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The Great Ruby Robbery pursus. Ramonette
was an American heiress, As she justly

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remarked, this was a commonplace profession
for a young woman nowadays, for almost

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everybody of late years has been an
American and an heiress. A poor Californian

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indeed, would be a charming novelty
in London society, But London society so

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far has had to go without one
pursus. Ramonette was on her way back

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from the Wilcoxes Ball. She was
stopping, of course, with Sir Everett

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and Lady mc clure at the house
at Hampstead. I say, of course

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advisedly, because if you or I
go to see New York, we have

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to put up at our own expense
by dollars a day without wine or extras

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at the Windsor or the Fifth Avenue. But when the pretty American comes to

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London, and every American girl is
ex officio pretty in Europe, at least

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I suppose they keep their ugly ones
at home for domestic consumption. She is

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invariably the guest either of the two
wager duchess or of a royal lackeredemssion,

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like Sir Everett of the first distinction. Yankees visit Europe in fact, to

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see, among other things, our
art and our old nobility, and by

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dint of native persistence, they get
into places that you and I could never

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succeed in penetrating unless we devoted all
the energies of a long and blameless life

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to securing an invitation. Perces hadn't
been to the Wilcoxes with Lady mc clure.

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However, the mc clures were really
too great to know such people as

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Wilcoxes, who were something tremendous in
the city but didn't buy pictures, And

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academicians, you know, don't care
to cultivate city people unless they are customers

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patrons the academicians most usually call them, but I prefer the simple business word

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myself as being a deal less patronizing. So Perss had accepted an invitation from

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Missus Duncan Harrison, the wife of
the well known member for the Hackney's Division

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of Elmatshire, to take a seat
in her carriage to and from the Wilcoxes.

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Missus Harrison knew the habits and manners
of American heiresses too well to offer

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to chaperone Perses, and indeed Persis
as a free born America citizen who was

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quite as well able to take care
of herself the wide world over as any

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three ordinary married englishwomen. Now missus
Harrison had a brother, an Irish baronet,

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Sir Justin o'byron, late of the
eighth Husses, who had been with

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them to the Wilcoxes, and who
accompanied them home to Hampstead on the back

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seat of the carriage. Sir Justin
was one of those charming, ineffective,

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elusive irishmen whom everybody likes and everybody
disapproves of. He had been everywhere and

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done everything except to earn an honest
livelihood. The total absence of rents during

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the sixties and seventies had never prevented
his father, old Sir Terence o'byron,

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who sat so long for Connemara in
the Unreformed Parliament, from sending his son

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Justin in the state to Eton and
afterwards to a fashionable college at Oxford.

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He gave me the education of a
gentleman. Sir Justin was wont regretfully to

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observe, but he omitted to give
me also the income to keep it up

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with. Nevertheless, society felt o'bien
was the sort of man who must be

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kept afloat somehow, and it kept
him afloat accordingly, in those mysterious ways

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that only society understands, and that
you and I, who are not society,

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could never get to the bottom off
if he tried. For a century.

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Sir Justin himself had essayed Parliament too, where he sat for a while

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behind the great parnel, without put
a moment forfeiting society's regard, even in

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those early days when it was held
as prime article of faith by the world,

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that no gentleman could possibly call himself
a home ruler. Twas only of

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o' byron's wild Irish tricts, Society
said complacently with that single indulgence it always

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extends to its special favorites, and
which is in fact the correlative of the

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unsparing cruelty it shows in turn to
those who happened to offend against its unwritten

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precepts. If Sir Justin had blown
up a star or two in a fit

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of political exuberance, society would only
have regarded the escapade as one of o'

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byron's eccenticities. He had also held
a commission for a while in a cavalry

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regiment, which he left, it
was understood owing to a difference of opinion

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about her lady with the colonel,
and he was now a gentleman at large

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on London society, supposed by those
who know more about everyone than one knows

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about oneself to be on the lookout
for a nice girl with a little money.

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Sir Justin had paid Perces a great
deal of attention that particular evening.

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In point of fact, he had
paid her a great deal of attention from

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the very first whenever he met her, and on the way back home from

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the dance, he had kept his
eyes fixed on Perces's face to an extent

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that was almost embarrassing. The pretty
Californian leaned back in her place in the

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carriage and surveyed him languidly. She
was looking at her level best that night,

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in her pale pink dress, with
the famous remnete room in a cascade

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of red light setting off the snowy
neck of hers twas a neck for a

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painter. Sir Justin let his eyes
fall regretfully more than once on the glittering

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groupies he liked and admired pursues,
oh, quite immensely. Your society man,

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who had been through seven or eight
London seasons, could hardly be expected

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to go quite so far as falling
in love with any woman. His habit

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is rather to look about him critically
among all the nice girls trotted out by

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their mammas for his lordly inspection,
and to reflect with a faint smile that

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this, that or the other one
might perhaps really suit him, if it

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were not for and there comes in
the inn inevitable butt of all human commendation.

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Still, Sir Justin admitted, with
a sigh to himself that he liked

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Pursis ever so much. She was
so fresh and original, and she talked

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so cleverly as for purses. She
would have given her eyes like every other

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American girl, to be made my
lady. And she had seen no man

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yet with that auxiliary title in his
gift whom she liked half so well as

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this delightful, wild irishman. At
the McLear's door, the carriage stopped,

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so Justin jumped out and gave his
hand to Persis. You know the house

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well, of course, Sir Everett
McLear's. It's one of those large,

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artistic mansions in red brick and old
old oak the top of the hill,

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and it stands a little way back
from the road. Discreetly retired the big

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wooden porch, very convenient for leave
taking. Sir Justin ran up the steps

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with purses to ring the bell for
her. He had too much of the

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irrepressible Irish blood in his veins to
leave that pleasant task to his sister's footman.

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But he didn't ring at once,
and the risk of keeping Missus Harrison

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waiting outside for nothing, he stopped
and talked a minute or so with the

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pretty American. You look charming tonight, miss Ramonette, he said, as

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she threw back her light opera wrapped
for a moment in the porch and displayed

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a single flash of the snowy neck
with the famous rubies. Those stones become

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you. So she looked at him
and smiled. You think so, she

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said, a little tremulous for even
your American heiress, after all, is

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a woman. Well, I'm glad
you do, but it's good bye tonight,

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Sir Justin, for I go next
week to Paris. Even in the

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gloom of the porch, just lighted
by an artistic red and blue lantern in

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wrought iron. She could see a
shade of disappointment passed quickly over his handsome

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face as he answered with a little
gulp. No you don't mean that,

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oh, mister Romanette, I am
so sorry. Then he paused and drew

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back. And yet after all,
he continued, perhaps, and there he

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checked himself. Pursus looked up at
him hastily. Yet after all what she

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asked with evident interest, The young
man drew an almost inaudible sigh. Yet

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after all nothing, he answered evasively. That might do for an englishwoman,

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Pursus put in with American frankness,
but it won't do for me. You

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must tell me what you mean by
it. For she reflected sagely that the

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happiness of two lives might depend upon
those two minutes. You'll have foolish to

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throw away the chance of a man
you really like, with a my ladyship

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to boot all for the sake of
pure convention. Sir Justin leaned against the

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woodwork of the retiring porch. She
was a beautiful girl, he had hot

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Irish blood. Well, yes,
just for once he would say the plain

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truth to her, Miss Ramonette.
He began leaning forward and bringing his face

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close to hers, Miss Ramonette,
Persus, shall I tell you the reason

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why? Because I like you so
much, I almost think I love you?

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Persius felt the blood cub in her
tingling cheeks. How handsome he was,

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and a baronet. And yet you're
not altogether sorry, she said,

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reproachfully that I'm going to Paris.
No, not altogether sorry, he answered,

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sticking to it. And I'll tell
you why too, Miss Ramonette,

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I like you very much, and
I think you like me. For a

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week or two, I've been saying
to myself, I really believe I must

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ask her to marry me. The
temptations being so strong, I could hardly

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resist it. And why do you
want to resist it? Pursus asked,

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all tremulous, So justin hesitated a
second, and then, with a perfectly

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natural and instinctive movement, though only
a gentleman would have ventured to make it,

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he lifted his hand and just touched
the tips of his finger the ruby

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pendant on her necklip. This is
why, he answered, simply, with

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manly frankness, Persis, you're so
rich, I'd never dare ask you.

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Perhaps you don't know what my answer
would be Prisius murmured very low, just

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to preserve her own dignity. Oh
yes, I think I do, the

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young man replied, gazing deeply into
her dark eyes. It isn't that.

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If it were only that, I
wouldn't be so much minded. But I

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think you'd take me. There was
moisture in her eye. He went on

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more boldly. I know you would
take me, Pursis, and that's why

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I don't ask you. You're a
great deal too rich, and these make

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it impossible, Sir Justin Pursus answered, removing his hand gently, but with

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the moisture growing thicker, for she
really liked him. It's most unkind of

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you to say so. Either you
ought not have told me at all,

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or else if you did. She
stopped short. Humanly, shame overcame her.

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The man leaned forward and spoke earnestly. Oh don't say that, he

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cried from his heart. I couldn't
bear to offend you, but I couldn't

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bear either to let you go away
well without ever having told you. In

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that case, you might have thought
I didn't care at all for you,

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and I was only flirting with you. But Purchase, I have cared a

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great deal about you a great,
great deal, and had hard work many

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times to prevent myself from asking you. And I'll tell you the plain reason

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why I haven't asked you. I'm
a man about town, not much good.

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I'm afraid for anybody or anything when
everybody says I am on the lookout

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for an heiress, which happens not
to be true. And if I married

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you, everybody would say, ah, there I told you so. Now,

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I wouldn't mind that for myself.
I'm a man and I could snap

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my fingers at them, but i'd
mind it for you, persis, for

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I'm enough in love with you to
be very, very jealous, indeed,

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for your honor. I couldn't bear
to think people should say, there's that

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pretty American girl, Persius Ramonette.
That was you know, she'd thrown herself

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away upon that good for nothing irishman
Justin o'byron, a regular fortune hunter who

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married her for her money. So
for your sake, Persus, i'd rather

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not ask you. I'd rather leave
you for some better man to marry.

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But I wouldn't Pursus cried aloud.
Oh, sir, Justin, you must

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believe me, You must remember at
that precise moment, Missus Harrison put her

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head out of the carriage window and
called out, rather loudly, why justin

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what's keeping you? Though? Horses
will catch their deaths of cold, and

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they were clipped this morning. Come
back at once, my dear boy.

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Besides, you know lay common answers, all right, Norah, her brother

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answered, I won't be a minute. We can't get them to answer this

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precious bell. I believe it don't
ring, but I'll try again anyhow,

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And half forgetting that his own words
weren't strictly true, for he hadn't yet

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tried. He pressed the knob with
a vengeance. Is that your room with

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the light burning, Miss Ramonette,
He went on in a fairly loud official

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voice, as a servant came to
answer the one with the balcony? I

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mean quite panish, isn't it reminds
one of Romeo and Juliette. But most

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convenient for a burglary too, such
nice low rails. Mind you take good

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care of the remnette rubies. I
don't want to take care of them,

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Pursus answered, wiping her dim eyes
hastily with her lace pocket handkerchief. If

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they make you feel as you say, said, Justin, I don't mind

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if they go. Let the burglar
take them. And even as she spoke,

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the McLear footman, immutable sphinx like
opened the door for her. Purceus

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sat long in her own room that
night. Before she began undressing, her

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head was full of Sir Justin and
these mysterious hints of his. At last,

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however, she took her rubies off
and a pretty silk bodis I don't

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care for them at all, she
thought, with a gulp, if they

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keep from me the love of the
man I'd like to marry. It was

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late before she fell asleep, and
when she did, her rest was troubled.

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She dreamt the great deal in her
dreams, Sir Justin and dance music,

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and the rubies and burglars were incongruously
mingled. To make up for it,

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she slept late next morning, and
Lady mc clure let her sleep on,

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thinking she was probably wearied out with
much dancing the previous evening, as

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though any amount of excitement could ever
weary a pretty American. About ten o'clock,

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she woke up with a start.
A weak feeling oppressed her that somebody

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had come in during the night and
stolen her rubies. She rose hastily and

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went to her dressing table to look
for them. The case was there,

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all right. She opened it and
looked at it, Oh, prophetic soul,

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The rubies were gone, and the
box was empty. Now, Perces

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had honestly said that night before the
burglar might take her rubies if he chose,

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and she wouldn't mind the loss of
them. But that was last night,

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and the rubies hadn't then as yet
been taken. This morning, somehow

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things seemed quite different. It would
be rough on us all, especially on

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politicians, if we must always be
bound by what we said yesterday. Perces

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was an American, and no American
is insensible to the charms of precious stones.

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It is a savage taste which European
immigrants seem to have inherited obliquely from

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their red Indian predecessors. She rushed
over to the bell and rang it with

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00:21:26,279 --> 00:21:33,319
the feminine violence Lady Maclear's made answered
the summons as usual. She was a

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00:21:33,400 --> 00:21:40,279
clever, demure looking girl this made
of Lady McLear's, And when Perces cried

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00:21:40,319 --> 00:21:45,799
to her wildly sent for the police
at once, and tell Sir Everett,

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00:21:45,119 --> 00:21:52,319
my jewels are stolen. She answered, yes, Miss, with such sober

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00:21:52,400 --> 00:21:59,160
acquiescence that Persus, who was American
and therefore a bundle of nerves, turned

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00:21:59,200 --> 00:22:04,640
round and stared her as an incomprehensible
mystery. No Mahatma could have been more

206
00:22:04,720 --> 00:22:11,240
unmoved. She seemed quite to expect
those rubies would be stolen, and to

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00:22:11,319 --> 00:22:15,160
take no more notice of the incident
than if Perceus had told her she wanted

208
00:22:15,319 --> 00:22:25,200
hot water. Lady mc clure indeed
greatly prided herself on the cultivated imperturbability of

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00:22:25,279 --> 00:22:32,839
Bertha's She regarded it as the fine
flower of English domestic service, where perces

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00:22:32,920 --> 00:22:40,079
was American and saw things otherwise to
her. The calm repose with which Bertha

211
00:22:40,240 --> 00:22:44,680
answered, yes, miss, certainly, Miss, I'll go and tell sir,

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00:22:44,799 --> 00:22:52,079
Everard, seemed nothing short of exasperating. Pertha went off with the news,

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00:22:52,119 --> 00:22:56,039
closing the door quite softly, and
a few minutes later Lady mc clere

214
00:22:56,079 --> 00:23:03,079
herself appeared in the Californian's room to
console her visitor under this severe domestic affliction.

215
00:23:04,680 --> 00:23:10,200
She found Percy's sitting up in the
bed in a pretty French dressing jacket

216
00:23:10,880 --> 00:23:17,279
pale blue with the reverse of fawn
color reading a book of verses. Why

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00:23:17,400 --> 00:23:22,160
my, dear Lady mc clure exclaimed, then you've found them again. I

218
00:23:22,200 --> 00:23:27,440
suppose Twith had told us you'd lost
your lovely rubies, so I have,

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00:23:27,680 --> 00:23:33,480
Dear Lady mc clure, pursus answered, wiping her eyes. They are gone.

220
00:23:33,119 --> 00:23:37,839
They've been stolen. I've forgot to
lock my door when I came home

221
00:23:37,920 --> 00:23:44,000
last night and the window was open. Somebody must have come in this way

222
00:23:44,119 --> 00:23:48,720
or that and taken them. But
whenever I'm in trouble, I'd try a

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00:23:48,799 --> 00:23:55,160
dose of Browning. He's splendid for
the nerves. He's so consoling, you

224
00:23:55,240 --> 00:24:02,960
know. He brings one to anchor. She breakfasted in bed. She wouldn't

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00:24:03,039 --> 00:24:07,400
leave the room, she declared,
till the police arrived. After breakfast,

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00:24:07,640 --> 00:24:14,160
she rose and put on a dainty
Parisian morning wrap. Americans have always such

227
00:24:14,240 --> 00:24:18,440
pretty bedroom things for these informal receptions, and sat up in a state to

228
00:24:18,519 --> 00:24:25,400
await the police officer. Sir Everett, himself, much disturbed that such a

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00:24:25,480 --> 00:24:30,000
mishap should have happened in his house, went round in person to fetch the

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00:24:30,079 --> 00:24:34,200
official. While he was gone,
Lady mc clear made a thorough search of

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00:24:34,240 --> 00:24:40,880
the room, but couldn't find a
trace of the missing rubies. Are you

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00:24:41,000 --> 00:24:44,440
sure you put them in the case, dear, She asked for the honor

233
00:24:44,480 --> 00:24:51,119
of the household, and Percy's answered
quite confident, Lady mc clear, I

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00:24:51,200 --> 00:24:55,079
always put them the moment I take
them off, and when I came to

235
00:24:55,119 --> 00:25:00,680
look for them this morning, the
case was empty. The they were very

236
00:25:00,759 --> 00:25:07,319
valuable, I believe, Lady mc
clear said, inquiringly. Six thousand pounds

237
00:25:07,440 --> 00:25:11,839
was the figure in your money,
I guess Persus answered ruefully. I don't

238
00:25:11,839 --> 00:25:15,039
know if you call that a lot
of money in England, but we do

239
00:25:15,119 --> 00:25:22,000
in America. There was a moment's
pause, and then Percys spoke again.

240
00:25:22,519 --> 00:25:27,599
Lady mc clear, She said,
abruptly, do you consider that maid of

241
00:25:27,640 --> 00:25:34,240
yours a Christian woman? Lady mc
clear was startled. That was hardly the

242
00:25:34,319 --> 00:25:41,279
light in which she was accustomed to
regard the lower classes. Well, I

243
00:25:41,400 --> 00:25:45,799
don't know about that, she said, slowly. That's a great deal,

244
00:25:45,839 --> 00:25:52,599
you know, dear, to assert
about anybody, especially once made. But

245
00:25:52,720 --> 00:26:00,000
I should think she was honest,
quite decidedly honest. Well that's the same

246
00:26:00,079 --> 00:26:06,440
thing about, isn't it. Pursus
answered, much relieved. I am glad

247
00:26:06,519 --> 00:26:11,720
you think that so, for I
was almost half afraid of her. She's

248
00:26:11,799 --> 00:26:15,279
too quite for my taste, somehow, so silent, you know, and

249
00:26:15,440 --> 00:26:23,079
inscrutable. Oh my dear, her
hostess cried, don't blame her for silence.

250
00:26:23,559 --> 00:26:29,359
That's just what I like about her. It's exactly why I chose her

251
00:26:29,400 --> 00:26:34,240
for such a nice, noiseless girl. Moves about the room like a cat

252
00:26:34,319 --> 00:26:40,880
on tiptoe, knows her proper place, and never dreams of speaking unless she's

253
00:26:40,920 --> 00:26:47,480
spoken to. Well, you may
like them that way in Europe, Pursus

254
00:26:47,519 --> 00:26:52,240
responded frankly, But in America we
prefer them a little bit more human.

255
00:26:55,680 --> 00:27:00,319
Twenty minutes later, the police officer
arrived. He wasn't in you uniform.

256
00:27:00,359 --> 00:27:07,039
The inspector, feeling at once the
gravity of the case and recognizing that this

257
00:27:07,279 --> 00:27:11,839
was a big thing in which there
was glory to be won and perhaps promotion,

258
00:27:14,000 --> 00:27:19,400
sent the detective at once and advised
that, if possible, nothing should

259
00:27:19,400 --> 00:27:25,839
be said to the household on the
subject for the present till the detective had

260
00:27:25,880 --> 00:27:30,880
taken a good look around the premises. That was useless. Sir Everett feared

261
00:27:32,640 --> 00:27:37,359
for the lady maid knew, and
the lady's maid would sure go down all

262
00:27:37,400 --> 00:27:45,519
agog with the news to the servants
hall immediately, however, they might try.

263
00:27:45,319 --> 00:27:49,720
No harm in trying, and sooner
the detective got round to the house,

264
00:27:51,119 --> 00:27:56,960
of course, the better. The
detective accompanied him back a keen faced,

265
00:27:57,160 --> 00:28:03,440
close shaven irreproached, looking man like
a vulgarized copy of mister John Morley.

266
00:28:04,480 --> 00:28:11,480
He was kirk and business like.
His first question was have the servants

267
00:28:11,519 --> 00:28:18,839
been told about this? Lady mc
clure looked inquiringly across at Bertha. She

268
00:28:18,920 --> 00:28:23,880
herself had been sitting all the time
with the bereaved persis to console her with

269
00:28:25,039 --> 00:28:32,200
browning under this heavy affliction. No, my lady Bertha answered, ever calm,

270
00:28:33,119 --> 00:28:38,839
invaluable Servant Bertha, I didn't mention
it to anybody downstairs, on purpose,

271
00:28:40,799 --> 00:28:47,759
thinking perhaps it might be decided to
search the servant's boxes. The detective

272
00:28:47,799 --> 00:28:52,960
pricked up his ears. He was
engaged already in glancing casually round the room.

273
00:28:53,000 --> 00:28:57,799
He moved about it now like a
conjurer, with quiet steps and slow.

274
00:29:00,599 --> 00:29:04,920
He doesn't get on one's nerves.
Purses remarked approvingly in an undertone to

275
00:29:04,960 --> 00:29:10,960
her friend. Then she added aloud, what's your name? Please? Mister

276
00:29:11,039 --> 00:29:17,640
officer. The detective was lifting a
lace handkerchief on the dressing table at the

277
00:29:17,720 --> 00:29:23,400
side. He turned round softly.
Gregory, madam, he answered, hardly,

278
00:29:23,440 --> 00:29:30,319
glancing at the girl and going on
with his occupation, the same as

279
00:29:30,319 --> 00:29:34,119
the powders persist, interposed with a
shudder. I used to take them when

280
00:29:34,160 --> 00:29:41,039
I was a child. I never
could bear them. We are useful as

281
00:29:41,240 --> 00:29:45,240
remedies, the detective replied, with
a quiet smile, But nobody likes us,

282
00:29:47,680 --> 00:29:52,200
and he relapsed contentedly into his work, once more, searching round the

283
00:29:52,240 --> 00:29:56,319
apartment. The first thing we have
to do, he said, with a

284
00:29:56,359 --> 00:30:00,759
calm air of superiority, standing now
by the window with one hand in his

285
00:30:00,880 --> 00:30:07,599
pocket, is to satisfy ourselves whether
or not there has really at all been

286
00:30:07,640 --> 00:30:11,720
a robbery. You must look through
the room well and see you haven't left

287
00:30:11,799 --> 00:30:19,039
rubies lying about loose somewhere. Such
things often happen. We are constantly called

288
00:30:19,079 --> 00:30:26,160
in to investigate a case when it's
only a matter of ladies carelessness. At

289
00:30:26,200 --> 00:30:32,720
this purse is flared up. Our
daughter of the Great Republic isn't accustomed to

290
00:30:32,720 --> 00:30:37,279
be doubted like a mere European woman. I am quite sure I took them

291
00:30:37,319 --> 00:30:41,960
off, she said, and put
them back in the jewel case. Of

292
00:30:42,000 --> 00:30:51,160
that, I am just confident there
isn't a doubt possible. Mister Gregory redoubled

293
00:30:51,160 --> 00:30:56,839
his search in all likely and unlikely
places. I should say that settles the

294
00:30:56,880 --> 00:31:03,279
matter, he answered, blandly.
Our experience is that whenever a lady's perfectly

295
00:31:03,400 --> 00:31:08,359
certain, beyond the possibility of doubt, she put a thing away safely,

296
00:31:10,279 --> 00:31:17,079
it's absolutely sure to turn up where
she says she didn't put it. Perceus

297
00:31:17,119 --> 00:31:22,559
answered him, never a word.
Her manners had not that repourse that stamps

298
00:31:22,079 --> 00:31:26,680
the caste of ver De. Ver
So, to prevent an outbreak, she

299
00:31:26,759 --> 00:31:34,359
took refuge in Browning. Mister Greggory, nothing abashed, searched the room thoroughly,

300
00:31:34,960 --> 00:31:41,799
up and down, without the faintest
regard to Percys's feelings. He was

301
00:31:41,839 --> 00:31:45,319
a detective, he said, and
his business was first of all to unmasked

302
00:31:45,359 --> 00:31:52,400
crime, irrespective of circumstances. Lady
mac clear stood by meanwhile, with the

303
00:31:52,480 --> 00:32:00,039
imperturbable Bertha, Mister Greggory investigated every
hole and cranny. Like a man who

304
00:32:00,119 --> 00:32:06,519
wishes to let the world see for
itself, he performs a disagreeable duty with

305
00:32:06,799 --> 00:32:12,359
unflinching thoroughness. When he had finished, he turned to lady mc clure,

306
00:32:13,920 --> 00:32:17,359
and now, if you please,
he said, blandly, we will proceed

307
00:32:17,400 --> 00:32:24,200
to investigate the servants boxes. Lady
mc clere looked at her maid, Bertha.

308
00:32:24,920 --> 00:32:30,680
She said, go downstairs and see
that none of the other servants come

309
00:32:30,759 --> 00:32:36,599
up meanwhile to their bedrooms. Lady
mc clure was not quite to the manner

310
00:32:36,640 --> 00:32:42,799
born, and had never acquired the
hateful aristocratic habit of calling women servants by

311
00:32:42,839 --> 00:32:49,720
their surnames only. But the detective
interposed, no, no, he said,

312
00:32:49,759 --> 00:32:54,359
sharply, this young woman had better
stop here, with miss Ramnette strictly

313
00:32:54,480 --> 00:33:00,000
under her eye, till I have
searched the boxes, for if I find

314
00:33:00,240 --> 00:33:05,920
nothing there, it may perhaps be
my disagreeable duty by and by to call

315
00:33:05,960 --> 00:33:12,519
in a female detective to search her. It was Lady McLear's turn to fare

316
00:33:12,599 --> 00:33:16,680
up. Now, why this is
my own maid, she said, in

317
00:33:16,680 --> 00:33:23,079
a chilly tone, and I have
every confidence in her. Very sorry about

318
00:33:23,119 --> 00:33:29,079
that, my lady, Mister Greggory
responded in a most official voice. But

319
00:33:29,200 --> 00:33:34,240
our experience teaches us that if there's
a person in the case whom nobody ever

320
00:33:34,359 --> 00:33:40,640
dreams of, suspecting that's the person
one who has committed the robbery. Why

321
00:33:42,519 --> 00:33:47,880
you'll be suspecting myself next, Lady
mc clar cried with some disgust. Your

322
00:33:47,960 --> 00:33:53,480
Ladyship's just the last person in the
world I should think of suspecting. The

323
00:33:53,559 --> 00:33:59,680
detective answered with a differential bow,
which, after this previous speech was to

324
00:33:59,720 --> 00:34:07,160
say the least of its equivocal pursus, began to get annoyed. She didn't

325
00:34:07,319 --> 00:34:10,679
like half the look of what the
girl, Bertha herself, but still she

326
00:34:10,880 --> 00:34:15,440
was there as Lady mc clure's guests, and she couldn't expose her hostess to

327
00:34:15,559 --> 00:34:22,159
discomfort on her own account. The
girl shall not be searched, she put

328
00:34:22,159 --> 00:34:27,400
in, growing hot. I don't
care as cent whether I loose the wretched

329
00:34:27,440 --> 00:34:31,679
stones or not. Compared to human
dignity, what are they worth? Not

330
00:34:31,960 --> 00:34:39,679
five minutes consideration? They are worth
just seven years. Mister Greggory answered with

331
00:34:39,760 --> 00:34:45,840
a professional definiteness. And as to
searching, why that's out of your hands.

332
00:34:45,840 --> 00:34:53,039
Now this is a criminal case.
I'm here to discharge a public duty.

333
00:34:54,559 --> 00:34:59,519
I don't mind in the least being
searched, Bertha put in obligingly,

334
00:34:59,679 --> 00:35:04,960
with an air of indifference. You
can search me if you like, when

335
00:35:05,159 --> 00:35:10,639
you've got a warrant for it.
The detective looked up sharply, so also

336
00:35:10,719 --> 00:35:17,559
did Perces. This already acquaintance with
liberty of the subject in criminal cases impressed

337
00:35:17,559 --> 00:35:23,840
her unfavorably. Ah, we will
see about that, mister Gregory answered with

338
00:35:23,880 --> 00:35:29,960
a cool smile. Meanwhile, Lady
mc clear, I'll have a look at

339
00:35:30,000 --> 00:35:37,440
the boxes. The search, strictly
illegal, brought out nothing. Mister Gregory

340
00:35:37,480 --> 00:35:43,079
returned to Percis's bedroom disconsolate. You
can leave the room, he said to

341
00:35:43,119 --> 00:35:49,199
Bertha, and Bertha glided out.
I have set another man outside to keep

342
00:35:49,239 --> 00:35:54,960
a constant eye on her. He
added an explanation. By this time Perces

343
00:35:55,000 --> 00:36:00,199
had almost made her mind up as
to who was the culprit, which she

344
00:36:00,239 --> 00:36:05,760
said nothing over it for lady maclaar's
sake to the detective. As for that

345
00:36:05,920 --> 00:36:12,400
immovable official, he began asking questions, some of them Percy's thought almost bothering

346
00:36:12,440 --> 00:36:17,880
on personal Where had she been last
night? Was she sure she had really

347
00:36:17,920 --> 00:36:23,159
worn the rubies? How did she
come home? Was she certain she took

348
00:36:23,199 --> 00:36:28,960
them off? Did the maid help
her undress? Who came back with her

349
00:36:29,000 --> 00:36:36,039
in the carriage to all these questions
rapidly fired off with cross examining acuteness.

350
00:36:36,880 --> 00:36:42,599
Pursus answered in the direct American fashion, she was sure she had the rubies

351
00:36:42,639 --> 00:36:46,599
on when she came back home to
Hampstead, because Sir Justin o'beyen, who

352
00:36:46,639 --> 00:36:51,760
came back with her in his sister's
carriage, had noticed them the last thing,

353
00:36:52,440 --> 00:36:57,519
and had told her to do care
of them. At mention of that

354
00:36:57,679 --> 00:37:02,199
name, the detective smiled meaningly.
A meaning smile is a stalking traitor.

355
00:37:02,280 --> 00:37:09,960
Detective. Oh, Sir Justin o'beyroen, he repeated, with quite self constraint.

356
00:37:10,920 --> 00:37:15,519
He came back with you in the
carriage then, and did he sit

357
00:37:15,599 --> 00:37:21,920
the same side with you? Lady
mclere grew indignant. That was mister Gregory's

358
00:37:21,960 --> 00:37:27,199
cue. Really, sir, she
said angrily, if you are going to

359
00:37:27,239 --> 00:37:30,840
suspect gentlemen in Sir Justin's position,
we shall none of us be safe from

360
00:37:30,880 --> 00:37:37,199
you the law, Mister Gregory replied, with an air of profound difference,

361
00:37:38,159 --> 00:37:45,519
is no respector of persons, but
it ought to be of characters. Lady

362
00:37:45,599 --> 00:37:51,440
mcleure cried warmly, what's the good
of having a blameless character? I should

363
00:37:51,519 --> 00:37:55,000
like you to know if, if, if, it doesn't allow you to

364
00:37:55,000 --> 00:38:00,840
commit a robbery with impunity, the
detective interposed, finishing his sentence in his

365
00:38:00,960 --> 00:38:07,199
own way. Well, well,
that's true, that's perfectly true. But

366
00:38:07,280 --> 00:38:15,239
Sir Justin's character, you see,
can hardly be called blameless. He's a

367
00:38:15,320 --> 00:38:20,639
gentleman, Persus cried, with flashing
eyes, turning round upon the officer.

368
00:38:21,599 --> 00:38:25,440
And he's quite incapable of such a
mean and despicable crime as you dare to

369
00:38:25,480 --> 00:38:32,679
suspect him of. Oh I see, the officer answered, like one to

370
00:38:32,760 --> 00:38:38,599
whom a welcome ray of light breaks
suddenly through a great darkness. Sir Justin's

371
00:38:38,599 --> 00:38:45,519
a friend of yours. Did you
come into the porch with you? He

372
00:38:45,679 --> 00:38:50,719
did, Persus answered, flushing crimson. And if you have had the insolence

373
00:38:50,719 --> 00:38:55,599
to bring a charge against him,
calm yourself, madam, the detective replied,

374
00:38:55,639 --> 00:39:00,039
coolly, I do nothing of the
sort. At this state of the

375
00:39:00,079 --> 00:39:06,480
proceedings, it's possible there may have
been no robbery in case at all.

376
00:39:07,760 --> 00:39:14,679
You must keep our minds open for
the present to every possible alternative. It's

377
00:39:14,719 --> 00:39:20,519
a delicate matter to hint at.
But before we go any further, do

378
00:39:20,559 --> 00:39:23,840
you think, perhaps, sir justin
may have carried the rubies away by mistake,

379
00:39:24,639 --> 00:39:30,840
entangled the misclothes, say, for
example, his court sleep. It

380
00:39:30,880 --> 00:39:37,559
was a loophole of escape, but
Purss didn't jump at it. He had

381
00:39:37,719 --> 00:39:42,440
never the opportunity, she answered with
a flash. And I know quite well

382
00:39:43,159 --> 00:39:45,599
they were there on my neck when
he left me. For the last thing

383
00:39:45,679 --> 00:39:52,440
he said to me was looking up
at this very window. That balconies awfully

384
00:39:52,480 --> 00:39:55,920
convenient for a burglary. Mind,
you take good care of the remnant rubies.

385
00:39:57,719 --> 00:40:00,039
And I remembered what he said when
I took them off last night,

386
00:40:00,840 --> 00:40:07,280
and that's what made me so sure
I really had them. And you slept

387
00:40:07,280 --> 00:40:10,920
with the window open. The detective
went on, still smiling to himself.

388
00:40:13,079 --> 00:40:20,639
Well here we have all the materials
to be sure for our first class mystery.

389
00:40:21,719 --> 00:40:24,559
For some more days, nothing further
turned up of importance about the Great

390
00:40:24,639 --> 00:40:30,639
Ruby robbery. It got into the
papers, of course, as everything does

391
00:40:30,679 --> 00:40:37,239
nowadays, and all London was talking
of it. Purces found herself quite famous

392
00:40:37,880 --> 00:40:43,000
as the American lady who had lost
her jewels. People pointed her out in

393
00:40:43,039 --> 00:40:46,360
the park, people stared at her
heart through their opera glasses at the theater.

394
00:40:47,480 --> 00:40:53,079
Indeed, the possession of the celebrated
remnant rubies had never made her half

395
00:40:53,119 --> 00:40:59,320
so conspicuous in the world as the
loss of them made her. It was

396
00:40:59,400 --> 00:41:02,639
almost worth. But while losing them, Perces thought to be so much made

397
00:41:02,639 --> 00:41:07,800
off as she was in society.
In consequence, all the world knows a

398
00:41:07,840 --> 00:41:13,880
young lady must be somebody when she
can offer a reward of five hundred pounds

399
00:41:13,920 --> 00:41:21,840
for the recovery of jew jaws valued
at six thousand. Sir Justin met her

400
00:41:21,840 --> 00:41:25,559
in the row one day. Then
you don't go to Paris for a while

401
00:41:25,639 --> 00:41:31,119
yet, until you get them back, he inquired, very low, and

402
00:41:31,199 --> 00:41:38,440
Perces answered blushing, No, Sir
Justin, not yet, and I'm almost

403
00:41:38,480 --> 00:41:45,639
glad of it. No, you
don't mean that, the young man cried

404
00:41:45,000 --> 00:41:52,519
with perfect boyish Ardor well, I
confess, miss Ramonette. The first thing

405
00:41:52,599 --> 00:41:57,000
I thought myself when I read it
in the Times was just the very same.

406
00:41:58,519 --> 00:42:02,679
Then, after all, she won't
go yet to Paris. Pursus looked

407
00:42:02,679 --> 00:42:08,280
at him from her pony with American
frankness, and I, she said,

408
00:42:08,360 --> 00:42:16,480
coouring I found anchor in Browning for
what do you think I read and learned

409
00:42:16,519 --> 00:42:22,960
to rate a true man's heart far
above Rubi's. The book opened at the

410
00:42:23,119 --> 00:42:30,119
very place, and there I found
anchor. But when Sir Justin went round

411
00:42:30,119 --> 00:42:36,639
to his rooms that same evening,
his servant said to him, a gentleman

412
00:42:36,760 --> 00:42:39,719
was inquiring for you here this afternoon, Sir, A close shaving gentlemen,

413
00:42:40,320 --> 00:42:46,000
not very proposing. And it seemed
to me somehow, Sir, as if

414
00:42:46,000 --> 00:42:52,559
fear he was trying to pump me. Sir Justin's face was grave. He

415
00:42:52,599 --> 00:42:58,360
went to his bedroom at once he
knew what the man wanted, and he

416
00:42:58,400 --> 00:43:01,280
turned straight to his wardrobe, looking
hard at the dress coat he had worn

417
00:43:01,320 --> 00:43:07,400
on the eventful evening. Things may
cling to a sleep, don't you know,

418
00:43:07,519 --> 00:43:12,599
or be entangled in a cuff,
or get casually into a pocket,

419
00:43:13,880 --> 00:43:19,960
or some one may put them there. For the next ten days or so,

420
00:43:20,119 --> 00:43:24,280
mister Gregory was busy, constantly busy. Without doubt, he was the

421
00:43:24,320 --> 00:43:30,719
most active and energetic of detectives.
He carried out so fully his own official

422
00:43:30,760 --> 00:43:37,440
principle of suspecting everybody from China to
Peru, that at last poor Purses got

423
00:43:37,480 --> 00:43:44,920
fairly mazed with his web of possibilities. Nobody was safe from his cultivated and

424
00:43:45,000 --> 00:43:50,880
highly trained suspicion. Not Sir Everett
in his studio, nor Lady mc clear

425
00:43:50,960 --> 00:43:55,320
in a boudoir, nor the butler
in his pantry, nor Sir Justin o'beyen

426
00:43:55,400 --> 00:44:02,280
in his rooms. In Saint James's. Gregory kept an open mind against everybody

427
00:44:02,760 --> 00:44:08,440
and everything. He even doubted the
parrot, and had views as to the

428
00:44:08,519 --> 00:44:16,159
intervention of rats and terriers. Purces
got rather tired at last of his perverse

429
00:44:16,360 --> 00:44:22,119
ingenity, especially as she had a
very shrewd idea herself who had stolen the

430
00:44:22,159 --> 00:44:30,239
rubies. When he suggested various doubts, however, which seemed remotely to implicate

431
00:44:30,280 --> 00:44:37,159
Sir Justin's honesty, the sensitive American
girl felt it go on her nerves and

432
00:44:37,280 --> 00:44:42,440
refused to listen to him, though
mister Gregory never ceased to enforce upon her

433
00:44:43,119 --> 00:44:49,199
by precept an example, his own
pet doctrine that the last person on earth

434
00:44:49,239 --> 00:44:53,159
one would likely to suspect is always
the one who turns out to have done

435
00:44:53,199 --> 00:45:00,559
it. A morning or two later, Purces looked out of her window as

436
00:45:00,639 --> 00:45:05,480
she was dressing her hair. She
dressed it herself now, though she was

437
00:45:05,519 --> 00:45:10,920
an American heiress and therefore of course
the laziest of her kind, for she

438
00:45:10,960 --> 00:45:19,599
had taken an unaccountable dislike somehow to
the quiet girl Bertha. On this particular

439
00:45:19,639 --> 00:45:23,760
morning. However, when Perces looked
out, she saw Bertha engaged in her

440
00:45:23,760 --> 00:45:31,679
clothes and apparently very intimate conversation with
the Hamstead postman. This sight disturbed the

441
00:45:31,760 --> 00:45:37,639
unstable equilibrium in her equanimity not a
little. Why should Bertha go to the

442
00:45:37,719 --> 00:45:43,800
door to the postman at all?
Surely it has no part the duty of

443
00:45:43,880 --> 00:45:47,800
Lady McClure's maid to take in the
letters, and why should she want to

444
00:45:47,840 --> 00:45:54,719
go prying in the question of who
wrote to Miss Ramonette. For Persis intensely

445
00:45:54,800 --> 00:46:00,119
conscious herself that a note from Sir
Justin lay on the top of the posts

446
00:46:00,199 --> 00:46:05,719
man's bundle. She recognized it at
once, even at that distance below,

447
00:46:06,480 --> 00:46:10,400
by the peculiar shape of the broad, rough envelope. Jump to the natural

448
00:46:10,440 --> 00:46:19,079
feminine conclusion that Bertha must needs be
influenced by some abstrusive motive, of which

449
00:46:19,119 --> 00:46:23,280
she herself. Persis was, to
say, the very least a component element.

450
00:46:25,239 --> 00:46:29,760
We are all prone to see everything
from a personal standpoint. Indeed,

451
00:46:30,679 --> 00:46:34,239
the one quality which makes a man
or a woman into a possible novelist,

452
00:46:34,559 --> 00:46:39,719
good, bad, or indifferent is
just the special power of throwing himself or

453
00:46:39,760 --> 00:46:47,199
herself into a great many people's personalities
alternately. And this is a power possessed

454
00:46:47,239 --> 00:46:52,480
on average by not one in a
thousand men or not one in ten thousand

455
00:46:52,559 --> 00:47:00,760
women. Pursus rang the bell violently. Bertha came up, all smiles.

456
00:47:01,039 --> 00:47:07,119
Did you want anything, Miss Persus
could have choked her, Yes, she

457
00:47:07,320 --> 00:47:13,239
answered, plainly, taking the bull
by the hauns. I want to know

458
00:47:13,440 --> 00:47:17,000
what you were doing down there,
prying into other people's letter with the postman.

459
00:47:20,079 --> 00:47:23,320
Bertha looked up at her, ever
blind, she answered at once,

460
00:47:23,440 --> 00:47:30,760
without a second's hesitation, The postman's
my young man, miss, and we

461
00:47:30,840 --> 00:47:37,280
hoped before very long now to be
married. Odious thing, Persus thought,

462
00:47:37,920 --> 00:47:42,159
a glib lie, always ready on
the tip of her tongue for every emergency.

463
00:47:44,000 --> 00:47:47,559
But Bertha's full heart was beating violently, beating with love and hope,

464
00:47:47,639 --> 00:47:54,280
and deferred anxiety. A little later
in the day, Persus mentioned the incident

465
00:47:54,320 --> 00:48:00,760
casually to Lady mc clure, mainly
in order to satisfy herself that the girl

466
00:48:00,800 --> 00:48:06,559
had been lying. Lady mc clure, however, gave a qualified assent.

467
00:48:07,159 --> 00:48:12,880
I believe she is engaged to the
postman, she said, I think I

468
00:48:12,920 --> 00:48:15,280
have heard so, though I make
it a rule, you see, my

469
00:48:15,400 --> 00:48:20,800
dear, to know as little as
I can of these people's love affairs.

470
00:48:21,320 --> 00:48:27,239
We are so very uninteresting. But
Bertha certainly told me she wouldn't leave me

471
00:48:27,400 --> 00:48:31,519
to get married for an indefinite period. That was only ten days ago.

472
00:48:32,440 --> 00:48:37,039
She said her young man wasn't yet
in a position to make a home for

473
00:48:37,119 --> 00:48:45,079
her. Perhaps, Pursus suggested grimly, something has occurred meanwhile to better hear

474
00:48:45,119 --> 00:48:52,039
her position. Such strange things crop
up. She may have come into a

475
00:48:52,320 --> 00:48:59,920
fortune, perhaps so, Lady mc
clure replied languidly. The subject bored her.

476
00:49:00,280 --> 00:49:06,400
Though if so, it must really
have been very sudden. For I

477
00:49:06,440 --> 00:49:09,000
think it was morning before you lost
your jewels, she told me so.

478
00:49:12,360 --> 00:49:17,800
Pursus thought that awed, but she
made no comment. Before dinner that evening,

479
00:49:17,880 --> 00:49:22,960
she burst suddenly into Lady mc clure's
room. For a minute, Bertha

480
00:49:22,360 --> 00:49:28,360
was dressing her lady's hair. Friends
were coming to dine. Among them,

481
00:49:28,400 --> 00:49:32,840
Sir Justin, how did these pearls
go with my complexion? Lady mc clear,

482
00:49:34,559 --> 00:49:38,280
Pursus asked rather anxiously, for she
specially wished to look her best that

483
00:49:38,360 --> 00:49:45,719
evening for one of the party.
Oh charming, Her hostess reply answered with

484
00:49:45,760 --> 00:49:54,559
a society smile. Never saw anything
suit you better pursus except my poor rubies,

485
00:49:55,199 --> 00:50:00,239
persus cried rather ruefully for the colored
gee jaws are dear to say,

486
00:50:00,400 --> 00:50:07,320
the savage and the woman. I
wish I could get them back. I

487
00:50:07,400 --> 00:50:14,400
wonder that man Gregory hasn't succeeded in
finding them. Oh my dear lady mc

488
00:50:14,440 --> 00:50:17,480
clear, drawled out, You may
be sure by this time they are safe

489
00:50:17,519 --> 00:50:22,800
at Amsterdam. That's the only place
in Europe now to look for them?

490
00:50:24,519 --> 00:50:30,039
Why to Amsterdam, my lady Bertha
interspersed suddenly with a quick sight glance at

491
00:50:30,039 --> 00:50:37,079
purses. Lady mac clear threw her
head back in surprise at so unwonted an

492
00:50:37,079 --> 00:50:44,039
intrusion. What do you want to
know that for child, she asked,

493
00:50:44,079 --> 00:50:49,760
somewhat curtly. Why to be cut? Of course, all the diamond cutters

494
00:50:49,760 --> 00:50:53,480
in the world are concentrated in Amsterdam, and the first thing a thief does

495
00:50:53,519 --> 00:50:59,280
when he steals big jewels is to
send them across and have them cut in

496
00:50:59,360 --> 00:51:06,679
new shapes so they can't be identified. I shouldn't have thought, so Bertha

497
00:51:06,719 --> 00:51:13,880
put in calmly, they'd have known
who to send them to. Lady mc

498
00:51:13,880 --> 00:51:19,239
clear turned to her sharply. Why
these things, she said, with a

499
00:51:19,320 --> 00:51:23,920
calm air of knowledge, are always
done by experienced thieves who know the ropes

500
00:51:23,960 --> 00:51:30,480
well and are in league with the
receivers the whole world over. But Gregory

501
00:51:30,559 --> 00:51:34,880
has his eye on Amsterdam. I'm
sure, and we'll soon hear something.

502
00:51:36,639 --> 00:51:42,480
Yes, my lady, Bertha answered
in her acquiscent tone, and relapsed into

503
00:51:42,559 --> 00:51:49,400
silence. Four days later, about
nine at night, that hard worked man,

504
00:51:49,480 --> 00:51:53,000
the posty on the beat, stood
loitering outside Sir Everett mc clure's house,

505
00:51:53,719 --> 00:52:00,440
openly defining the rules of the department
in close conference with Bertha. Well,

506
00:52:00,719 --> 00:52:06,880
any news, Bertha asked, trembling
over with excitement, for she was

507
00:52:06,920 --> 00:52:12,320
a very different person outside with her
lover, from the demure and imperturbable model

508
00:52:12,400 --> 00:52:17,400
maid who waited on my lady.
Why, yes, the posty answered,

509
00:52:17,679 --> 00:52:22,119
with a low laugh of triumph,
A letter from Amsterdam, and I think

510
00:52:22,199 --> 00:52:30,519
we have fixed it. Bertha almost
flung herself upon him. Oh Harry,

511
00:52:30,960 --> 00:52:36,000
she cried, all eagerness. This
is too good to be true. Then

512
00:52:36,039 --> 00:52:40,679
in just one other month, we
can really get married. There was a

513
00:52:40,719 --> 00:52:46,400
minute's pause, inarticulately filled by the
sounds of unrepresentable through the art of the

514
00:52:46,480 --> 00:52:52,800
type founder. Then Harry spoke again. It's an awful lot of money,

515
00:52:52,039 --> 00:52:58,480
he said, musing a regular fortune. And what's more, Bertha, if

516
00:52:58,519 --> 00:53:04,199
it hadn't been for your cleverness,
we never should have got it. Pertha

517
00:53:04,280 --> 00:53:10,800
pressed his hand affectionately. Even lady's
maid are human. Well, if I

518
00:53:12,199 --> 00:53:15,320
hadn't been so much in love with
you, she answered frankly, I don't

519
00:53:15,360 --> 00:53:20,119
think I could have ever had the
wit to manage it. But oh,

520
00:53:20,239 --> 00:53:28,039
Harry, love makes one do or
try anything. If Perces had heard those

521
00:53:28,079 --> 00:53:35,440
singular words, she would have felt
no doubt was any longer possible. Next

522
00:53:35,480 --> 00:53:39,440
morning, at ten o'clock, a
policeman came round post haste to Sir Everard's.

523
00:53:40,440 --> 00:53:45,440
He asked to say Miss Remanette.
When Perces came down in a morning

524
00:53:45,480 --> 00:53:50,280
wrap, he had put a brief
message from the headquarters to give her.

525
00:53:51,800 --> 00:53:58,480
Your jewels have found, miss Will
you step round and identify them? Perss

526
00:53:58,559 --> 00:54:04,199
drove back with him, all trembling. Lady mc clure accompanied her at the

527
00:54:04,239 --> 00:54:09,480
police station. They left their cab
and entered the anteroom. A little group

528
00:54:09,519 --> 00:54:16,840
had assembled there. The first person
Purses distinctly made out in it was Sir

529
00:54:17,079 --> 00:54:23,039
Justin. A great terror seized her. Gregory had so poisoned her mind by

530
00:54:23,039 --> 00:54:29,960
this time with suspicion of everybody and
everything she had came across, that she

531
00:54:30,079 --> 00:54:35,800
was afraid of her own shadow.
But the next moment she saw clearly he

532
00:54:35,920 --> 00:54:43,039
wasn't there as prisoner, or even
as witness, merely as spectator. She

533
00:54:43,119 --> 00:54:49,559
acknowledged him with a hasty bow and
cast her eye round again. The next

534
00:54:49,599 --> 00:54:54,880
person she definitely distinguished was Bertha,
as calm and cool as ever, but

535
00:54:55,000 --> 00:55:00,880
in the very center of the group, occupying as it were, the place

536
00:55:00,920 --> 00:55:07,519
of honor, which naturally belongs to
the prisoner on all similar occasions. Perces

537
00:55:07,599 --> 00:55:14,800
was not surprised at that she had
known it all along. She glanced meaningly

538
00:55:14,960 --> 00:55:20,480
at Gregory, who stood a little
behind, looking by no means triumphant.

539
00:55:21,519 --> 00:55:27,159
Perceus found his dejection odd, but
he was a proud detective, and perhaps

540
00:55:27,159 --> 00:55:32,480
some one else had affected the capture. These are your jewels, I believe,

541
00:55:34,079 --> 00:55:39,000
the inspector said, holding them up, and Perces admitted it. This

542
00:55:39,239 --> 00:55:45,199
is a painful case. The inspector
bent on a very painful case. We

543
00:55:45,280 --> 00:55:51,039
grieved to have discovered such a clue
against one of our own men. But

544
00:55:51,159 --> 00:55:55,440
as he owns it to himself and
intends to throw himself on the mercy of

545
00:55:55,480 --> 00:56:00,480
the court, it's no use talking
about it. He won't tempt to defend

546
00:56:00,519 --> 00:56:07,440
it. Indeed, with such evidence, I think he's doing what's best and

547
00:56:07,599 --> 00:56:15,199
wisest. Pursy stood there all dazed. I I don't understand, she cried,

548
00:56:15,199 --> 00:56:20,440
with a swimming brain. Who on
earth are you talking about? The

549
00:56:20,480 --> 00:56:25,599
inspector pointed mutely with one hand at
Gregory, and for the first time Perseus

550
00:56:25,719 --> 00:56:31,480
saw he was guarded. She clapped
her hand to her head. In a

551
00:56:31,559 --> 00:56:37,320
moment, it all broke in upon
her. When she had called in the

552
00:56:37,360 --> 00:56:42,920
police. The rubies had never been
stolen at all. It was Gregory who

553
00:56:42,920 --> 00:56:47,920
stole them. She understood it now
at once the real facts came back to

554
00:56:47,960 --> 00:56:52,920
her. She had taken her necklet
off at night, laid it carelessly down

555
00:56:52,920 --> 00:56:59,119
on the dressing table too full of
sir Justin, covered it accidentally with her

556
00:56:59,199 --> 00:57:05,079
lace, pocket hand kerchief, and
straightway forgotten all about it. Next day

557
00:57:05,280 --> 00:57:10,239
she missed it and jumped at conclusions. When Gregory came, he spied the

558
00:57:10,360 --> 00:57:17,119
rubies as khans under the corner of
the handkerchief. Of course, being a

559
00:57:17,119 --> 00:57:22,880
woman, she had naturally looked everywhere
except in the place where she had laid

560
00:57:22,920 --> 00:57:27,920
them, and knowing it was a
safe case, he had quickly pocketed them

561
00:57:28,199 --> 00:57:35,480
before her very eyes. All unsuspected. He felt sure nobody could accuse him

562
00:57:35,480 --> 00:57:40,000
of a robbery which was committed before
he came, and which he had himself

563
00:57:40,079 --> 00:57:45,679
been called in to investigate. The
worst of it is, the inspector went

564
00:57:45,719 --> 00:57:52,519
on, he had bown a very
ingenious case against Sir Justin o'byron, whom

565
00:57:52,519 --> 00:57:57,280
we were on the very point of
arresting today if this young woman hadn't come

566
00:57:57,280 --> 00:58:00,679
in in the eleventh hower, in
the very nick of time and earned the

567
00:58:00,719 --> 00:58:06,599
reward by giving us the clue that
led to the discovery and the recovery of

568
00:58:06,679 --> 00:58:14,480
jewels. They were brought over this
morning by an Amsterdam detective. Pursus looked

569
00:58:14,559 --> 00:58:21,519
hard at Bertha. Bertha answered her, Look, my young man was the

570
00:58:21,599 --> 00:58:27,039
postman, miss, she explained quite
simply. And after what my lady said,

571
00:58:28,159 --> 00:58:31,159
I put him up to watch mister
Gregory's delivery for the letter from Amsterdam.

572
00:58:32,519 --> 00:58:37,320
I had suspected him from the very
first, and when the letter came,

573
00:58:37,039 --> 00:58:42,679
we had him arrested at once and
found out who were the people in

574
00:58:42,760 --> 00:58:50,840
Amsterdam who had the rubies. Pursus
gasped with astonishment. Her brain was reeling,

575
00:58:51,840 --> 00:58:57,239
but Gregory, in the background put
in one last word. Well,

576
00:58:57,480 --> 00:59:01,159
I was right after all, he
said, with professional pride. I told

577
00:59:01,239 --> 00:59:07,000
you the very last person you dream
of suspecting was sure to be the one

578
00:59:07,079 --> 00:59:14,639
that actually did it. Lady o'byron's
rubies were very much admired at Monte Carlo

579
00:59:14,760 --> 00:59:20,639
last season. Mister Gregory had found
permanent employment for the next seven years at

580
00:59:20,679 --> 00:59:27,039
her Majesty's quarries on the Isle of
Portland. Bertha and her postman have retired

581
00:59:27,039 --> 00:59:31,760
to Canada with five hundred pounds to
buy a farm, and everybody says,

582
00:59:31,800 --> 00:59:37,760
Sir Justin o'byron has beaten the record, after all, even for Irish baronets,

583
00:59:38,199 --> 00:59:45,800
by making a marriage at once of
money and affection. The End of

584
00:59:45,840 --> 00:59:49,719
the Great Ruby Robbery by Grant Allan