to be amused
by the coincidence that the things stolen from Valley House were among
those he had wanted to buy.

Knight thought, however, that even if the clever thief or thieves had
heard of Van Vreck's whim, no attempt would be made to dispose of the
spoil to him. The elderly millionaire, though one of the most eccentric
men living, was known as the soul of honour.

The relationship between young Mrs. Nelson Smith and Lord Annesley-Seton
was touched upon in the papers; and though it was irrelevant to the
subject in hand, mention was made of the Nelson Smiths' plan to live in
London.

This gave Constance her chance. At an impromptu luncheon at the Knowle
Hotel, before the intended dinner party at Valley House, she referred
to the interest Society would begin to take in this "romantic couple."

"Everybody will have fallen in love with you already," she said, "from
those snapshots in the _Looking Glass_. They make you both look such
darlings--though they don't flatter either of you. All the people we know
will be clamouring to meet you, so you must hurry and find a nice house,
in the right part of town, before some other sensation comes up and
you're forgotten. How would it be if you took _our_ house for a couple
of months, while you're looking round? Naturally, if you _liked_ it, you
could keep it on. We'd be delighted, for we have to let it when we can,
and it would be a pleasure to think of you in it."

"If we're in it, you must both come and stay, and not only 'think' of us,
but be with us: mustn't they, Anita?" Knight proposed. Of course Annesley
said yes, and meant yes. Not that she really wanted her duet with Knight
to be broken up into a chorus, but she longed to succeed as a woman of
the world, since that was what he wanted her to be; and she realized that
Lady Annesley-Seton's help would be invaluable.

So, through the theft at Valley House and the developments therefrom,
the hidden desires of Nelson Smith and the daughter of the deposed
Sugar King accomplished themselves, Connie still believing that she had
engineered the affair with diplomatic skill, and Knight laughing silently
at the way she had played into his hands.

Detectives were set to work by the two insurance companies, who hoped to
trace the thief and discover the stolen Fragonards and the jade Buddha;
but their efforts failed; and at the dinner party given in honour of the
new cousins, Lord and Lady Annesley-Seton rejoiced openly in their g