"

"Possibly," admitted the colonel. "Oh, I wish I'd never mixed up in
this! I'm sorry for young Darcy, and I believe-- Oh, well, what's
the use of talking now! I'm in it and I must see it through. So Larch
is going to visit his wife?"

"Yes. He's either sent her a present or is going to. I couldn't quite
catch which."

"What sort of present, Jack?"

"A diamond cross."

"What?" and the colonel had suddenly to modulate his voice or he would
have attracted more attention that he cared to. "A diamond cross? Are
you sure about that, Young?"

"Sure! Why not? I don't see anything queer there. He might buy her a
diamond cross as a sort of forgiveness gift. Same idea Harry King had
you know, but a little higher class, that's all.

"You know, Colonel, these things are about alike. The man on Water
Street gets drunk and brings his wife home a quart of oysters as a
peace offering. The man on the boulevard does the same thing and
patches up the break with a pearl pendant. It's all the same, only
different."

"Yes, I suppose so. I didn't know you were a philosopher, Jack."

"I'm not. It's just common sense."

"But a diamond cross! And if Larch is losing money--"

"Oh, well, he may have held out some, or maybe the diamond cross isn't
so elaborate. You know they take a lot of little diamonds now, set 'em
in a cluster and make 'em look as good as a solitaire. Anyhow Larch
has been boasting to King that there's to be a diamond cross present.
And there's another angle to it."

"What's that, Jack?"

"Well, there's been some talk between Larch and King about some big
diamonds that have been sold of late. I couldn't catch whether King
had sold them or Larch. Anyhow they brought quite a sum of money.
Maybe they were stolen from the jewelry stock."

"Not unless Mrs. Darcy had some of which James Darcy knew nothing."

"Well, I saw Larch at one time, and Harry King at another, have one of
those white tissue paper packages that jewelers keep diamonds in. I
didn't get a glimpse at the stones themselves. I had to be a bit
cautious you know, and, even now, I think they're suspicious of me
here. If it wasn't that King drinks so much, though he manages to walk
and talk straight. I believe he'd try to pump me. Anyhow, I thought
I'd better let you know what I'd heard."

"Jack, I'm glad you did. So Larch has sent, or is going to send, his
wife a diamond cross! Well, then, Grafton might be right about th