ed to the millionaire, and said thoughtfully:

"I can never make up my mind, in the case of one of these old diadems,
whether one ought not to take out the stones and have them re-cut. Look
at this emerald now. It's a very fine stone, but this old-fashioned
cutting does not really do it justice."

"Oh, no, no: you should never interfere with an antique, historic piece
of jewellery. Any alteration decreases its value--its value as an
historic relic," cried the millionaire, in a shocked tone.

"I know that," said the Duke, "but the question for me is, whether one
ought not to sacrifice some of its value to increasing its beauty."

"You do have such mad ideas," said the millionaire, in a tone of
peevish exasperation.

"Ah, well, it's a nice question," said the Duke.

He snapped the case briskly, put it back on the shelf, locked the safe,
and handed the key to the millionaire. Then he strolled across the room
and looked down into the street, whistling softly.

"I think--I think--I'll go home and get out of these motoring clothes.
And I should like to have on a pair of boots that were a trifle less
muddy," he said slowly.

M. Gournay-Martin sat up with a jerk and cried, "For Heaven's sake,
don't you go and desert me, my dear chap! You don't know what my nerves
are like!"

"Oh, you've got that sleuth-hound, Guerchard, and the splendid Formery,
and four other detectives, and half a dozen ordinary policemen guarding
you. You can do without my feeble arm. Besides, I shan't be gone more
than half an hour--three-quarters at the outside. I'll bring back my
evening clothes with me, and dress for dinner here. I don't suppose
that anything fresh will happen between now and midnight; but I want to
be on the spot, and hear the information as it comes in fresh. Besides,
there's Guerchard. I positively cling to Guerchard. It's an education,
though perhaps not a liberal education, to go about with him," said the
Duke; and there was a sub-acid irony in his voice.

"Well, if you must, you must," said M. Gournay-Martin grumpily.

"Good-bye for the present, then," said the Duke. And he went out of the
room and down the stairs. He took his motor-cap from the hall-table,
and had his hand on the latch of the door, when the policeman in charge
of it said, "I beg your pardon, sir, but have you M. Guerchard's
permission to leave the house?"

"M. Guerchard's permission?" said the Duke haughtily. "What has M.
Guerchard to do with me? I a