etrimental rather than otherwise, and would tend to disperse that
feeling of mystery which is so gratifying. No suggestion had in truth
been made to Lord George de Bruce Carruthers as to the searching of
his lordship's boxes and desks. That very eminent detective officer,
Mr. Bunfit, had, however, called upon Lord George more than once, and
Lord George had declared very plainly that he did not like it. "If
you'll have the kindness to explain to me what it is you want, I'll
be much obliged to you," Lord George had said to Mr. Bunfit.

"Well, my lord," said Bunfit, "what we want is these diamonds."

"Do you believe that I've got them?"

"A man in my situation, my lord, never believes anything. We has to
suspect, but we never believes."

"You suspect that I stole them?"

"No, my lord;--I didn't say that. But things are very queer; aren't
they?" The immediate object of Mr. Bunfit's visit on this morning
had been to ascertain from Lord George whether it was true that his
lordship had been with Messrs. Harter and Benjamin, the jewellers,
on the morning after his arrival in town. No one from the police
had as yet seen either Harter or Benjamin in connexion with this
robbery; but it may not be too much to say that the argus eyes of
Major Mackintosh were upon Messrs. Harter and Benjamin's whole
establishment, and it was believed that, if the jewels were in
London, they were locked up in some box within that house. It was
thought more than probable by Major Mackintosh and his myrmidons that
the jewels were already at Hamburg; and by this time, as the major
had explained to Mr. Camperdown, every one of them might have been
reset,--or even recut. But it was known that Lord George had been at
the house of Messrs. Harter and Benjamin early on the morning after
his return to town, and the ingenuous Mr. Bunfit, who, by reason
of his situation, never believed anything and only suspected, had
expressed a very strong opinion to Major Mackintosh that the necklace
had in truth been transferred to the Jews on that morning. That there
was nothing "too hot or too heavy" for Messrs. Harter and Benjamin
was quite a creed with the police of the west end of London. Might it
not be well to ask Lord George what he had to say about the visit?
Should Lord George deny the visit, such denial would go far to
confirm Mr. Bunfit. The question was asked, and Lord George did not
deny the visit. "Unfortunately, they hold acceptances of mine," said
Lord