one but myself had watched the scene with the eyes of
love; besides, and this must be remembered, most people, among whom
I ventured to count the police officials, were mainly interested in
proving Mr. Durand guilty, while I, with contrary mind, was bent on
establishing such facts as confirmed the explanations he had been
pleased to give us, explanations which necessitated a conviction, on
Mrs. Fairbrother's part, of the great value of the jewel she wore, and
the consequent advisability of ridding herself of it temporarily, if,
as so many believed, the full letter of the warning should read: "Be
warned, he means to be at the ball. Expect trouble if you are found
wearing the great diamond."

True, she may herself have been deceived concerning it. Unconsciously to
herself, she may have been the victim of a daring fraud on the part of
some hanger-on who had access to her jewels, but, as no such evidence
had yet come to life, as she had no recognized, or, so far as could be
learned, secret lover or dishonest dependent; and, moreover, as no gem
of such unusual value was known to have been offered within the year,
here or abroad, in public or private market, I could not bring myself to
credit this assumption; possibly because I was so ignorant as to credit
another, and a different one,--one which you have already seen growing in
my mind, and which, presumptuous as it was, kept my courage from failing
through all those dreadful days of enforced waiting and suspense. For I
was determined not to intrude my suggestions, valuable as I considered
them, till all hope was gone of his being righted by the judgment
of those who would not lightly endure the interference of such an
insignificant mote in the great scheme of justice as myself.

The inquest, which might be trusted to bring out all these doubtful
points, had been delayed in anticipation of Mr. Fairbrother's return.
His testimony could not but prove valuable, if not in fixing the
criminal, at least in settling the moot point as to whether the stone,
which the estranged wife had carried away with her on leaving the
house, had been the genuine one returned to him from Tiffany's or the
well-known imitation now in the hands of the police. He had been located
somewhere in the mountains of lower Colorado, but, strange to say, It
had been found impossible to enter into direct communication with him;
nor was it known whether he was aware as yet of his wife's tragic death.
So affairs