The Danvers Jewels, and Sir Charles DanversCholmondeley, Mary
General
The Danvers Jewels, and Sir Charles Danvers
Cholmondeley, Mary
Detective and mystery stories
A second policeman came up the street at this moment, and from him I
learned all the little there was to know. The poor lady had not been
murdered, it seemed, but, being subject to heart complaint, had died in
the night of an acute attack, evidently brought on by fright. The maid,
the only other person in the house, sleeping as maids-of-all-work only
can, had heard nothing, and awoke in the morning to find her mistress
dead in her bed, with the window and door open. "Strangely enough," the
policeman added, "although nothing in the house had been touched, the
lock of an unused bedroom had been forced, and the room evidently
searched."
Poor Jane was quite overcome. She seemed convinced that it was only by a
special intervention of Providence that she had changed her house, and
that her successor had been sacrificed instead of herself.
"It might have been me!" she said over and over again that afternoon.
Wishing to give a turn to her thoughts, I began to talk about Sir John's
legacy, in which she had evinced the greatest interest the night before,
and, greatly to her delight, showed her the jewels. I had not looked at
them since Sir John had given them to me, and I was myself astonished at
their magnificence, as I spread them out on the table under the
gas-lamp. Jane exhausted herself in admiration; but as I was putting
them away again, saying it was time for me to be dressing and going to
meet Carr, who was to join me at the Criterion, she begged me on no
account to take them with me, affirming that it would be much safer to
leave them at home. I was firm, but she was firmer; and in the end I
allowed her to lock them up in the tea-caddy, where her small stock of
ready money reposed.
I met Carr as we had arranged, and we had a very pleasant evening. Poor
Carr, who had seen the papers, had hardly expected that I should turn
up, knowing the catastrophe of the previous night had taken place at the
house I was going to, and was much relieved to hear that my sister had
moved, and had thus been spared all the horror of the event.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account