uld do nothing till he consented. If Mr. Bunfit
would see Mr. Greystock, and if Mr. Greystock would come to her and
tell her to submit,--she would submit. Ill as she was, she could
be obstinate, and Bunfit left the house without having been able
to finger that key which he felt sure that Lady Eustace carried
somewhere on her person.

As he walked back to his own quarters in Scotland Yard, Bunfit was by
no means dissatisfied with his morning's work. He had not expected to
find anything with Lady Eustace, and, when she fainted, had not hoped
to be allowed to search. But he was now sure that her ladyship was
possessed, at any rate, of some guilty knowledge. Bunfit was one
of those who, almost from the first, had believed that the box was
empty when taken out of the hotel. "Stones like them must turn up
more or less," was Bunfit's great argument. That the police should
already have found the stones themselves was not perhaps probable;
but had any ordinary thieves had them in their hands, they could
not have been passed on without leaving a trace behind them. It
was his opinion that the box had been opened and the door cut
by the instrumentality and concurrence of Lord George de Bruce
Carruthers,--with the assistance of some well-skilled mechanical
thief. Nothing could be made out of the tall footman;--indeed,
the tall footman had already been set at liberty, although he was
known to have evil associates; and the tall footman was now loud in
demanding compensation for the injury done to him. Many believed that
the tall footman had been concerned in the matter,--many, that is,
among the experienced craftsmen of the police force. Bunfit thought
otherwise. Bunfit believed that the diamonds were now either in the
possession of Lord George or of Harter and Benjamin, that they had
been handed over to Lord George to save them from Messrs. Camperdown
and the lawsuit, and that Lord George and the lady were lovers. The
lady's conduct at their last interview, her fit of fainting, and
her clutching for the key, all confirmed Bunfit in his opinion. But
unfortunately for Bunfit he was almost alone in his opinion. There
were men in the force,--high in their profession as detectives,--who
avowed that certainly two very experienced and well-known thieves had
been concerned in the business. That a certain Mr. Smiler had been
there,--a gentleman for whom the whole police of London entertained a
feeling which approached to veneration, and that