Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1896-02-15

matter, Sir Charles, you must please to be
quite candid with me. You must not from
false delicacy keep back anything!
well, then, will say that. until my IA
Their married again, never thought it pos
s;ble that he would disregard the rajahs
wish concerning them!'
THE late baronet married a second time,
| then? The present Lady Eilesmere is not
your nlother!"
"oh. dear ro! My mother died when
was about sixteen"
"And your age, Sir Charles?"
twenty-five on my last birthday
This lady whom your late father mar
ried, is she young?"
Very young, in comparison with him
about thirty, l should Think"
And-nardon the question-may 1 ask II
you are, and always have been, on good
terms with this lady, Sir Charies?'
The young man looked distressed. Before
he answered ME he glanced UP into my lace
and inquired:
us this quite necessary"
"Quite necessary, Sir Charlesp'
Then, il 1 must speak, Mr. Busby, my
stepmother has always been my btterest
enemy with my late father! From the day
she entered this house as Lady E!lesmerc,
Ter aim has been to keep me out Of 1t. When
MY own mother died and my father married
again I felt bound to adopt some profess
sion and took up that CT medicine. 1t Is g
wild profession, at least amongst It's young
er votaries, as doubtless you know. and L
was as wild as my companions, dare say,
but not worse. But / used 10 think that
there must be some spy set upon my ac-
tions-eVery little frol.c was repeated to my
father with such eXaggerations that he be-
came at constant variance with me. and it
was penalty to go home instead of a pleas
Ere. 1 felt lonely and as if l had no home,
ard this feeling perhaps, as much az any
other, induced me to marry, rather i'm
prudcntly as it see med at the time, a young
lady to whom bad become much attached"
"You a married man, then, Sir
Charles?" I said.
+ hI1 mo ial
row.
"and your lady is in the kouse?'
'Shc is I sent for her as soon as my ia
Tiers will was made known to nle!''
viii You kindly proceed and let Ilc
know under what circumstances the rajahs
heirloom was Tissed?'
ut was Ike this. Mr.. Busby. A week be-
fore my father died he sent for me and ac-
cused ME of haying married Miss Lascellcs
that was the name of my wi!e-without
his consent knowledge. I Tetalated by
saying that he had shown no interest in my
proceedings lately. and therefore I did not
consider that l owed him any confidence.
also damarled who it was who ba' IN
formed him of the fact. He refused to tell
ne. hut fell into a terrible passion, declaring
that he had cut me out of his viii and left
me- dependent on the bounty CT my step
mother. l was deeply mortified. but too
prond to demonstrate with him. We parted
in anger, and q week after they wrote to
tell me he dead. and that was expected
to attend the funeral. I came down here
in consequel CO, quite believing that my
fathers threats to ne had been carried ont.
Judge of my surprise tnen. when the VIII
WIS read after the funeral, to find that they
bad been made merely to fr:Ghten me-that
I Inherited all the property with the cxceD-
ton of q settlement made upon his wife al
the time Of their marriage, including the
famous jewels. which were expressly men
toned 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 he'd room they had van
ishcd-there was rot trace of them left.
Upon which. by his advice, I wired at once
to Scona::d Yard for assistance. and forbid
any of the servants leaving The Gables till
you had arrived"
''You did Wisely. Sir Charles, but may I
ask il any one has left the house, even for
4 walk, since the viii was read?"
NO enc, that ! am aware OF. The lad IS
have kept closely to their own rooms. The
funeral took place only the day before yes
Ana how many inmates does the house
contain at the present m7nlent?"
There Is my stepmnther. the Dowagcr
Lady EEesmcra: my wife, Miss Craley, a
poor pro:ase of my late father; but sha
the butler has known me from a baby.
and so has the upper housamail. Ne.son.
The otheIs have bean changed several
times since my father remarked; l know
little or nothing of them!'
"WiH YOU describe these jewels to ne, as
accurately. IS you can. SIR Charles?" ~
1
nous emerlid-that was surrounded by a
circle of large br'lliants-thosa again by
cHeraids AMI rub'es-then bsilliants; I can
hardy describe the effect of them to you.
They blazel i,Se FIRE, and 1 have told yea
their estimated vaIce."
TOO valuable and remarkable for any
common person to NEEDLE witE,'' I OBJ
served. ''If they have been stolen, it has
been done by practiced professional thieves,
Or--Cr-"
"Or-whom?'' demanded Sir Charles. "You
don't imagine 1 would steal my own jew
els do you?''
Not exactly. SIR Charles. But I suppose
You know It VIII be necessary fer me to ex-
anime everybody Who may be in the house.
separately, and to make thorough search
and Investigation of all the property con-
tanned in it?
Il suppose so. With whom will you be-
2in?"
Wei, the next person of Importance
after yourself would seem to be the Dow
ager Lady Ellesmere. Would it be conve-
nient for me to interview her before l pro-
cea1 to the others?"
Certainly. 1 believe she is expecting You
with some anxiety. VIII you accompany
me to her bouaoir?"
1 rose and followed him from the room
He did not appear to entertain any suspi-
cion of his stepmother with regard to the
robbery, but to my pract.ced eye it seemed