the diamonds were afterward counted, and not one of them was
missing."

Miserable, deservedly-miserable married pair. The stolen fortune,
on which they had counted, had slipped through their fingers. The
berths in the steamer for New York had been taken and paid for.
James had married a woman with nothing besides herself to bestow
on him, except an incumbrance in the shape of a boy.

Late on the fatal wedding-day his first idea, when he was himself
again after the discovery in the summer-house, was to get back
his passage-money, to abandon his wife and his stepson, and to
escape to America in a French steamer. He went to the office of
the English company, and offered the places which he had taken
for sale. The season of the year was against him; the
passenger-traffic to America was at its lowest ebb, and profits
depended upon freights alone.

If he still contemplated deserting his wife, he must also submit
to sacrifice his money. The other alternative was (as he
expressed it himself) to "have his pennyworth for his penny, and
to turn his family to good account in New York." He had not quite
decided what to do when he got home again on the evening of his
marriage.

At that critical moment in her life the bride was equal to the
demand on her resources.

If she was foolish enough to allow James to act on his natural
impulses, there were probably two prospects before her. In one