Essex County herald. [volume] (Guildhall, Vt.) 1873-1964, 1900-09-21

on they viii gradually cease altogether
Il CONSIDER il not improbable myself,
said Charles. with faint smile, and he
changel the conversation. really can
not put down hers all that be- Proceeded
T. say in the most cold bloodesl manner
concerning Carr and Aurelia, or, rs he
woull call them. Mr.. and Mrs Brown,
alias Sinclair. alias Tibhits. / for one
don't believe a word Of il. and don't see
how he could have found il all out, rs
he said he had. through the police AMI
people Of that kind. dol't consider 1t
l. at all resDectable conserving with the
police in that way; but then Charles
never was respectable, rs | told Jane az
ter he left. arousing excited feelings cl
her part which made me regret having
mentioned it,
According him. Carr, who hal never
been seen or heard of since the day aft r
the accident. was a professional thief
who had probably gone to - in India
with the express design of obtaining POI
session of Sir Johns jewels, which had.
till near the time of his death, been safe
L. slowed away in a bank in Calcutta.
He and his wife usually worked together;
| but on this occasion she hal. by means
of her engaging manners AMI youthful
appaarancr, struck M an acquaintance
abroad with Lady Mary Cunningham.
who. it will he remembered, had Jewels
of considerable value, with view 10
| those jewels.
Ralph she had used rs her tool. AM:
4
engaged herself to him in the expecta-
| ton that on her return to England she
might. by means of her intimacy with
the family, have an opportunity of taxi
ing them, Lady Mary having left them.
Willie abroad. with her banker in Lon
con. The opportunity came while she
was at Stoke Moreton, but in the mean
while Sir Johns priceless legacy had
arrived, having eluded her husbands
| vigilance. That certainly was true.
The Jewels were safe enough as long as
had anything to do with them.) Her
husband. who followed them, saw that
he was suspected and threw the game
into her hands, devoting himself entire
" to putting his own innocence beyond
=. doubt in which, with Ralph's assist
ance, he succeeded.
Il see now" continued Charles, "why
she split her tea when Carr arrived. She
was taken by surprise on seeing him
enter the room, having had probably no
idea that he was the friend whom you
had telegraphed for. | suspect too,
that same evening after the ball, when
she and Carr went together to find the
bag, it was to have last word to en-
able them to play into each Others
hands, being aware, If | remember
rightly, that father had gone to bed in
company with the key of the safe. and
that consequently the jewels might be
left within easier reach than usual.
No doubt she weighed the matter in her
own mind. and decided to give mp
all thought of Lady Mary's jewels. and
to secure those which We're ten times
their value. She could not have taken
both without drawing suspicion upon
herself. Like wise woman she left the
smaller, and went in for the larger prize:
a less clever one would have tried for
both and have failed. She failed, it is
true, by an oversight. She could never
have noticed that the piece Of paper
wrapped round the crescent was peculiar
in any way or she would not have left
it on the table among the Others. She
turned it off well when Evelyn recog
nized it, and made the most of her time
She was within an ace of success, but
fate was against her. And Carr lost nC
time either, for that matter, for | have
since found out that the telegram she
sent was to Birmingham, where he was
no doubt hiding, bidding him NEE
her in London earlier than had beer
: arranged Of course he set off for tn,
scene of the accident directly he hearC
:, of it, having received no further com
Z! munication from her. We only arrive,
1 ten minutes before him. For my part
q admired her more than | ever did be
fore when the truth about her came out
II | considered her to be pink-and-w hit
nonenity, without an idea beyond a naa
adjustment of pearl powder, and the
u found that she possessed brains enoug
J to outwit two minds of no mean calibel
3, namely, yours, Middleton. and hay own
Evelyn was the only person who had TIL
n slightest suspicion of her, and that hard
ly amounted to more than an instinct
n for she owned that she had no reason t
le show for it."
'e Il wonder Lady Mary was. so com
pletely taken in by her to start with"
S! said
l. Il DON'T" replied Charles II hay
even heard of elderly men being take
II in by young ones. Besides, suspicion
'r people are always liable to distrust thei
IL own nearest relatives, especially thei
prepossessing nephews, and then la
ie themselves open to be taken in by entir
II strangers. She wanted to get Ralp
II married, and she took fancy to thi
III girl, who was laying herself out to b
taken a fancy to. In short she trrlste
to her own judgment, and it faile
. her, as usual | wrote very kindl
Is to her from abroad, telling her how sill
le cerely | sympathized with her in he
u distress at finding how entirely he
81 Judgment had been at fault; how |;
u. mentally she had been deceived froi
first to last, and how much trouble sl
VI had been the innocent means of brins
z ing on the family. Il have had no repl,
re- Dear Aunt Mary! That reminds n
ot that she is in London now, and think
III call from me and a personal expressio
," OF sympathy might give her pleasure
And he rose to take his leave.
, had let Charles go without contradic
AZ ing word he had said, because, unfor
NC unately, was not in a position to do $
VII AS have said before, am not given