The Scranton tribune. [volume] (Scranton, Pa.) 1891-1910, 1896-02-13
The Rqjah'S lH[eirlOOIn
by FLORENCE MARRYAT,
Author of Her Lord and riaster," etc.
Copyright lssei by Bachelor johnson and Bachel.r
rs this quite necessary"


quite Necessary. Sir Charles"
Then Ii l must speak. Mr.. Busby.
! my Stepmother has always been my
bitterest enemy with my late father.
4 From the day she entered this house
as Lady Ellesmere her aim has been to
keep me out of 1t. When my own
mother died and my father married
again l felt bound to adopt some pro-
fession and took up that of medicine.
/ 1t Is a wild profession. at least amongst
It's younger votaries. as doubtless YOU
know, and ] was as wild as my COM
panions. l dare say. but not worse.
But l used to think that there must be
some spy set upon my actions-every
| little frOlic was repeated to my father
with such exaggerations that he be-
came at constant variance with me.
and 1t was "a penalty to so home instead
| of a pleasure. | felt lonely and as IL
| had no home. and this feeling per-
haps, as much as any other. induced me
to marry, rather imprudently. as it
seemed at the time, young lady to
whom had become much attached"
''You are a married man, then, Sir
Charles?" I said.
Yes; have been married six months
now"
And your lady is in the house,
"She Is! l sent for her as soon as my
fathers will was made known to me-"
"Will you kindly proceed. and let me
know under what circumstances the
rajah's heirloom was missed"
1t was like this, Mr.. Busby. A week
before my father died. he sent for me
and accused me of having married Miss
Lascelles-that was the name or my
wife-without his consent. or knOwl-
edge. l retaliated by saying that he
had shown no interest in my proceed
ings lately. and therefore / did not con-
slider that l owed him any confidence.
| also demanded who II was who had
informed him of the fact He refused
to tell me. but fell into a terrible pas
sion. declaring that he had cut me out
of his will and left me dependent on the
bounty of my stepmother l was deep
ly mortified, but too proud to remon-
strate with him. We parted in anger,
and week after they wrote to tell me
he was dead, and that | was expected
to attend the funeral. ] came down
here in consequence, quite believing
that my fathers threats to me had been
carried out. Judge of my surprise
then. when the will was read after the
funeral, to find that they had been made
merely to frighten me--that ! inherited
all the property with the exception OF
settlement made upon his wife
at the time OF their marriage. including
the famous jewel, which was expressly
mentioned as family heirloom. But
when the solicitor came to look for the
jewels In the strong box in which they
had always been kept in my fathers
bedroom, they had vanished-there
was not q trace of them left. Upon
which. by his advice. / wired at once to
Scotland Yard for assistance, and for
bid .any of the servants leaving the
Gables till you had arrived"
you did wisely. Sir Charles. hut may
| ask If anyone has left the house even
for walk. since the will was read"
NO one that | am aware of. The
ladies' have kept closely to their own
rooms. The funeral took place only
the day before yesterday
"And how many inmates does the
house contain at the present mo-
ment?"
There is my stepmother, the
Dowag-r Lady k.llesmere-my wife,
Miss Craley, poor prote2e OF my late
father but she doesn't count. and the
servants. Goddard, the butler, has
known ms from baby, and so has the
upper housemaid, Nelson. The others
have been changed several times since
my father remarked: ] know little or
nothing of them"
"Will you describe these jewels to
me, as accurately as you can, Sir
Charles:'
Certainly. The center one was an
enormous emerald-that was surround
ed by a circle OF large brllliants-thOse
again by emeralds and rubies-then
brlliants. | can hardly describe the
effect of them to you. They blazed like
fire, and | have told you their esti
mated value"
100 valuable and too remarkable for
any common person to meddle with"
/ observed. ''If they have been stolen,
it has been done by practiced profess
sional thieves. Or-or-'
"Or-whom 2" demanded Sir Charles.
you don't imagine ! would steal my
own jewels. do you?'
Not exactly, Sir Charles. But sup