as
well as I could, and pacified Raoul, who thought he had seen someone
come in. I hinted that it must have been the fiance of a pretty
housemaid I have. It was not till after one that Ivor Dundas finally got
away; this I swear to you. What happened to him after leaving my house
you know better than I do, for I haven't seen him since, as you are well
aware."

"He says he found a letter from the thief in his pocket, and went to the
address named; that he couldn't get a cab and walked. But you have read
the papers,"

"Yes, and I know how loyal he has been to me. Why, he wouldn't even tell
about the diamonds, much less my letters!"

"As for these letters, you are still anxious about them, Mademoiselle?"

"My hope is that Mr. Dundas found and had time to destroy them, rather
than risk further delay."

"You would like to know their fate?"

"I would indeed."

"Well, I applaud the Englishman's chivalry. Vive l'Entente Cordiale!"

"You are a man to understand such chivalry, Monsieur. Now that I've
humbled myself, can't you give me hope that he'll soon be released, and
yet that--that I shan't be made to suffer for my confession to you? It's
clear to you, isn't it, that the murder must have been done long before
he could have reached the house in the Rue de la Fille Sauvage from the
Rue d'Hollande?"

"Yes, that is clear. And needless to say, I believe your statement,
Mademoiselle. You are brave and good to have come forward as you have,
without being called upon. There are still some formalities to be gone
through before Mr. Dundas can be released; but English influence is at
work in high quarters, and after what you have told me, I think he will
not much longer be under restraint. Besides, I may as well inform you,
dear lady, that not ten minutes before you arrived this morning I
received satisfactory news of the arrest of two Englishmen at Frankfort,
who seem to have been concerned in this business in the Rue de la Fille
Sauvage. They certainly travelled with the murdered man; and a friend of
his called Gestre, just back from Marseilles, has sworn that these
persons were formerly partners of Janson, the deceased. If Janson stole
the necklace from Monsieur du Laurier, with this pair as accomplices,
and then tried to cheat them, a motive for the crime is evident. And we
are getting at Janson's record, which seems to be a bad one--a notorious
one throughout Europe, if he proves to be the man we think. I hope,
really,