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A few days after the events narrated in the last chapter, Miss Margaret Cory was reading aloud from some manuscript which she had just received by post. Her audience was small, being composed of two individuals with whom we are already acquainted—to wit, her brother, Mr. Cory, and Hilton Riddell, who both listened to her with curious interest.

You and I too, dear readers, will take the liberty of hearing what Miss Cory had to say.

“My darling Auntie,” she read, “I am now fairly installed here, but, would you believe it? there are signs already that it will be unnecessary for me to remain here very long. I shall, however, do my utmost to retard my exit until I have learned all I want to know. Short as my time here has been, it has already revealed much to me. Perhaps I had better begin my story at the beginning, and then you can form your own opinion. I must also be as lucid and explicit as possible, since upon what I learn and describe Hilton Riddell’s actions in the near future are dependent.

“On presenting myself here yesterday morning, according to arrangement, I was admitted by a middle-aged servant, who regarded me with what I considered pure effrontery.

“‘I wish to see Mrs. Stavanger,’ I said.

“‘Very likely,’ was the woman’s answer. ‘But you may prepare yourself for a long wait first.’

“‘Why? Is she not in?’

“‘Oh yes, she’s in. But she thinks people wouldn’t believe her to be a swell if she didn’t keep folks waiting a good bit.’

“‘Perhaps you will be good enough to tell her that I am here.’

“‘I suppose you are the new governess?’

“‘I am.’

“‘Oh well, you won’t be here long, if you’ve no more patience than the others. But come inside; you can wait in the hall.’

“Saying this, the extraordinary specimen of a servant permitted me to cross the threshold. The cabman had become impatient, and began to bring my bit of luggage in at once. It was quite ten minutes before the woman, who, I learned afterwards, is called Wear, made her reappearance, and requested me to follow her to the drawing-room. By this time the cabman had been paid and had gone away.

“Still smarting under the peculiar treatment of the servant, it was with some trepidation that I approached the mistress. She was sitting in an easy chair, and did not rise to greet me, as I naturally expected she would do. From this trifling circumstance I instantly deduced the opinion that Mrs. Stavanger was totally devoid of those finer instincts which go to make up the being described by the term ‘lady.’ Subsequent observations have confirmed me in this opinion. Personal beauty of a strong, showy type, must at one time have been Mrs. Stavanger’s to a great degree. She would be handsome yet, but for the expression of mingled ill-temper and arrogance which perpetually disfigures her features. She is, I think, a woman who has, by means of her good looks, secured a husband whose position in life is much higher than hers had been, and she is one of those people of whom it is expressively said that ‘they cannot carry corn’—in other words she is a ‘beggar on horseback.’

“She treated me with scant courtesy, even as her waiting maid had led me to expect. She apparently imagines that a woman who is compelled to earn her living in any shape or form is no longer deserving of respect or civility. Hers is a belief which, unfortunately, has many followers, but which troubles me very little, and would trouble me just as little were I really the poor governess I seem to be, for I do not hold the opinion of unreasonable people to be important enough to worry about. By the time this interview was over, I had been given to understand that my duties would be slightly more onerous than I had anticipated when being engaged by Mr. Stavanger, who had spoken of his wife being too nervous to interview strangers, and of his twelve-year-old daughter as a child who required very little discipline.

“The latter is a very bright girl, but she is fearfully spoiled by alternate over-indulgence and fault-finding. She has led her former governess a pretty dance, by all accounts, and coolly told me that she always did as she liked, and that it was no use telling tales of her, as her mother never believed them, but invariably punished the governess instead of the refractory pupil.

“‘It’s no use your setting me any lessons,’ she remarked yesterday afternoon. ‘I shall only work when I like, just as I have always done.’

“‘Very well,’ I replied coolly, ‘we’ll be idle together. It’s no use killing oneself to keep oneself, is it?’

“You would have been highly amused if you had seen Miss Fanny Stavanger’s stare of surprise. She is evidently not used to being humoured.

“‘I don’t know,’ was her dubious answer to my query. ‘If you take your wages you ought to try to earn them. That is what mamma always tells the other servants.’

“This wasn’t a palatable speech to hear. But the stake for which I am playing is too big to allow me to be daunted by trifles, so I merely told the girl it rested entirely with her whether I accepted my ‘wages’ from her parents or not, and that if she refused to learn her lessons there would be no alternative for me but to refuse.

“‘Perhaps,’ I added, ‘you have been harassed over your lessons and have not been permitted to learn in your own way. If you like we will alter all that. You shall study when you please, and give over the minute you are tired.’

“‘Well, I call you really jolly,’ was Miss Fanny’s rejoinder. ‘Maybe you think me a fool, but if you’ll help me nicely, you’ll see what a lot I can really do.’

“The little rebel was conquered. This morning she was quite eager to begin studying with me, and I foresee little trouble with her in future. Already she begins to be confidential with me, and has told me something that will prove valuable. I am, I suppose, not yet quite inured to my duties as detective, for I felt downright mean when listening to Fanny, until a picture of my poor, innocent Harley rose before my mental vision, and my heart hardened against the wicked people who have ruined him.

“There are several members of this household who would prove interesting to a student of human nature. Mr. Stavanger is purse-proud, ostentatiously religious, hard and uncharitable in his judgment of others; fond of show, and yet mean in trifles. It needs no very keen observer to discover that much.

“Of Mrs. Stavanger you will already have formed your opinion. The eldest daughter is a conglomeration of both parents, with some of their defects slightly accentuated. The son I need not describe to you, you saw him at the trial. But Fanny has told me that of late he has been very unsteady, and that he and his father have quarrelled a good deal. My pupil has also much to say about Wear, the parlour maid.

“‘I never saw anybody change so,’ observed the child. ‘Wear used to be so respectful, until those nasty thieves got into the shop, and nearly ruined papa and his partners. Since then she is impertinent all day long, and says such queer things. I can’t imagine why she isn’t packed off about her business. But when Ada told her the other day that she would put up with her impudence no longer, Wear just laughed in her face, and said that it would take a cleverer body than Ada to turn her out of this house now.’

“I made no comments to Fanny on this information. But I feel sure of one thing. Wear has become possessed of some power over the Stavangers, of which she is making a very injudicious use, since it would pay her in the end much better to keep a civil tongue in her head, and merely to insist upon more liberal wages, instead of showing others that there is ground for suspicion. When once the source of her sudden accession of power over the Stavangers is discovered that power will irrevocably leave her. Coupling Fanny’s remarks about ‘those nasty thieves’ with our own previously-formed opinion respecting the actual culprit in whose place Harley has been condemned and Wear’s peculiar behaviour, the inference that we are on the right track is obvious. With God’s help, we shall yet be able to rescue Harley from his horrible fate. I wonder if you will think me wicked when I confess that I long for the time when his betrayers will be suffering the agony that has been meted out to him. Tell Hilton to hold himself in readiness for action at any moment, for I am sure that I am on the eve of further discoveries.”

Three days later another budget from Annie was being discussed in Mr. Cory’s drawing-room. This time Miss Cory had an additional listener. Mrs. Riddell had been persuaded to take up her abode here for an indefinite period. Her house had been let furnished until such time as she was likely to require it again. Hilton was also visiting here at present, and was ready to do anything or go anywhere to help to prove his brother’s innocence. The fact that his mother was in such good hands, instead of being left to mope and grieve in childless loneliness, heartened him considerably for the work which he was convinced lay before him.

“Since writing to you last,” read Miss Cory, “I have made a wonderful discovery. I am quite sure that Hugh Stavanger, whose evidence was the principal means of ensuring Harley’s condemnation, is the thief we are in search of. Last night at twelve o’clock, when all the household was supposed to be asleep, Mr. Stavanger was fuming in the dining-room at the belated return home of his hopeful son, who, I have gathered, has got into the habit of staying out late at night. At eleven o’clock I had heard the hall door open, and someone ran upstairs to Hugh Stavanger’s room, shutting the bedroom door behind him. The servants, who had not seen the entrance of Mr. Hugh, but had heard the noisy run up to his room, concluded that it was he who had come in. Everybody else being at home, they locked and barred the doors for the night, and then went to bed. But I, who had resolved to let nothing escape my notice, if it could be helped, knew that a little pantomime was being enacted for the benefit of the unsuspicious servants, for it was Mr. Stavanger who had come noiselessly downstairs, and had imitated his son’s manner of entering the house and going upstairs. The latter was still away from home.

“From this behaviour I drew certain deductions. Mr. Stavanger wanted to speak privately to his son; he did not want the servants to witness the time of Hugh’s arrival, nor the condition in which he arrived; and the matter about which he desired to speak must be of great importance, since it required to be discussed unseasonably.

“I determined to be present at the interview.

“To do this, prompt action on my part was necessary, as I must be on the scene before either of the principal actors. There are three servants in the house. Wear was the last of these to go to bed, and the moment she had passed the landing on to which my room door opened, I slipped downstairs, and passed quietly into the dining room, without being heard by anyone. Then I hid myself behind the window draperies, and awaited events.

“I had not long to wait. Scarcely two minutes had elapsed ere Mr. Stavanger, slipperless and cautious, came creeping into the room. Perhaps it was because he was nervous that he found it necessary to help himself to a big drink of brandy. Having disposed of this, he stepped softly into the hall, and, an instant later, I heard him carefully unfastening the front door. I was very glad that he did not return to the dining room immediately, as this enabled me to change my position into a more comfortable one. I sat down on the floor, leaned my back against one of the window frames, and readjusted the curtains.

“If there was to be an interview between father and son, I might expect them in this room, for they were not likely to be so indiscreet as to carry on a conversation in the hall. Nor was I mistaken. In about a quarter of an hour I heard someone ascend the front steps, and Mr. Stavanger, who had been waiting in the hall until then, opened the door before his son had time either to ring the bell or to insert a latch key.

“‘Keep yourself quiet,’ I heard him say in a low tone, ‘and go into the dining room. Make no noise, for your liberty is in danger.’

“Do you believe that, in cases of emergency, some of our faculties are strengthened to an enormous extent? I think that this must be so, and that I, for one, have been the subject of this phenomenon. Otherwise, how shall I account for being able to hear Mr. Stavanger’s words so distinctly? No doubt, the midnight quiet of the house and neighbourhood had something to do with it. Still, I shall always think that Providence thus showed its approval of my endeavours to save Harley Riddell from an unjust fate.

“Hugh’s answer to his father’s injunction was an ejaculation of which I did not catch the import. But he was evidently sufficiently impressed by his manner to be obedient for once. I heard the door quietly fastened again, and then the two men came into the room in which I was playing the eavesdropper. Mr. Stavanger, after turning up the gas, which he had previously lighted, seated himself, and requested his son to do the same.

“‘Now then,’ observed the latter, ‘I would like to know what all this mystery is about, and what you mean by insinuating that my liberty is in danger.’

“‘Have you no idea?’ questioned Mr. Stavanger.

“‘Not the slightest.’

“‘Think again.’

“‘Why the deuce don’t you out with it? It isn’t likely that I know just what you are driving at, and if I did, I am not fool enough to take the initiative.’

“‘Well I will tell you. I have all along suspected that you yourself were the thief for whom Riddell has been made the scapegoat. Perhaps it will be as well for me to tell you that I have from the first been sure of it. This was what made me so anxious to secure Riddell’s conviction. I hoped thereby to save our own name from disgrace. But my efforts are likely to prove futile, because, besides being a thief, a perjurer, and a scoundrel, you are proving yourself a fool. You have been spending and gambling recklessly of late, and people are talking about the amount of money you are getting through. The gossip about you has come to Mr. Lyon’s ears, and to-day I endured the greatest humiliation of my life, for I was told to my face that I had deliberately sent an innocent man to gaol, knowing the while that my son was guilty. It was in vain that I denied this. Mr. Lyon vows that he has proofs of your guilt, and he has given me his positive orders to refund the value of the theft and to endorse some story which he is going to trump up to show that no theft has been committed, or take the consequences.’

“‘Meaning that he would make me change places with Riddell! Good God! what shall I do? I can’t give up the diamonds!’

“‘But you must give them up! Do you think I will allow you to ruin us all? And simply because you want money to squander in drinking and gambling hells? Tell me what you have done with your booty.’

“‘It’s all gone. I realised the diamonds for a quarter their value, and paid my creditors with it.’

“‘What! you were heavily in debt?’

“‘Yes. I owed hundreds, and the money melted like wax.’

“‘What have you left?’

“‘About fifty pounds.’

“‘It’s a lie! You cannot have gone through the worth of all you took.’

“‘I tell you I have.’

“‘I wonder what I have done that I should be cursed by a son like you! I won’t ruin myself to buy your freedom. You shall go to gaol like the dog you are.’

“‘And what about the mater and the girls? If you won’t do it for me, you will perhaps wish you had done it for their sakes.’

“‘Ah, you have me there! You are not worth stretching out a saving hand to. But it would be hard to make them suffer for you.’

“‘Yes, I knew I should bring you to reason. What do you intend to do in the matter?’

“‘Do you think your equal for shamelessness could be found anywhere?’

“‘Suppose you stick to business. What is going to be done?’

“‘Mr. Lyon sails for America to-morrow on very important business, as you already know. He will not remain there above a week. In three weeks, therefore, we may expect him back. Before that time arrives two things must be done. I must place to the credit of Mr. Lyon and your uncle Samuel an equivalent for their share of the stolen property. And you must have left the country before then, for he has forbidden your entering the shop again, and will not pledge himself not to denounce you if he sees you.’

“‘But this is no reason why I should leave England?’

“‘There is another reason.’

“‘What is that?’

“‘Wear knows your secret. She saw the box of diamonds in your room on the day of the robbery. At first she did not think about it, but, after hearing of the robbery she put two and two together, and concluded that the fine things that were missing were the same which her prying eyes had seen hidden in the corner of one of your drawers. I can’t imagine how a man in your position could be fool enough to leave his drawers unlocked. Anyhow, Wear fathomed your secret, and tried to find the things again, but they were gone. Then she came to me, and threatened exposure unless I gave her fifty pounds to hold her tongue. This I did, hoping to hear no more of the matter from her. But she is a woman of such little sense that she is likely to ruin everything. Not content with demanding more money from time to time, she is vilely impertinent to us all, and behaves so very much like a person who holds us under her thumb, that I shall find it necessary to make some provision for her further away. But first, you must clear out of the country, for your conduct is such as to awaken too much suspicion.’

“‘Does the mater know all?’

“‘No. She knows that Wear holds you in her power somehow, but doesn’t know the actual facts. I was obliged to get up a plausible yarn as wide of the real truth as I could, in order to induce her to keep Wear on, now that she is so impertinent, until I could get rid of her diplomatically.’

“‘And when must I go?’

“‘To-morrow night, at nine o’clock, a certain Captain Cochrane will call to escort you to his ship. You must have everything in readiness to leave with him. But you will not be able to take any luggage with you, as Wear must not know you are going away.’

“‘Send Wear out of the way somewhere. Pack her off to the Crystal Palace for the day.’

“‘It won’t do. Our servants are not used to treats, and Wear would suspect something in a minute. Besides, I don’t want anybody except Captain Cochrane to know that I am cognisant of your departure. It may save a good deal of awkwardness for me in future.’

“This conversation, as you may easily believe, was listened to by me with the greatest eagerness, and I was desperately afraid of missing a word. Here was full proof to me, of Harley’s innocence. But my knowledge was, I knew, useless as evidence, since I had no witness but myself to bring forward. True, there is Wear. But she may be bought over by the other side. And at present our task must be the frustration of Hugh Stavanger’s attempt to escape with the diamonds. For, in spite of his assertion to the contrary, I believe him to be still in possession of the greater part of the stolen property. If he goes away with Captain Cochrane, he will contrive to take his booty on board with him.

“There is one thing that makes my discoveries incomplete. Otherwise I would have come home to tell you all this, never to return here, instead of sitting up all night to write this. The name of the ship in which Hugh Stavanger is to sail did not transpire, so Hilton will not be able to do anything to help until to-morrow night. He must then watch for the arrival of this captain, and be prepared to follow him and his intended companion wherever they may go. It may be necessary to try to obtain a passage with them. Is there any office on board a ship that Hilton can take?

“To-morrow night, if I see an opportunity of hearing what these bad people have to say to each other, I will try to gain some additional information, for use in case Hilton fails to get on board with them, or to intercept Hugh Stavanger’s attempt to escape. Perhaps I may learn something more during the day. But this meeting is too early for me to have any prospect of hiding unobserved, for the rest of the household will all be up and stirring. Even if I could secrete myself again, I might not be able to escape detection and reach my own room unobserved, as I have been able to do this last night.

“The fact is, I feel somewhat unnerved, and am afraid of betraying myself. In a few hours I must go through the farce of teaching Fanny, although I feel dead tired already. I shall not need to feign a headache. Still, if needs were, I could spend many a night in the work of love upon which I have entered, and the day will wear away as others do. Then as soon as I feel that my further presence here is useless, I will try to slip out unobserved and exchange experiences with Hilton, if there is time before the two men leave the house. As you know, I brought very little luggage with me, and I will put on as many clothes as possible, leaving the few things I cannot use. They are not marked, and I could not be traced through them, especially as I am dyed and painted to look like somebody else for awhile.”

This was all. Annie left off abruptly. Possibly she had feared interruption; or had had only time enough to catch the early morning post. Anyhow, she had done her part of the investigations well, and had sent a very comprehensive report.

“Isn’t she a splendid girl?” said Miss Cory, with enthusiasm.

“She is just wonderful,” answered Hilton. “No wonder my brother loves her so. I wish the world held more like her.”

“There are heaps of brave and noble girls, my boy, if you only knew where to look for them. I wish my poor child was nicely out of that nest of scoundrels.”

To which remark of Mr. Cory’s Mrs. Riddell, wiping first her eyes and then her spectacles, gave answer—“Mr. Cory, that girl is too plucky and sensible to get into trouble through being indiscreet. And as nothing else is likely to betray her identity, we may rest assured that she will get away all right. She will have no great distance to travel, but of course, some one must be on the lookout for her.”

“I will go with Hilton,” said Mr. Cory; “and we will be within watching distance of Mr. Stavanger’s house before half-past eight. Then, everything being arranged that requires to be arranged beforehand, Hilton will follow the two men, and find out what ship they are bound for, while I wait for Annie, and bring her home with me.”

“Her suggestion that, if Hugh Stavanger gets to sea before the diamonds can be found, as proof of what she says, I should try to embark on board the same ship, with the object of recovering the things, or indicating their whereabouts to the authorities, is a good one. But I have no experience of sea-life, beyond an occasional excursion for an hour or two from a sea-side holiday resort. And I have not the slightest idea of anything I could do to excuse my presence on board a ship of any sort. The sailors work above, and the firemen below. But even if I knew their duties, and could get a job on board, my chances of finding the diamonds would be small. But I would take care to keep my man in sight after he left the ship, and it will take him all his time to baffle me then.”

So said Hilton, and this time it was Miss Cory who made the suggestions which were ultimately followed.

“You couldn’t go on board directly after the captain to ask for work. The time would be so unseasonable as to cause suspicion. But you might perhaps ascertain casually whether the ship is leaving at once or not. If it is, then you will have to risk trying to get on board, in spite of the lateness of the hour. If not, wait till morning, but keep watch lest there should be an attempt to slip away earlier than the time mentioned to you. You have several hours yet before you, and you have more than one disguise ready. Use one of these, and pack the others in your box for use in emergencies. Go boldly on board, and offer to pay for your passage. Comport yourself as one who has plenty of money, but who has some reason for preferring to sail in a vessel that is not known as a passenger ship. The captain will at once jump to the conclusion that you are in some trouble, and you must humour his fancy. Hint something about a breach of promise action, and he will think you quite a hero.”

The last sentence was uttered with a scornful accent which plainly indicated Miss Cory’s opinion of man’s peculiar notions of what is honourable in his dealings with the other sex. But her suggestion “caught on,” and formed the basis of the tale with which Hilton Riddell was to hide his real motive in attempting to obtain a passage with Captain Cochrane. There was of course the possibility that his application would be refused. In this case, he would proceed by the quickest route to whichever place the merchant ship was bound for, and would be on the spot, ready to meet the diamond thief, and to do his best to convict him of the possession of some of the stolen property.

When, at the time agreed upon, Mr. Cory and Hilton Riddell set off on their mission of love and vengeance, every detail of their plans had been arranged, Hilton, not sure when or under what circumstances he would see his mother again, had bidden her a fond good-bye, and had left her praying for God’s help in the enterprise which she hoped would restore her banished son to her.

Meanwhile the Stavangers, father and son, were also maturing their plans, feeling pretty confident now of success, and little dreaming that the avenger was already on their track.