"I came to him knowing that he was your manager, and a man to be thoroughly trusted, and that he'd have safes and things in which he could deposit valuables in perfect safety," answered the Earl. "I never reflected for a moment on the niceties of the matter. I just explained to him that I wanted those jewels taken care of, and handed them over. That's all!" "And--their precise nature?" asked Gabriel. "And--their value?" added Joseph. "As to their nature," replied the Earl, "there was my wife's coronet, her diamond necklace, and the Ellersdeane butterfly, of which I suppose all the world's heard--heirloom, you know. It's a thing that can be worn in a lady's hair or as a pendant--diamonds, of course. As to their value--well, I had them valued some years ago. They're worth about a hundred thousand pounds." Gabriel turned to his desk and began to arrange some papers on it, and Neale, who was watching everything with close attention, saw that his fingers trembled a little. He made no remark, and the silence was next broken by Joseph Chestermarke's soft accents. "Did Horbury give your lordship any receipt, or acknowledgment that he had received these jewels on deposit?" he asked. "I mean, of course, in our name?" The Earl twisted sharply in his chair, and Neale fancied that he saw a shade of annoyance pass over his good-natured face. "Certainly not!" he answered. "I should never have dreamt of asking for a receipt from a man whom I knew as well as I knew--or thought I knew--Horbury. The whole thing was just as if--well, as if I should ask any friend to take care of something for me for a while." "Did Horbury know what you were giving him?" asked Joseph. "Of course!" replied the Earl. "As a matter of fact, he'd never seen these things, and I took them out of their case and showed them to him." "And he said he would lock them up?--in our strong room?" suggested the soft voice. "He said nothing about your strong room," answered the Earl. "Nor about where he'd put them. That was understood. It was understood--a tacit understanding--that he'd take care of them until our return." "Did your lordship give him the date of your return?" persisted Joseph, with the thorough-going air of a cross-examiner. "Yes--I told him exactly when we should be back," replied the Earl. "The twelfth of May--day before yesterday." Joseph moved away from the sideboard towards the hearth, and leaning against the mantelpiece threw a glance at the strong room. "The jewels are not in our possession," he said, half indolently. "There is nothing of that sort in there. There are two safes in the outer room of the bank--I should say that Mr. Neale here knows everything that is in them. Do you know anything of these jewels, Neale?" "Nothing!" said Neale. "I never heard of them." Gabriel looked up from his papers.