was required as to conduct which Frank described as being
to him "at present unintelligible." He then went, at considerable
length, into the matter of the diamonds, with the object of proving
that Lord Fawn could have no possible right to interfere in the
matter. And though he had from the first wished that Lizzie would
give up the trinket, he made various points in her favour. Not only
had they been given to his cousin by her late husband,--but even
had they not been so given, they would have been hers by will. Sir
Florian had left her everything that was within the walls of Portray
Castle, and the diamonds had been at Portray at the time of Sir
Florian's death. Such was Frank's statement,--untrue indeed, but
believed by him to be true. This was one of Lizzie's lies, forged as
soon as she understood that some subsidiary claim might be made upon
them on the ground that they formed a portion of property left by
will away from her;--some claim subsidiary to the grand claim, that
the necklace was a family heirloom. Lord Fawn was not in the least
shaken in his conviction that Lizzie had behaved, and was behaving,
badly, and that, therefore, he had better get rid of her; but he knew
that he must be very wary in the reasons he would give for jilting
her. He wrote, therefore, a very short note to Greystock, promising
that any explanation needed should be given as soon as circumstances
should admit of his forming a decision. In the meantime, the 30th of
July came, and Lady Eustace was ready for her journey.

There is, or there was, a train leaving London for Carlisle at 11
a.m., by which Lizzie proposed to travel, so that she might sleep
in that city and go on through Dumfries to Portray the next morning.
This was her scheme; but there was another part of her scheme as to
which she had felt much doubt. Should she leave the diamonds, or
should she take them with her? The iron box in which they were kept
was small, and so far portable that a strong man might carry it
without much trouble. Indeed, Lizzie could move it from one part of
the room to the other, and she had often done so. But it was so heavy
that it could not be taken with her without attracting attention. The
servant would know what it was, and the porter would know, and Miss
Macnulty would know. That her own maid should know was a matter of
course; but even to her own maid the journey of the jewels would be
remarkable because of the weight of the box, whereas if the