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Speaker 1: The Great Valdez Sapphire by anonymous. I know more about

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it than any one else in the world, its present

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owner not accepted. I can give its whole history, from

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the Singalese who found it, the Spanish adventurer who stole it,

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the cardinal who bought it, the Pope who graciously accepted it,

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the favorite son of the church who received it, the

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gay and giddy duchess who pawned it down to the

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eminent prelate who now holds it in trust as a

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family heirloom. It will occupy a chapter to itself in

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my forthcoming work on historic stones, where full details of

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its weight, size, collar and value may be found. At present,

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I am going to relate an incident in its history,

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which for obvious reasons will not be published, which in

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fact I trust the reader will consider related in strict confidence.

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I had never seen the stone itself when I began

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to write about it, and it was not till one

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evening last spring, while staying with my nephew, Sir Thomas Acton,

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that I came within measurable distance of it. A dinner

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party was impending, and at my instigation, the Bishop of

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North Church and Miss Panton his daughter and heiress were

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among the invited guests. The dinner was a particularly good one,

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I remember that distinctly. In fact, I felt myself partly

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responsible for it. Having engaged the new cook, a talented

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young Italian pupil of the admirable old chef at my club,

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we had gone over the menu carefully together, with a

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result refreshing in its novelty, but not so daring as

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to disturb the minds of the innocent country guests who

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were bidden there too. The first spoonful of soup was reassuring,

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and I looked to the end of the table to

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exchange a congratulatory glance with Leta. What was a miss

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no response. Her pretty face was flushed, her smile constrained.

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She was talking with quite unnecessary impressment to her neighbor,

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Sir harry Lander. Though Leta is one of those few

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women who understand the importance of letting a man settle

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down tranquility and with an undisturbed mind to the business

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of dining, allowing no topic of serious interest to come

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on before the relevay, and reserving more conversational brilliancy for

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the entremets guests. All right, no disappointments. I had gone

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through the list with her, selecting just the right people

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to be asked to meet the landers or new neighbors.

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Not a mere cumber's country gathering, nor yet a showy

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imported party from town, but a skillful blending of both.

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Had anything happened already, I had been late for dinner

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and missed the arrivals in the drawing room. It was

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Lida's fault. She has got a way of coming into

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my room and put the last touches to my toilette.

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I let her, for I am doubtful of myself nowadays,

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after many years dependence on the best of valets, her

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taste is generally beyond dispute. But to day she had

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indulged in a feminine vaggary, which provoked me and made

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me late for dinner. Are you going to wear your sapphire,

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uncle Paul, She cried in a tone of dismay. Oh,

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why not the ruby? You would have your way about

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the table decorations, I gently reminded her. With that service

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of crown derby raps and orchids, the ruby would look

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absolutely barbaric. Now if you would have had the images

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set white candles and a yellow silk center. Oh, but

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I am so disappointed. I wanted the bishop to see

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your ruby, or one of your engraved gems. My dear,

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it is on the Bishop's account I put this on.

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You know, his daughter is heiress of the great Valdez sapphire.

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Of course she is. And when he had as the

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charge of a stone three times as big as yours,

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what's the use of wearing it? The ruby? Dear Uncle Paul, Please,

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she was desperately in earnest I could see, and considering

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the obligations which I am supposed to be under to

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her and Tom, it was but a little matter to yield.

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But it involved a good deal of extra trouble. Studs,

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slave links, WatchGuard, all carefully selected to go with the sapphire,

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had to be changed the emerald, which I chose as

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a compromise, requiring more florid accompaniments of a deeper tone

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of gold. And the dinner hour struck. As I replaced

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my jewel case, the one relic left me of a

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once handsome fortune in my fireproof safe. The emerald looked

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very well that evening, however, I kept my eyes upon

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it for comfort. When Miss Panton proved trying. She was

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a lean, yellow, dictatorial young person with no conversation. I

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spoke of her father's celebrated sapphires, My sapphires. She amended sourly,

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though I am legally debarred from making any profitable use

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of them. She furthermore informed me that she viewed them

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as useless gods which ought to be disposed of for

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the benefit of the heathen. I gave the subject up,

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and while she discoursed on the work of the Blue

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Ribbon Army among the Bosja's men's, I tried to understand

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a certain dislocation in the arrangement of the table. Surely

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we were more or less in number than we should

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be opposite side, all right? Who was extra on ours?

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I leaned forward, Lady Landore on one side, of Tom

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on the other. Who I caught glimpses of plumes pink

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and green, nodding over a dinner plate, and beneath them

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a pink nose in a green visage with a nutcracker chin,

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altogether unknown to me a sharp gray. I shot a

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wide glance down the table and caught me peeping, and

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I retreated, having only marked in addition, two clawlike hands

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with pointed ruffles and a mass of brilliant rings, making

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good play with a knife and fork. Who was she?

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At intervals, a high acid voice could be heard addressing Tom,

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and a laugh that made me shudder. It had the

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quality of the scream of a bird of prey or

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the yell of a jackal. I had heard that sort

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of laugh before, and it always made me feel like

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a defenseless rabbage. Every time it sounded, I saw Leta's

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fan flutter more furiously, and her manner grow more nervously animated,

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Poor dear girl, I never in all my recollection wished

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a dinner at an end so earnestly, so as to

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assure her of my support and sympathy, though without the

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faintest conception why either should be required the ices. At last,

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a menu card folded in two was laid beside me.

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I read it on A keep the bee from joining

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us in the drawing room. The bee the bishop, of course,

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with pleasure. But why and how? That's the question, never mind?

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Why could I lure him into the library, the billiard room,

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the conservatory. I doubted it, and I doubted still more

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what I should do with him? When I got him there.

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The bishop is a grand and stately ecclesiastic of the

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medieval type, broad chested, deep voiced marshal of bearing. I

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could picture him charging mason hand at the head of

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his vassals, or delivering over a dissenter of the period

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to the rack and thumbscrew, but not pottering among rare additions,

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tall copies and grolier bindings, not condescending to a quiet

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cigar among the tree ferns and orchids. Elta must and

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should be obeyed, I swore, nevertheless, even if I were

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driven to lock the door in the fearless old fashion

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of a bygone day and declare, I'd choot any man

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who left, while a drop remained in the bottles. The

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ladies were rising. The lady at the head of the

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line smirked and knotted her pink plumes coquettishly at Tom,

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while her hawk's eyes roved keen and predatory over us all.

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She stopped, suddenly, creating a block and confusion. Ah, the

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dear Bishop, you there, and I never saw you. You

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must come and have a nice long chat. Presently, bye bye.

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She shook her fan at him over my shoulder and

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tripped off leta passing me last, gave a look of

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profound despair. Lady Cartwiget, somebody exclaimed, I couldn't believe my eyes.

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Thought she was dead or in penal servitude. Never should

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have expected to see her here, said some one else

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behind me, confidentially, what Cartwiget not the mum of the

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cartwich It who just so? The cartwich it who Tom

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assented with a shrug. We needn't go farther, as she's

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my guest, just my luck. I met them at Buxton,

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saw them uncommonly good company, in fact, cart which it

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laid me under a great obligation about a horse I

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was nearly let in for buying, and gave them a

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general invitation here as one does you know, never expected

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her to turn up with her luggage this afternoon, just

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before dinner, to stay a week or a fortnight of

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cart which it can join her. A groan of sympathy

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ran round the table. It can't be helped. I told

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you this just to show that I shouldn't have asked

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you here to meet this sort of people of my

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own free will. But as it is, please say no

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more about them. The subject was not dropped by any means,

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and I took care that it should not be at

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our end of the table. One story after another went

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buzzing round. Sought a vos out of deference to Tom,

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but perfectly audible cartwitchet Ah, Yes, mixed up in that

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Rawlings divorce case. Wasn't he a bad lot? Turned out

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of the dragoon guards for cheating at cards or picking

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pockets or something. Remember the row at the Seruleian Club,

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scandalous exposure, and that forged letter business. Oh that was

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the mother prosecution hushed up somehow ought to be serving

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her fourteen years, and that business of poor ferrers. The

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banker got hold of some of his secrets and blackmailed

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him till he blew his brains out. It was so

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exciting that I clean forgot the bishop till a low gasp,

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But my elbow startled me. He was lying back in

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his chair, his mighty shaven jowl a ghastly white, his fierce,

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imperious eyebrows drooping limp over his fish like eyes. His

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splendid figure shrunk and contracted. He was trying with a

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shaken hand to pour out wine. The decanter clattered against

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the glass, and the wine spilled on a cloth. I'm

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afraid did you find the room too warm? Shall we

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go into the library. He rose hastily and followed me

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like a lamb. He recovered himself once we got into

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the hall, and affably rejected all my proffers of brandy

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and soda, medical advice, everything else my limited experience could suggest.

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He only demanded his carriage directly, and that Miss Panton

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should be summoned forthwith. I made the best use I

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could of the time left me. I'm uncommonly sorry you

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do not feel equal to staying a little longer, my lord.

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I counted on showing you my few trifles of precious stones,

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the savage from the wreck of my possessions, nothing in

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comparison with your own collection. The Bishop clasped his hand

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over his heart. His breath came short and quick, A

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return of that dizziness, he explained, with a faint smile.

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You are thinking of the valds Sapphire, are you not?

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Some day, he went on, with forced composure, I may

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have the pleasure of showing it to you. It is

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at my banker's just now. Miss Panton's steps were heard

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in the hall. You are well known as a connoisseur

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mister Acton, he went on, hurriedly, is your collection valuable?

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If so, keep it safe. Don't trust a ring off

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your hand or the key of your jewel case out

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of your pocket till the house is clear again. The

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words rushed from his lips in an impetuous whisper. He

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gave me a meaning glance and departed with his daughter.

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I went back to the drawing room, my head swimming

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with bewilderment. What that dear bishop gone? Screamed Lady Cartwitchet

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from the central Autumn, where she sat, surrounded by most

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of the gentlemen, all apparently well entertained by her conversation.

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And I wanted to talk over old times with him

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so badly. His poor wife was my greatest friend, Miramont Arrow,

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daughter of the great banker. You know it's not possible

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that the miserable little prig is my poor Mira's girl,

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the heiress of all the Monteneros, in a black lace

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gown worth two pens. When I think of her mother's

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beauty and her toilets? Does she ever wear the Sapphires?

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Has any one ever seen her in them? Eleven large

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stones in a lovely antique setting, and the great Valdez sapphire,

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worth thousands and thousands For the pendant, no one replied,

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I wanted to get a rise out of the Bishop

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to night. It used to make him so mad when

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I wore this. She fumbled among the laces at her

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throat and clawed out a pendant that hung to a

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velvet band around her neck. I fairly gasped when she

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removed her hand. A sapphire of irregular shape flashed out,

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its blue lightning on us. Such a stone, a true,

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rich cornflower blue, even by that wretched artificial light, with

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soft velvety depths of color and dazzling clearness of tint

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in its lights and shades, A stone to remember. I

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stretched out my hand involuntarily, But Lady Cartwich, it drew

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back with a coquettish squial. No, no, you mustn't look

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any closer. Tell me what you think of it now?

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Isn't it pretty? Superb? Was all I could ejaculate, staring

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at the azure splendor of that miraculous jewel. In a

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sort of trance, she gave a shrill, cackling laugh of mockery.

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The great mister Acton, taken in by a bit of

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pilais royal gimcrackery. What an advertisement for Bogart at Sea.

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They are perfect artists and frods. Don't you remember their

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stand at the first Paris Exhibition. They had imitations there

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of every celebrated stone. But I never expected anything made

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by man could delude mister Acton. Never, And she went

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off into another mocking cackle, and all the idiots round

234
00:14:55,159 --> 00:14:58,480
her hall hauled knowingly, as if they had seen the

235
00:14:58,559 --> 00:15:02,799
joke all along. I was too bewildered to reply, which

236
00:15:02,879 --> 00:15:06,480
was lucky on the whole. I suppose. I mustn't tell

237
00:15:06,519 --> 00:15:08,360
why I came to give quite a big sum in

238
00:15:08,399 --> 00:15:12,559
Franks for this. She went on, tapping her closed lips

239
00:15:12,559 --> 00:15:16,120
with her closed fan and cocking her eye at us,

240
00:15:16,159 --> 00:15:18,360
all like a parrot wanting to be coaxed to talk.

241
00:15:19,360 --> 00:15:23,399
It's a queer story. I didn't want to hear her anecdote,

242
00:15:23,840 --> 00:15:27,200
especially as I saw she wanted to tell it. What

243
00:15:27,279 --> 00:15:30,960
I did want was to see that pendant again. She

244
00:15:31,039 --> 00:15:34,159
had thrust it back among her laces, only the loop

245
00:15:34,200 --> 00:15:37,080
which held it to the velvet being visible. It was

246
00:15:37,120 --> 00:15:41,200
set with three small sapphires, and even from a distance

247
00:15:41,799 --> 00:15:44,919
I clearly made them out to be imitations and poor ones.

248
00:15:45,919 --> 00:15:49,919
I felt a queer thrill of mistrust. Was the large

249
00:15:49,919 --> 00:15:54,000
stone no better could I, even for an instant, have

250
00:15:54,080 --> 00:15:57,919
been dazzled by a sham, and a sham of that quality.

251
00:15:58,080 --> 00:16:01,480
The events of the evening had flurried, confused me. I

252
00:16:01,559 --> 00:16:04,279
wished to think them over and quiet. I would go

253
00:16:04,360 --> 00:16:08,279
to bed. My rooms at the Manor are the best

254
00:16:08,320 --> 00:16:12,200
in the house. Lita would have it, so I must

255
00:16:12,200 --> 00:16:14,759
explain their position for a reason to be understood later.

256
00:16:15,679 --> 00:16:18,039
My bedroom is in the southeast angle of the house.

257
00:16:18,559 --> 00:16:20,679
It opens on one side into a sitting room in

258
00:16:20,679 --> 00:16:23,360
the east corridor, the rest of which is taken up

259
00:16:23,399 --> 00:16:25,840
by the suit of rooms occupied by Tom and Lita,

260
00:16:26,480 --> 00:16:29,279
and on the other side into my bathroom, the first

261
00:16:29,360 --> 00:16:32,559
room in the south corridor, where the principal guest chambers

262
00:16:32,559 --> 00:16:35,440
are to one of which it was originally the dressing room.

263
00:16:36,039 --> 00:16:38,960
Passing this room, I noticed a couple of housemaids preparing

264
00:16:38,960 --> 00:16:41,919
it for the night, and discovered with a shiver that

265
00:16:42,039 --> 00:16:44,200
Lady Cartwich it was to be my next door neighbor.

266
00:16:44,879 --> 00:16:50,000
It gave me a turn. The Bishop's strange warning must

267
00:16:50,039 --> 00:16:53,440
have unnerved me. I was perfectly safe from her ladyship.

268
00:16:53,879 --> 00:16:56,759
The disused door into her room was locked and the

269
00:16:56,840 --> 00:17:01,159
key safe on the housekeeper's bunch. It was also undiscoverable

270
00:17:01,159 --> 00:17:04,039
on her side, the recess in which it stood being

271
00:17:04,079 --> 00:17:08,200
completely filled by a large wardrobe. On my side hung

272
00:17:08,240 --> 00:17:12,640
a thick sound proof porteriere. Nevertheless, I resolved not to

273
00:17:12,759 --> 00:17:15,799
use that room while she inhabited the next one. I

274
00:17:15,880 --> 00:17:19,920
removed my possessions, fastened the door of communication with my bedroom,

275
00:17:20,319 --> 00:17:24,559
and dragged a heavy ottoman across it. Then I stowed

276
00:17:24,559 --> 00:17:27,599
away my emerald in my strong box. It is built

277
00:17:27,599 --> 00:17:30,160
into the wall of my sitting room and masked by

278
00:17:30,160 --> 00:17:33,799
the lower part of an old carved oak bureau. I

279
00:17:33,839 --> 00:17:37,319
put away even the rings I wore, habitually, keeping out

280
00:17:37,759 --> 00:17:40,119
only an inferior cat's eye for work a day ware.

281
00:17:41,200 --> 00:17:43,599
I had just made all safe when Leta tapped at

282
00:17:43,640 --> 00:17:45,440
the door and came in to wish me good night.

283
00:17:46,440 --> 00:17:50,359
She looked flushed in harassed, and ready to cry. Uncle Paul.

284
00:17:50,839 --> 00:17:53,559
She began, I want you to go up to town

285
00:17:53,599 --> 00:17:55,519
at once and stay away till I send for you,

286
00:17:56,599 --> 00:18:01,839
my dear. I was too amazed to expostulate. We've got

287
00:18:02,319 --> 00:18:06,519
a a pestilence among us. She declared, her foot tapping

288
00:18:06,559 --> 00:18:09,559
the ground angrily. And the least we can do is

289
00:18:09,599 --> 00:18:13,319
to go into quarantine. Oh, I'm so sorry and so

290
00:18:13,400 --> 00:18:17,079
ashamed the poor bishop. I'll take good care that no

291
00:18:17,079 --> 00:18:19,880
one else shall meet that woman here. You did your

292
00:18:19,880 --> 00:18:22,960
best for me, Uncle Paul, and manage admirably, but it

293
00:18:23,000 --> 00:18:26,240
was all no use. I hoped, against hope that was

294
00:18:26,279 --> 00:18:28,920
between the dusk of the drawing room before dinner, and

295
00:18:29,079 --> 00:18:31,480
being put at opposite ends of the table, we might

296
00:18:31,519 --> 00:18:35,680
get through without a meeting. But my dear explain, why

297
00:18:35,720 --> 00:18:38,559
shouldn't the Bishop and Lady Cartwrichard meet? Why is it

298
00:18:38,599 --> 00:18:41,880
worse for him than any one else? Why? I thought

299
00:18:41,880 --> 00:18:44,000
everybody had heard of that dreadful wife of his, who

300
00:18:44,039 --> 00:18:47,039
nearly broke his heart. If he married her for her money,

301
00:18:47,039 --> 00:18:50,079
it served him right. But Lady Lander says she was

302
00:18:50,200 --> 00:18:52,440
very handsome and really in love with him at first.

303
00:18:53,319 --> 00:18:55,160
And then lady cartwhich it got hold of her and

304
00:18:55,240 --> 00:18:58,319
led her into all sorts of mischief. She left her husband,

305
00:18:59,079 --> 00:19:01,480
he was only a rector the country living in those days,

306
00:19:01,960 --> 00:19:04,279
and went to live in town, got into a horrid

307
00:19:04,359 --> 00:19:08,240
fast set and made herself notorious. You must have heard

308
00:19:08,240 --> 00:19:11,680
of her. I heard of her sapphires, my dear, but

309
00:19:11,759 --> 00:19:14,799
I was in Brazil at the time. I wish you

310
00:19:14,799 --> 00:19:17,119
had been at home, you might have found her out.

311
00:19:17,720 --> 00:19:20,440
She was furious because her husband refused to let her

312
00:19:20,440 --> 00:19:23,440
wear the great Maldez sapphire. It had been in the

313
00:19:23,480 --> 00:19:27,079
Montenero family for some generations, and her father settled it

314
00:19:27,160 --> 00:19:30,519
first on her and then on her little girl. The Bishop,

315
00:19:30,559 --> 00:19:34,160
being trustee, he felt obliged to take away the little

316
00:19:34,200 --> 00:19:36,359
girl and send her off to be brought up by

317
00:19:36,359 --> 00:19:38,759
some old aunts in the country, and he locked up

318
00:19:38,759 --> 00:19:42,720
the sapphire lady cart which it tells as a splendid joke.

319
00:19:42,799 --> 00:19:45,519
How they got the copy made in Paris, and it

320
00:19:45,559 --> 00:19:47,960
did just as well for the people to stare at.

321
00:19:48,359 --> 00:19:52,359
No wonder, the bishop hates the very name of the stone.

322
00:19:52,680 --> 00:19:57,200
How long will she stay here, I asked, dismally, till

323
00:19:57,240 --> 00:19:59,119
Lord Carte which it can come and escort her to

324
00:19:59,200 --> 00:20:03,039
Paris to visit some American friends. Goodness knows when that

325
00:20:03,119 --> 00:20:07,400
will be. Do go up to town, Uncle Paul, I

326
00:20:07,519 --> 00:20:10,640
refused indignantly. The very least I could do was to

327
00:20:10,680 --> 00:20:13,119
stand by my poor young relatives in their troubles and

328
00:20:13,160 --> 00:20:17,160
help them through. I did so I wore that inferior

329
00:20:17,200 --> 00:20:21,960
cat's eye for six weeks. It is a time I

330
00:20:22,000 --> 00:20:25,799
cannot think of even now without a shudder. The more

331
00:20:25,839 --> 00:20:28,440
I saw of that terrible old woman, the more I

332
00:20:28,519 --> 00:20:31,599
detested her, and we saw a very great deal of her.

333
00:20:32,480 --> 00:20:36,279
Leta kept her word and neither accepted nor gave invitations.

334
00:20:36,319 --> 00:20:39,759
All that time we were cut off from all society

335
00:20:39,839 --> 00:20:43,039
but that of the old General Fairford, who would go

336
00:20:43,079 --> 00:20:46,640
anywhere and meet any one to get a rubber after dinner.

337
00:20:47,119 --> 00:20:50,440
The Doctor, a sporting widower, and the Duberles, a giddy,

338
00:20:50,599 --> 00:20:53,440
rather rackety young couple who had taken the dower house

339
00:20:53,480 --> 00:20:58,799
for a year. Lady Cartwich, it seemed perfectly content. She

340
00:20:58,880 --> 00:21:00,880
reveled in the soft living, in good fare of the

341
00:21:00,920 --> 00:21:05,559
manor house, the drives in Lita's big baroche, and Dominico's dinners.

342
00:21:06,240 --> 00:21:09,839
As one to whom short commons were not unknown, she

343
00:21:09,920 --> 00:21:12,400
had a hungry way of grabbing and grasping at everything

344
00:21:12,480 --> 00:21:16,079
she could. The shillings she wanted whist, the best fruit

345
00:21:16,119 --> 00:21:20,119
at dessert, the postage stamps in the library inkstand. That

346
00:21:20,359 --> 00:21:25,119
was infinitely suggestive. Sometimes I could have pitied her. She

347
00:21:25,240 --> 00:21:29,759
was so greedy, so spiteful, so friendless. She always made

348
00:21:29,799 --> 00:21:31,920
me think of some wicked old pirate putting into a

349
00:21:31,920 --> 00:21:35,119
peaceful port to provision and repair his battered old hulk,

350
00:21:35,839 --> 00:21:39,119
obliged to live on friendly terms with the natives, but

351
00:21:39,240 --> 00:21:42,000
his piratical old nostrils a sniff for plunder, and his

352
00:21:42,079 --> 00:21:45,160
piratical old soul longing to be off morrating once more.

353
00:21:46,559 --> 00:21:49,920
When would that be? Not till the arrival in Paris

354
00:21:49,920 --> 00:21:52,759
of her distinguished American friends, of whom we heard a

355
00:21:52,759 --> 00:21:58,119
great deal charming people, the Buckhams of Chicago, the American

356
00:21:58,160 --> 00:22:03,039
branch of the English Botamps. You know, they seemed to

357
00:22:03,119 --> 00:22:06,119
be taking an unconsciable time to get there. She would

358
00:22:06,119 --> 00:22:08,759
have insisted on being driven over to North Church to

359
00:22:08,839 --> 00:22:11,519
call the palace, but that the bishop was understood to

360
00:22:11,519 --> 00:22:14,039
be holding confirmations at the other end of the diocese.

361
00:22:16,240 --> 00:22:18,920
I was alone in the house one afternoon, sitting by

362
00:22:18,960 --> 00:22:21,839
my window, toying with the key of my safe and

363
00:22:21,960 --> 00:22:24,480
wondering whether I dare treat myself to a peep at

364
00:22:24,519 --> 00:22:28,200
my treasures, when a suspicious movement in the park below

365
00:22:28,240 --> 00:22:32,440
caught my attention. A black figure certainly dodged from behind

366
00:22:32,519 --> 00:22:35,079
one tree to the next, and then into the shadow

367
00:22:35,119 --> 00:22:37,839
of the park, paling instead of keeping to the footpath.

368
00:22:38,720 --> 00:22:42,000
It looked queer. I caught up my field glass and

369
00:22:42,039 --> 00:22:44,200
marked him at one point where he was bound to

370
00:22:44,240 --> 00:22:47,319
come into the open for a few steps. He crossed

371
00:22:47,319 --> 00:22:50,240
the strip of turf with giant strides and got into

372
00:22:50,279 --> 00:22:53,920
cover again, but not quick enough to prevent my recognizing him.

373
00:22:54,680 --> 00:22:59,440
It was great Heavens, the bishop in a soft hat

374
00:23:00,079 --> 00:23:03,160
over his forehead, with a long cloak and a big stick.

375
00:23:03,559 --> 00:23:07,759
He looked like a poacher. Guided by some mysterious instinct,

376
00:23:08,200 --> 00:23:11,559
I hurried to meet him. I opened the conservatory door,

377
00:23:11,880 --> 00:23:16,039
and in he rushed, like a hunted rabbit. Without explanation,

378
00:23:16,200 --> 00:23:18,720
I let him up the white staircase to my room,

379
00:23:19,079 --> 00:23:21,480
where he dropped into a chair and wiped his face.

380
00:23:22,920 --> 00:23:29,480
You are astonished, mister Acton, he panted. I will explain directly. Thanks.

381
00:23:30,319 --> 00:23:32,319
He tossed off the glass of brandy I had poured

382
00:23:32,319 --> 00:23:35,599
out without waiting for the qualifying soda, and looked better.

383
00:23:37,279 --> 00:23:41,079
I am in serious trouble. You can help me. I've

384
00:23:41,079 --> 00:23:45,319
had a shock to day, a grievous shock. He stopped

385
00:23:45,319 --> 00:23:50,000
and tried to pull himself together. I must trust you implicitly,

386
00:23:50,039 --> 00:23:53,359
mister Acton, I have no choice. Tell me what you

387
00:23:53,400 --> 00:23:56,680
think of this. He drew a case from his breast

388
00:23:56,680 --> 00:24:00,039
pocket and opened it. I promised you should see the

389
00:24:00,279 --> 00:24:06,759
Valdes sapphire. Look there, the valds sapphire, A great, big,

390
00:24:06,799 --> 00:24:10,680
shining lump of blue crystal, flawless and of perfect color.

391
00:24:11,599 --> 00:24:15,680
That was all. I took it up, breathed on it,

392
00:24:16,039 --> 00:24:19,359
drew out my magnifier, looked at it in one light

393
00:24:19,480 --> 00:24:24,200
and another. What was wrong with it? I could not say.

394
00:24:25,039 --> 00:24:28,160
Nine experts out of ten would undoubtedly have pronounced the

395
00:24:28,200 --> 00:24:33,640
stone genuine. I, by virtue of some mysterious instincts that

396
00:24:33,799 --> 00:24:37,680
has hitherto always guided me. Aright, was the unlucky tenth?

397
00:24:38,759 --> 00:24:43,160
I looked at the bishop. His eyes met mine. There

398
00:24:43,240 --> 00:24:47,319
was no need of spoken word between us. Has Lady

399
00:24:47,359 --> 00:24:50,839
cart which it shown you her sapphire? Was his most

400
00:24:50,920 --> 00:24:57,160
unexpected question? She has now, mister Acton, on your honor,

401
00:24:57,240 --> 00:24:59,839
as a connoisseur and a gentleman, which of the t

402
00:25:00,319 --> 00:25:06,240
is the Valdez not this one? I could say naught else.

403
00:25:08,400 --> 00:25:12,119
You were my last hope. He broke off and dropped

404
00:25:12,119 --> 00:25:14,400
his face on his folded arms. With a groan that

405
00:25:14,400 --> 00:25:17,119
shook the table on which he rested while I stood

406
00:25:17,319 --> 00:25:20,519
dismayed it myself for having let so hasty a judgment

407
00:25:20,680 --> 00:25:25,400
escape me. He lifted a ghastly countenance to me. She

408
00:25:25,599 --> 00:25:28,640
vowed she would see me ruined and disgraced. I made

409
00:25:28,680 --> 00:25:31,039
her my enemy by crossing some of her schemes once,

410
00:25:31,680 --> 00:25:36,000
and she never forgives. She will keep her word. I

411
00:25:36,039 --> 00:25:39,839
shall appear before the world as a fraudulent trustee. I

412
00:25:39,880 --> 00:25:43,039
can neither produce the valuable confined to my charge nor

413
00:25:43,119 --> 00:25:46,559
make the loss good. I have only an incredible story

414
00:25:46,640 --> 00:25:51,119
to tell. He dropped his head and groaned again. Who

415
00:25:51,119 --> 00:25:57,200
will believe me? I will for one Ah, you, yes,

416
00:25:57,319 --> 00:26:00,519
you know her. She took my wife from me, Miss Acting.

417
00:26:01,279 --> 00:26:03,799
Heaven only knows what the hold was that she had

418
00:26:03,839 --> 00:26:06,960
over poor Myra. She encouraged her to set me at

419
00:26:07,000 --> 00:26:11,720
defiance and eventually to leave me. She was answerable for

420
00:26:11,799 --> 00:26:14,640
all the scandalous, folly and extravagance of poor Myra's life

421
00:26:14,640 --> 00:26:19,200
in Paris. Spare me the telling of the story. She

422
00:26:19,359 --> 00:26:21,720
left her at last to die alone and uncared for.

423
00:26:23,079 --> 00:26:25,000
I reached my wife to find her dying of a

424
00:26:25,039 --> 00:26:27,759
fever from which Lady Cartwitchet and her crew had fled.

425
00:26:29,079 --> 00:26:32,079
She was raving in delirium and died without recognizing me.

426
00:26:33,000 --> 00:26:35,359
Some trouble she had been in, which I must never know,

427
00:26:35,599 --> 00:26:39,079
oppressed her. At the very last she roused from a

428
00:26:39,079 --> 00:26:42,319
long stupor and spoke to the nurse, tell him to

429
00:26:42,359 --> 00:26:45,599
get this happhire back. She stole it. She has robbed

430
00:26:45,599 --> 00:26:51,680
my child. Those were her last words. The nurse understood

431
00:26:51,720 --> 00:26:55,799
no English and treated them as wondering. But I heard

432
00:26:55,839 --> 00:27:00,200
them and knew she was sane when she spoke. Did

433
00:27:00,240 --> 00:27:04,920
you do? What could I do? I saw lady Cartridget,

434
00:27:05,039 --> 00:27:07,680
who laughed at me and defied me. To make her

435
00:27:07,680 --> 00:27:10,920
confess or disgorge, I took the pendant to more than

436
00:27:10,960 --> 00:27:14,079
one eminent jeweler, on pretense of having the setting scene too,

437
00:27:15,119 --> 00:27:17,839
and all have examined and admired, without giving a hint

438
00:27:17,880 --> 00:27:22,039
of there being anything wrong. I allowed a celebrated mineralogist

439
00:27:22,039 --> 00:27:25,720
to see it. He gave no sign. Perhaps they are

440
00:27:25,799 --> 00:27:29,440
right and we are wrong. No, no, listen. I heard

441
00:27:29,440 --> 00:27:33,039
of an old Dutchman, celebrated for his imitations. I went

442
00:27:33,079 --> 00:27:35,559
to him, and he told me at once that he

443
00:27:35,640 --> 00:27:39,880
had been allowed by Montenero to copy the Valdez setting,

444
00:27:39,920 --> 00:27:43,559
and all for the Paris exhibition. I showed him this,

445
00:27:44,079 --> 00:27:46,200
and he claimed it for his own work at once,

446
00:27:46,839 --> 00:27:50,839
and pointed out his private mark upon it. You must

447
00:27:50,839 --> 00:27:55,039
take your magnifier to find it a Greek beta. He

448
00:27:55,160 --> 00:27:57,559
told me that he had sold it to Lady Cartwich

449
00:27:57,599 --> 00:28:01,559
it more than a year ago. It is a terrible position.

450
00:28:03,200 --> 00:28:06,640
It is my co trustee died lately. I have never

451
00:28:06,759 --> 00:28:09,960
dared to have another appointed. I am bound to hand

452
00:28:10,000 --> 00:28:12,759
over the sapphire to my daughter on her marriage, if

453
00:28:12,759 --> 00:28:16,880
her husband consents to take the name of Montenero. The

454
00:28:16,880 --> 00:28:20,559
bishop's face was ghastly pale, and the moisture started on

455
00:28:20,640 --> 00:28:24,400
his brow. I racked my brain for some word of comforts.

456
00:28:25,440 --> 00:28:30,200
Miss Panton may never marry, but she will, he shouted.

457
00:28:31,440 --> 00:28:33,839
That is the blow that has been dealt me to day.

458
00:28:34,599 --> 00:28:38,359
My chaplain, actually, my chaplain tells me that he is

459
00:28:38,440 --> 00:28:43,200
going out as a temperance missionary to Equatorial Africa, and

460
00:28:43,279 --> 00:28:46,119
has the assurance to add that he believes my daughter

461
00:28:46,240 --> 00:28:51,279
is not indisposed to accompany him. His consummating wrath acted

462
00:28:51,279 --> 00:28:55,359
as a momentary stimulant. He sat upright, his eyes flashing

463
00:28:55,400 --> 00:29:00,440
in his Brow's thunderous I felt for that chaplain. Then

464
00:29:00,480 --> 00:29:06,519
he collapsed miserably. The sapphires will have to be produced, identified, revalued.

465
00:29:07,640 --> 00:29:10,480
How shall I come out of it? Think of the disgrace,

466
00:29:10,559 --> 00:29:14,200
the ripping up of old scandals. Even if I were

467
00:29:14,240 --> 00:29:17,279
to compound with Lady Cartridget, the sum she hinted at

468
00:29:17,319 --> 00:29:21,839
was too monstrous. She wants more than my money. Help me,

469
00:29:21,920 --> 00:29:24,920
mister Acton, for the sake of your own family interests.

470
00:29:25,039 --> 00:29:31,759
Help me, I beg your pardon, family interests. I don't understand.

471
00:29:32,240 --> 00:29:35,000
If my daughter is childless, her next of kin is

472
00:29:35,039 --> 00:29:38,720
poor Marmaduke Panton, who is dying at Cannon's, not married

473
00:29:39,119 --> 00:29:42,839
or likely to marry, and failing him, your nephew, Sir

474
00:29:42,880 --> 00:29:50,960
Thomas Acton, succeeds my nephew tom Bleta or Lita's baby

475
00:29:51,519 --> 00:29:53,880
might come to be the possible inheritor of the great

476
00:29:53,960 --> 00:29:57,160
Valdez sapphire. The blood rushed my head as I looked

477
00:29:57,200 --> 00:30:01,200
at the great shining swindle before me. What diabolical jugglery

478
00:30:01,279 --> 00:30:04,640
was at work when the exchange was made, I demanded fiercely.

479
00:30:06,000 --> 00:30:07,880
It must have been on the last occasion of her

480
00:30:07,920 --> 00:30:11,000
wearing the Sapphires in London. I ought never to have

481
00:30:11,079 --> 00:30:14,799
let her out of my sight. You must put a

482
00:30:14,839 --> 00:30:18,359
stop to Miss Panton's marriage in the first place, I pronounced,

483
00:30:18,359 --> 00:30:23,000
as autocratically as he could have done himself. Not to

484
00:30:23,039 --> 00:30:27,200
be thought of, he admitted helplessly. Myra has my force

485
00:30:27,200 --> 00:30:30,400
of character, she knows her rights, and she will have

486
00:30:30,480 --> 00:30:34,920
her jewels. I want you to take charge of the

487
00:30:35,000 --> 00:30:38,039
thing for me. If it's in the house, she'll make

488
00:30:38,079 --> 00:30:41,960
me produce it. She'll inquire at the banker's. If you

489
00:30:42,160 --> 00:30:44,640
have it, we can gain time if but for a

490
00:30:44,680 --> 00:30:49,039
day or two. He broke off. Carriage wheels were crashing

491
00:30:49,079 --> 00:30:52,880
on the gravel outside. We looked at one another in consternation.

492
00:30:53,799 --> 00:30:57,640
Flight was imperative. I hurried him downstairs and out of

493
00:30:57,640 --> 00:31:00,920
the conservatory just as the door bell rang. I think

494
00:31:00,960 --> 00:31:04,279
we both lost our heads in the confusion. He shoved

495
00:31:04,279 --> 00:31:07,319
the case into my hands, and I pocketed it without

496
00:31:07,359 --> 00:31:10,440
a thought of the awful responsibility I was incurring, and

497
00:31:10,519 --> 00:31:13,200
saw him disappear into the shelter of the friendly night.

498
00:31:14,759 --> 00:31:17,200
When I think of what my feelings were that evening,

499
00:31:17,720 --> 00:31:21,440
of my murderous hatred, of that smirking, jesting Jezebel, who

500
00:31:21,519 --> 00:31:25,960
sat opposite me at dinner. My wrathful indignation at the

501
00:31:26,000 --> 00:31:29,599
thought of the poor little expected air defrauded ere his birth,

502
00:31:30,319 --> 00:31:32,799
of the crushing contempt, I felt for myself and the Bishop,

503
00:31:32,839 --> 00:31:35,640
as a pair of witless idiots, unable to see our

504
00:31:35,640 --> 00:31:38,400
way out of the dilemma. All this was boiling and

505
00:31:38,440 --> 00:31:42,279
surging through my soul. I can only wonder Domenico, having

506
00:31:42,319 --> 00:31:45,319
given himself a holiday in the kitchen maid doing her

507
00:31:45,319 --> 00:31:48,680
worst and wickedest, that gallant or Jaundyce did not put

508
00:31:48,680 --> 00:31:54,039
an end to this story at once. Uncle paul Leta

509
00:31:54,119 --> 00:31:56,200
was looking her sweetest when she tripped into my room

510
00:31:56,279 --> 00:32:02,319
next morning. I've news for you, she pointing a delicate

511
00:32:02,359 --> 00:32:06,279
forefinger in the direction of the corridor is going. Her

512
00:32:06,279 --> 00:32:09,599
buckoms have reached Paris at last, and sent for her

513
00:32:09,640 --> 00:32:13,599
to join them at the Grand Hotel. I was thunderstruck.

514
00:32:14,200 --> 00:32:17,319
The longed for deliverance had but come to remove, hopelessly

515
00:32:17,440 --> 00:32:20,640
and forever out of my reach. Lady Cartwriget in the

516
00:32:20,680 --> 00:32:26,440
great Valdez Sapphire, Why aren't you overjoyed? I am. We

517
00:32:26,480 --> 00:32:28,839
are going to celebrate the event by a dinner party.

518
00:32:29,599 --> 00:32:32,440
Tom's hospitable soul is vexed by the lack of entertainment

519
00:32:32,559 --> 00:32:35,880
we had provided her. We must ask the Brownlea some

520
00:32:36,000 --> 00:32:38,240
day or other, and they will be delighted to meet

521
00:32:38,279 --> 00:32:41,000
anything in the way of a ladyship or such smart

522
00:32:41,000 --> 00:32:44,079
folks as the Duberley Parker's. Then we may as well

523
00:32:44,119 --> 00:32:47,839
have the Blomfields. And ere that awful modern Savray's dessert

524
00:32:47,960 --> 00:32:51,960
service she gave us when we were married. I had

525
00:32:51,960 --> 00:32:54,720
no objection to make, and she went on rubbing her

526
00:32:54,720 --> 00:32:57,880
soft cheek against my shoulder like the purring little cat

527
00:32:57,960 --> 00:33:01,079
she was. Now I want you to do something to

528
00:33:01,079 --> 00:33:05,440
please me and missus Blomfield. She has set her heart

529
00:33:05,480 --> 00:33:08,480
on seeing your rubies. And though I know you hate

530
00:33:08,519 --> 00:33:11,559
her about as much as you do that Sevrey China,

531
00:33:12,119 --> 00:33:16,559
what wear my rubies with that? I won't. I'll tell

532
00:33:16,559 --> 00:33:19,400
you what I will do, though I've got some carbuncles

533
00:33:19,400 --> 00:33:23,240
as big as prize gooseberries a whole set. Then you

534
00:33:23,319 --> 00:33:26,160
have only to put those Bohemian glass vases and candelabber

535
00:33:26,279 --> 00:33:28,880
on the table and let your gardener do his worst

536
00:33:28,880 --> 00:33:32,400
with his great, forced scentless vulgar blooms, and we shall

537
00:33:32,440 --> 00:33:37,400
all be in keeping Lada pout it an idea struck me.

538
00:33:39,079 --> 00:33:42,839
Or I'll do as you wish on one condition. You

539
00:33:42,920 --> 00:33:46,440
get Lady Cartwich to wear her big sapphire, and don't

540
00:33:46,480 --> 00:33:50,440
tell her I wish it. I lived through the next

541
00:33:50,480 --> 00:33:54,200
few days as one in some evil dream. The Sapphires,

542
00:33:54,640 --> 00:33:59,119
like twin specters, haunted me day and night. Was ever

543
00:33:59,200 --> 00:34:02,640
man so tantle to hold the shadow and see the

544
00:34:02,680 --> 00:34:07,680
substance dangled temptingly within reach. The Bishop made no sign

545
00:34:07,759 --> 00:34:10,840
of ridding me of my unwelcome charge, and the thought

546
00:34:10,880 --> 00:34:13,559
of what might happen in a case of burglary, fire,

547
00:34:13,719 --> 00:34:16,800
earthquake made me start and tremble at all sorts of

548
00:34:16,840 --> 00:34:22,400
inopportune moments. I kept faith with Lita and reluctantly produced

549
00:34:22,400 --> 00:34:24,800
my beautiful rubies on the night of her dinner party.

550
00:34:26,199 --> 00:34:28,920
Emerging from my room, I came full upon Lady cartwiche

551
00:34:28,920 --> 00:34:32,840
it in the corridor. She was dressed for dinner, and

552
00:34:32,920 --> 00:34:35,679
at her throat I caught the blue gleam of the

553
00:34:35,719 --> 00:34:40,679
great sapphire. Lita had kept faith with me. I don't

554
00:34:40,719 --> 00:34:43,440
know what I stammered in reply to her Ladyship's remarks.

555
00:34:44,000 --> 00:34:46,599
My whole soul was absorbed in the contemplation of the

556
00:34:46,639 --> 00:34:53,800
intoxicating loveliness of the gem that a palais royal deception. Incredible.

557
00:34:54,760 --> 00:34:57,679
My fingers twitched, my breath came short and fierce with

558
00:34:57,679 --> 00:35:00,400
a lust of possession. She must I have seen the

559
00:35:00,440 --> 00:35:04,119
coveteous glare in my eyes. A look of gratified, spiteful

560
00:35:04,119 --> 00:35:07,840
complacency overspread her features as she swept on ahead and

561
00:35:07,880 --> 00:35:11,199
descended the stairs before me. I followed her to the

562
00:35:11,239 --> 00:35:16,280
drawing room door. She stopped suddenly, and murmuring something unintelligible,

563
00:35:16,719 --> 00:35:22,159
hurried back again. Everybody was assembled there that I expected

564
00:35:22,159 --> 00:35:26,280
to see, with an addition, not a welcome one, by

565
00:35:26,280 --> 00:35:29,320
the look of Tom's face. He stood on the hearth

566
00:35:29,360 --> 00:35:33,079
rug conversing with a great hulking, high shouldered fellow, sallow

567
00:35:33,119 --> 00:35:37,000
faced with a heavy mustache and drooping eyelids from the

568
00:35:37,000 --> 00:35:39,599
corners of which flashed out a sudden, suspicious look as

569
00:35:39,679 --> 00:35:43,159
I approached, which lighted up into a greedy one as

570
00:35:43,159 --> 00:35:46,760
it rested on my rubies, and seemed unaccountably familiar to me.

571
00:35:47,280 --> 00:35:50,760
To Lady Cartwich, it tripping past me, exclaims he has

572
00:35:50,800 --> 00:35:55,079
come at last, My naughty, naughty boy, mister acton this

573
00:35:55,239 --> 00:35:59,280
is my son, Lord Cartwitchitch, I broke off stored in

574
00:35:59,320 --> 00:36:02,760
the midst of my polite acknowledgments to stare blankly at her.

575
00:36:04,239 --> 00:36:08,159
The sapphire was gone. A great gilt cross with a

576
00:36:08,159 --> 00:36:11,719
Scotch pebble like an acid drop was her sole decoration.

577
00:36:13,719 --> 00:36:16,880
I had to put my pendant away, she exclaimed confidentially.

578
00:36:17,639 --> 00:36:21,760
The clasp had got broken somehow. I didn't believe a word,

579
00:36:23,519 --> 00:36:26,840
Lord Cartwich. It contributed little to the general entertainment at dinner,

580
00:36:27,440 --> 00:36:31,960
but fell into confidential talk with Missus Duberley Parker. I

581
00:36:32,000 --> 00:36:36,599
caught a few unintelligible remarks across the table. They referred

582
00:36:36,840 --> 00:36:40,719
I've subsequently discovered to the lady's little book on North

583
00:36:40,800 --> 00:36:44,079
Church races, and I recollected that the spring meeting was

584
00:36:44,119 --> 00:36:48,760
on and tomorrow, cup day. After dinner there was great

585
00:36:48,760 --> 00:36:50,880
talk about getting up a party to go to General

586
00:36:50,920 --> 00:36:54,559
Fairfird's drag. Lady Cartwich it was an ecstasies, and tried

587
00:36:54,559 --> 00:36:59,719
to coax me into joining. Elita declined positively, Tom accepted.

588
00:36:59,760 --> 00:37:04,199
So the look in Lord Cartwhich's eye returned to my

589
00:37:04,320 --> 00:37:07,559
mind as I locked up my rupies that night. It

590
00:37:07,639 --> 00:37:10,800
made him look so like his mother I looked round

591
00:37:10,800 --> 00:37:15,280
my fastenings with unusual care, safe in closets and desks

592
00:37:15,280 --> 00:37:18,880
and doors. I tried them all, coming at last to

593
00:37:18,920 --> 00:37:22,440
the bathroom. It opened at once. It was the housemaid's doing.

594
00:37:23,000 --> 00:37:26,000
She had evidently taken advantage of my having abandoned the

595
00:37:26,039 --> 00:37:29,320
room to give it a thorough spring cleaning, and I

596
00:37:29,400 --> 00:37:33,960
anathematized her. The furniture was all piled together and veiled

597
00:37:34,000 --> 00:37:37,599
with sheets. The carpet and felt curtain were gone, and

598
00:37:37,639 --> 00:37:41,079
there were new brooms about. As I peered around, a

599
00:37:41,159 --> 00:37:45,039
voice close at my ear made me jump. Lady Cartwridge,

600
00:37:45,079 --> 00:37:49,199
it's I tell you, I have nothing, not a penny.

601
00:37:49,679 --> 00:37:51,760
I shall have to borrow my train fare before I

602
00:37:51,760 --> 00:37:54,519
can leave this. They'll be glad enough to lend it.

603
00:37:56,400 --> 00:37:59,079
Not only had the portierre been removed, but the door

604
00:37:59,119 --> 00:38:02,239
behind it had been unlocked and left open for convenience

605
00:38:02,239 --> 00:38:05,480
of dusting behind the wardrobe. I might as well have

606
00:38:05,519 --> 00:38:11,639
been in the bedroom. Don't tell me, I recognized Courtwich.

607
00:38:11,679 --> 00:38:15,599
It's growl. You've not been here all this time for nothing.

608
00:38:16,159 --> 00:38:19,480
You've been collecting for a kilburn cot or getting subscriptions

609
00:38:19,559 --> 00:38:23,320
for the distressed Irish landlords. I know you now, I'm

610
00:38:23,320 --> 00:38:25,360
not going to see myself ruined for the want of

611
00:38:25,360 --> 00:38:28,199
a paltry hundred or so. I tell you the colt

612
00:38:28,280 --> 00:38:31,000
is a dead certainty. If I could have got a

613
00:38:31,039 --> 00:38:34,079
thousand or two on him last week, we might have

614
00:38:34,239 --> 00:38:38,679
ended our dog Day's millionaires. Hand over what you can

615
00:38:39,199 --> 00:38:43,320
you've money's worth? If not money? Where's that sapphire you stole?

616
00:38:44,920 --> 00:38:48,280
I didn't. I can show you the receipted bill. All

617
00:38:48,320 --> 00:38:51,920
I possess is honestly come by. What could you do

618
00:38:52,000 --> 00:38:54,360
with it? Even if I gave it to you? You

619
00:38:54,360 --> 00:38:56,760
couldn't sell it as the valdaiz and you can't get

620
00:38:56,760 --> 00:38:58,320
it cut up as you might if it were real.

621
00:38:59,280 --> 00:39:01,320
If it's only ogus, why are you always in such

622
00:39:01,320 --> 00:39:04,119
a flutter about it? I'll do something with it. Never

623
00:39:04,159 --> 00:39:09,199
fear hand over. I can't. I haven't got it. I

624
00:39:09,239 --> 00:39:11,360
had to raise something on it before I left town.

625
00:39:12,639 --> 00:39:15,480
Will you swear it's not in that wardrobe? I dare

626
00:39:15,480 --> 00:39:18,440
say you will. I mean to see give me those keys.

627
00:39:20,280 --> 00:39:22,880
I heard a struggle and a jingle, and the wardrobe

628
00:39:22,920 --> 00:39:25,679
door must have been flung open for a streak of

629
00:39:25,760 --> 00:39:28,400
light struck through a crack in the wood of the back,

630
00:39:28,880 --> 00:39:32,199
creeping close and peeping through I could see an awful sight.

631
00:39:33,119 --> 00:39:37,320
Lady cartridget in a flannel wrapper, mina's hair, teeth complexion,

632
00:39:37,840 --> 00:39:40,519
pointing a skinny forefinger that quivered with rage at her son,

633
00:39:41,039 --> 00:39:44,519
who was out of the range of my vision. Stop

634
00:39:44,559 --> 00:39:47,320
that and throw those keys down here directly, or I'll

635
00:39:47,400 --> 00:39:50,800
rouse the house. Sir Thomas is a magistrate and will

636
00:39:50,840 --> 00:39:53,360
lock you up as soon as look at you. She

637
00:39:53,440 --> 00:39:56,519
clutched at the bell rope as she spoke. I'll swear

638
00:39:56,559 --> 00:39:58,800
I'm in danger of my life from you, and give

639
00:39:58,840 --> 00:40:01,880
you in charge. Yes, And when you're in prison, I'll

640
00:40:01,960 --> 00:40:04,760
keep you there till you die. I've often thought i'd

641
00:40:04,760 --> 00:40:07,679
do it. How about the hotel robberies last summer at

642
00:40:07,679 --> 00:40:10,320
cows Eh, mightn't the police be grateful for a hint

643
00:40:10,400 --> 00:40:13,599
or two? And how about the keys fell with a

644
00:40:13,599 --> 00:40:16,599
crash on the bed, accompanied by some bad language in

645
00:40:16,599 --> 00:40:20,800
an apologetic tone, and the door slammed too. I crept

646
00:40:20,840 --> 00:40:25,400
trembling to bed. This new and horrible complication of the

647
00:40:25,440 --> 00:40:30,639
situation filled me with dismay. Lord Cartwich, It's wolfish glance

648
00:40:30,679 --> 00:40:34,039
at my rubies took a new meaning. They were safe enough.

649
00:40:34,199 --> 00:40:38,880
I believed, but the sapphire. If he disbelieved his mother,

650
00:40:39,320 --> 00:40:40,920
how long would she be able to keep it from

651
00:40:40,920 --> 00:40:44,639
his clutches that she had some plot of her own,

652
00:40:45,039 --> 00:40:47,480
of which the bishop would eventually be the victim. I

653
00:40:47,519 --> 00:40:50,159
did not doubt or why had she not made her

654
00:40:50,199 --> 00:40:54,119
bargain with him long ago? But supposing she took fright,

655
00:40:54,559 --> 00:40:57,039
lost her head, allowed her son to wrest the jewel

656
00:40:57,039 --> 00:41:01,840
from her, or gave consent to its being mutilated. I

657
00:41:01,960 --> 00:41:07,159
lay in a cold perspiration till morning. My terrors haunted

658
00:41:07,159 --> 00:41:10,280
me all day. They were with me at breakfast time,

659
00:41:10,280 --> 00:41:13,719
when Lady Cartwach had tripping in smiling, made a last

660
00:41:13,760 --> 00:41:16,280
attempt to induce me to accompany her and keep her

661
00:41:16,800 --> 00:41:21,119
bad bad boy from getting among those horrid betting men.

662
00:41:23,039 --> 00:41:25,440
They haunted me through the long peaceful day with Leta

663
00:41:25,840 --> 00:41:28,800
and the Tita Teat dinner, but they swarmed around and

664
00:41:28,840 --> 00:41:32,480
beset me sorest when sitting alone over my sitting room fire,

665
00:41:33,079 --> 00:41:36,480
I listened for the return of the drag party. I

666
00:41:36,559 --> 00:41:39,760
read my newspaper and brewed myself some hot, strong drink.

667
00:41:40,440 --> 00:41:42,679
But there comes a time of night when no fire

668
00:41:42,719 --> 00:41:47,079
can warm and no drink and cheer the Bishop's despairing

669
00:41:47,119 --> 00:41:50,280
face kept me company, and his troubles and the wrongs

670
00:41:50,280 --> 00:41:54,159
of the future air took possession of me. Then the

671
00:41:54,239 --> 00:41:57,760
uncanny noises that make all old houses ghostly during the

672
00:41:57,800 --> 00:42:02,800
small hours began to make themselves heard. Muffled footsteps trod

673
00:42:02,800 --> 00:42:06,960
the corridor, stopping to listen at every door. Door latches,

674
00:42:07,079 --> 00:42:13,119
gently clicked boards creaked unreasonably, sounds of stealthy movements came

675
00:42:13,119 --> 00:42:17,840
from the locked up bathroom, the welcome crash of wheels

676
00:42:17,840 --> 00:42:20,320
at last, and the sound of the front door bell.

677
00:42:21,800 --> 00:42:24,360
I could hear Lady Cartwitch it making her shrill adieu

678
00:42:24,639 --> 00:42:27,840
to her friends and her steps in the corridor. She

679
00:42:27,960 --> 00:42:31,000
was softly humming a little song as she approached. I

680
00:42:31,039 --> 00:42:34,000
heard her unlock her bedroom door before she entered. An

681
00:42:34,000 --> 00:42:38,559
odd thing to do. Tom came sleepily stumbling to his room. Later,

682
00:42:39,400 --> 00:42:42,679
I put my head out, Where is Lord Cartwich? It

683
00:42:43,760 --> 00:42:47,840
haven't you seen him? He left us hours ago, not

684
00:42:47,960 --> 00:42:51,079
come home. Eh, well, he's welcome to stay away. I

685
00:42:51,119 --> 00:42:54,719
don't want to see more of him. Tom's brow was

686
00:42:54,800 --> 00:42:58,559
dark and his voice surly. I gave him to understand

687
00:42:58,639 --> 00:43:03,480
as much. Whatever it happened, Tom was evidently too disgusted

688
00:43:03,519 --> 00:43:07,360
to explain. Just then I went back to my fire,

689
00:43:07,440 --> 00:43:11,480
unaccountably relieved, and brewed myself another and a stronger brew.

690
00:43:12,559 --> 00:43:16,679
It warmed me this time, but excited me foolishly. There

691
00:43:16,800 --> 00:43:20,000
must be some way out of the difficulty. I felt

692
00:43:20,039 --> 00:43:22,360
now as if I could almost see it, if I

693
00:43:22,400 --> 00:43:27,119
gave my mind to it. Why suppose there might be

694
00:43:27,199 --> 00:43:30,960
no difficulty at all? The bishop was a nervous old gentleman.

695
00:43:31,639 --> 00:43:34,880
He might have been mistaken all through Boggarts might have

696
00:43:34,880 --> 00:43:40,440
been mistaken. I might No, I could not have been mistaken,

697
00:43:41,039 --> 00:43:44,199
or I thought not. I fidgeted and fumed and argued

698
00:43:44,199 --> 00:43:46,159
with myself till I found I should have no peace

699
00:43:46,159 --> 00:43:48,800
of mind without a look at the stone in my possession.

700
00:43:49,559 --> 00:43:51,519
And I actually went to the safe and took the

701
00:43:51,599 --> 00:43:57,280
case out. The sapphire certainly looked different by lamplight. I

702
00:43:57,360 --> 00:44:00,920
sat and stared, and all but over persuaded my better

703
00:44:01,000 --> 00:44:05,800
judgments into giving it a verdict Bilgert's mark. I suddenly

704
00:44:05,880 --> 00:44:09,440
remembered it. I took my magnifier and held de pendent

705
00:44:09,519 --> 00:44:13,599
to the light. There scratched upon the stone was the

706
00:44:13,599 --> 00:44:16,519
Greek Beta. There came a tap on my door, and

707
00:44:16,559 --> 00:44:19,960
before I could answer. The handle turned softly, and lord

708
00:44:20,039 --> 00:44:23,760
cartwhich it stood before me. I whipped the case into

709
00:44:23,800 --> 00:44:26,840
my dressing gown pocket and stared at him. He was

710
00:44:26,920 --> 00:44:29,639
not pleasant to look at, especially at that time of night.

711
00:44:30,920 --> 00:44:34,400
He had a disheveled, desperate air. His voice was hoarse,

712
00:44:34,719 --> 00:44:39,440
his red rimmed eyes wild. I beg your pardon, he began,

713
00:44:39,480 --> 00:44:43,360
civilly enough. I saw your light burning, and thoughts as

714
00:44:43,400 --> 00:44:46,119
we go by the early train tomorrow, you might allow

715
00:44:46,159 --> 00:44:48,480
me to consult you now on a little business of

716
00:44:48,519 --> 00:44:52,679
my mother's. His eyes roved about the room. Was he

717
00:44:52,719 --> 00:44:55,719
trying to find the whereabouts of my safe? You know

718
00:44:55,800 --> 00:44:59,400
a lot about precious stones, don't you? So? My friends

719
00:44:59,400 --> 00:45:02,639
are kind enough to say, won't you sit down? I

720
00:45:02,679 --> 00:45:05,199
have unluckily little chance of indulging the taste of my

721
00:45:05,239 --> 00:45:09,800
own account, was my cautious reply. But you've written a

722
00:45:09,800 --> 00:45:11,599
book about them and know them when you see them,

723
00:45:11,599 --> 00:45:14,760
don't you. Now? My mother has given me something and

724
00:45:14,840 --> 00:45:16,840
would like you to give a guess at its value.

725
00:45:17,679 --> 00:45:19,639
Perhaps you can put me in the way of disposing

726
00:45:19,679 --> 00:45:22,679
of it. I certainly can do so. If it is

727
00:45:22,679 --> 00:45:26,760
worth anything? Is that it? I was in a fever

728
00:45:26,800 --> 00:45:29,400
of excitement, where I guessed what was clutched in his palm.

729
00:45:30,400 --> 00:45:34,719
He held out to me the Valden sapphire. How it

730
00:45:34,880 --> 00:45:38,599
shone and sparkled like a great blue star. I made

731
00:45:38,639 --> 00:45:40,920
myself a deprecating smile as I took it from him.

732
00:45:42,480 --> 00:45:45,280
But how dare I call it false? To its face?

733
00:45:46,559 --> 00:45:48,400
As well? Accused the son in heaven of being a

734
00:45:48,440 --> 00:45:53,960
cheap imitation. I faltered and prevaricated feebly. Where was my

735
00:45:54,079 --> 00:45:57,440
moral courage? And where was the good, honest, thumping lie

736
00:45:57,519 --> 00:46:00,960
that should have aided me? I have the best authority

737
00:46:01,000 --> 00:46:03,440
for recognizing this as the very good copy of a

738
00:46:03,440 --> 00:46:06,239
famous stone in the possession of the Bishop of north Church.

739
00:46:08,039 --> 00:46:11,079
His scowl grew so black that I saw he believed me,

740
00:46:11,719 --> 00:46:15,400
and I went on more cheerily. This was manufactured by

741
00:46:15,480 --> 00:46:18,639
Johannes Bookers. I can give you his address, and you

742
00:46:18,679 --> 00:46:22,880
can make inquiries yourself, by special permission of the then owner,

743
00:46:23,320 --> 00:46:28,400
the late Leon Montenero handed back. He interrupted. His other

744
00:46:28,440 --> 00:46:32,119
remarks were outrageous but satisfactory to hear. But I waved

745
00:46:32,159 --> 00:46:35,639
him off. I couldn't give it up. It fascinated me.

746
00:46:36,320 --> 00:46:39,480
I toyed with it, I caressed it, I made it

747
00:46:39,559 --> 00:46:42,840
display its different tones of color. I must see the

748
00:46:42,840 --> 00:46:47,119
two stones together. I must see it outshine its paltry rival.

749
00:46:48,039 --> 00:46:51,079
It was a whimsical frenzy that seized me. I can

750
00:46:51,119 --> 00:46:54,079
call it by no other name. Would you like to

751
00:46:54,079 --> 00:46:57,519
see the original? Curiously enough, I have it here. The

752
00:46:57,559 --> 00:47:01,400
Bishop has left it in my charge. The wolfish light

753
00:47:01,639 --> 00:47:04,320
flamed up in cartwich It's eyes as I drew forth

754
00:47:04,360 --> 00:47:07,400
the caves. He laid the Valdez down on a sheet

755
00:47:07,440 --> 00:47:10,880
of paper, and I placed the other, still in its case,

756
00:47:11,199 --> 00:47:16,639
beside it. In that moment they looked identical, except for

757
00:47:16,679 --> 00:47:20,119
the little loop of sham stones replaced by a plain

758
00:47:20,199 --> 00:47:24,159
gold band in the Bishop's jewel. Cartwich It leaned across

759
00:47:24,199 --> 00:47:28,320
the table eagerly. The table gave a lurch, the lamp tottered,

760
00:47:28,719 --> 00:47:33,760
crashed over, and we were left in semi darkness. Don't stir,

761
00:47:34,599 --> 00:47:37,760
cartwich It shouted. The paraffin is all over the place.

762
00:47:38,599 --> 00:47:40,719
He seized my sofa blanket and flung it over the

763
00:47:40,760 --> 00:47:45,039
table while I stood helpless. There. That's safe. Now, have

764
00:47:45,159 --> 00:47:48,960
you candles on the chimney piece. I've got matches. He

765
00:47:49,000 --> 00:47:52,840
looked very white and excited as he lit up. Might

766
00:47:52,840 --> 00:47:54,960
have been an awkward job with all that burning paraffin

767
00:47:55,039 --> 00:47:58,960
running about, he said, quite pleasantly. I hope no real

768
00:47:59,000 --> 00:48:02,800
harm is done. I was lifting the rug with shaking hands.

769
00:48:03,679 --> 00:48:07,239
The two stones lay as I had placed them. No,

770
00:48:08,239 --> 00:48:11,119
I nearly dropped it back again. It was the stone

771
00:48:11,159 --> 00:48:13,599
in the case that had the loop with the three

772
00:48:13,840 --> 00:48:19,199
sham sapphires. Cartwich it picked the other up hastily. So

773
00:48:19,320 --> 00:48:22,719
you say this is rubbish, he asked, his eyes sparkling wickedly,

774
00:48:23,039 --> 00:48:27,760
and an attempt at mortification in his tone. Utter rubbish,

775
00:48:28,159 --> 00:48:31,880
I pronounced, with truth and decision, snapping up the case

776
00:48:31,880 --> 00:48:36,920
and pocketing it. Lady Cartwich, it must have known it. Ah. Well,

777
00:48:37,000 --> 00:48:40,519
it's disappointing, isn't it. Good Bye, we shall not meet again.

778
00:48:42,320 --> 00:48:46,199
I shook hands with him, most cordially. Good bye, Lord Cartwitch.

779
00:48:46,239 --> 00:48:48,760
It so glad to have met you, and to your mother.

780
00:48:49,320 --> 00:48:51,400
It has been a source of the greatest pleasure. I

781
00:48:51,440 --> 00:48:56,199
assure you. I have never seen the Cartwich it since

782
00:48:57,039 --> 00:48:59,960
the bishop drove over next day in rather better spirit.

783
00:49:01,039 --> 00:49:05,760
Miss Panton had refused the chaplain. It doesn't matter, my lord,

784
00:49:06,360 --> 00:49:09,920
I said to him heartily. We've all been under some

785
00:49:09,960 --> 00:49:14,320
strange misconception. The stone in your possession is the veritable one.

786
00:49:14,800 --> 00:49:18,280
I could swear to that anywhere the Sapphire Lady cart

787
00:49:18,320 --> 00:49:22,039
which it wears, is only an excellent imitation, and I

788
00:49:22,079 --> 00:49:25,000
have seen it with my own eyes, is the one

789
00:49:25,199 --> 00:49:28,800
bearing Bogert's mark. The Greek beta