“When the police had gone, I asked Mr. Dundas for my letters.  But he thought he had given them to me—­and he knew no more of the diamonds in their red case than I did—­far less, indeed.

“I was distracted to find that my letters had disappeared, though I was thankful for Raoul’s sake, to have the necklace.  Mr. Dundas believed that his own leather case with the letters must have been stolen from his pocket in the train, though he couldn’t imagine why the diamonds had been given to him instead.  But he suspected a travelling companion of his, who had acted queerly; and he determined to try and find the man.  He was to bring me news after the theatre at my house, about midnight.

“He came fifteen minutes later, having been detained at his hotel.  Friends of his had unexpectedly arrived.  He had just time to tell me this, and that after going out on a false scent he had employed a detective named Girard, when Monsieur du Laurier arrived unexpectedly.  It seems, he’d been made frantically jealous by some misrepresentations of—­the man whose name we haven’t mentioned.  I begged Mr. Dundas to hide in my boudoir, which he disliked doing, but finally did, to please me.  I hoped that he would escape by the window, but it stuck, and to my horror I heard him there, in the dark, moving about.  I covered the sounds as well as I could, and pacified Raoul, who thought he had seen someone come in.  I hinted that it must have been the fiance of a pretty housemaid I have.  It was not till after one that Ivor Dundas finally got away; this I swear to you.  What happened to him after leaving my house you know better than I do, for I haven’t seen him since, as you are well aware.”

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

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

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

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

“You would like to know their fate?”

“I would indeed.”

“Well, I applaud the Englishman’s chivalry.  Vive l’Entente Cordiale!”

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