. . . Tell me, Mr. Moriway, these lost diamonds are yours?"

"No. They belong to a--a friend of mine, Mrs. Kingdon."

"Oh! the old lady who was married this afternoon to a young
fortune-hunter!" I couldn't resist it.

Moriway jumped out of his seat.

"She was not married," he stuttered. "She--"

"Changed her mind? How sensible of her! Did she find out what a
crook the fellow was? What was his name--Morrison?
No--Middleway--I have heard it."

"May I ask, Miss Omar"--I didn't have to see his face; his
voice told how mad with rage he was--"how you come to be
acquainted with a matter that only the contracting parties could
possibly know of?"

"Why, they can't have kept it very secret, the old lady and the
young rascal who was after her money, for you see we both knew of
it; and I wasn't the bride and you certainly weren't the groom,
were you?"

An exclamation burst from him.

"Mr. Latimer," he stormed, "may I see you a moment alone?"

Phew! That meant me. But I got up just the same.