions that might be unpleasant for one of them to hear, yet were not to be divulged in their absence.
“Just what I suspected,” muttered Mr. Briggs, who had long been convinced that the Prince was the actual culprit.
The important gathering took place in the library, the Prince, with the diamonds in his coat pocket, seated at the head of the long table, while the Princess sat at the foot, as far from her husband as she could conveniently get without attracting notice. Miss Baxter stood near a window, reading an important letter from London which had reached her that morning. The tall, thin detective and the portly Mr. Briggs came in together, the London man bowing gravely to the Prince and Princess. Mr. Briggs took a seat at the side of the table, but the detective remained standing, looking questioningly at Miss Baxter, but evidently not recognizing her as the lady who had come in upon him and his friend when they had entered the train.
“I beg the pardon of your Highness, but what I have to say had better be said with as few hearers as possible. I should be much obliged if this young person would read her correspondence in another room.”
“The young woman,” said the Prince coldly, “is secretary to her Highness, and is entirely in her confidence.”
The Princess said nothing, but sat with her eyes upon the table, apparently taking no note of what was going on. Rich colour came into her face, and, as the keen detective cast a swift glance at her, he saw before him a woman conscious of her guilt, fearing exposure, yet not knowing how to avert it.
“If your Highness will excuse my persistence,” began Mr. Taylor blandly.
“But I will not,” interrupted the Prince gruffly. “Go on with your story without so much circumlocution.”
The detective, apparently unruffled by the discourtesy he met, bowed profoundly towards the Prince, cleared his throat, and began.
“May I ask your Highness,” he said, addressing himself to the Princess, “how much money you possessed just before you left Vienna?”
The lady looked up at him in surprise, but did not answer.
“In Heaven’s name, what has that to do with the loss of the diamonds?” rapped out the Prince, his hot temper getting once more the better of him. Cadbury Taylor spread out his hands and shrugged his shoulders in protest at the interruption. He spoke with deference, but nevertheless there was a touch of reproach in his tone.
“I am accustomed to being listened to with patience, and am generally allowed to tell my story my own way, your Highness.”
“What I complain of is that you are not telling any story at all, but are asking instead a very impertinent question.”
“Questions which seem to you irrelevant may be to a trained mind most—”
“Bosh! Trained donkeys! Do you know where the diamonds are?”
“Yes, I do,” answered Cadbury Taylor, still imperturbable, in spite of the provocation he was receiving.
“Well, where are they?”
“They are in the vaults of your bank in Vienna.”
“I don’t believe it. Who stole them then?”
“They were put there by her Highness the Princess von Steinheimer, doubtless in security for money—”
“What!” roared the Prince, springing to his feet, his stentorian voice ringing to the ceiling. “Do you mean to insinuate, you villain, that my wife stole her own diamonds?”
“If your Highness would allow me to proceed in my own—”
“Enough of this fooling. There are the diamonds,” cried the Prince, jerking the box from his pocket and flinging it on the table.
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