"No, dear. Papa is the best of men, but he does not know the value of money, and if he gained possession of fifty thousand pounds would only squander it. The five hundred a year he has settled on me after his death, and he can't spend the capital. I shall give papa plenty of money within reason when he asks for it, and when the jewels are mine." "Oh, he'll ask for it right enough," I muttered cynically. "However, Gertrude, you must first catch your hare. We must search for the diamonds. It may be that they are hidden in the house." "No. It has been turned upside down without result." "I wish I had found time to glance at the cipher, which certainly must have been written on that piece of silver attached to the eye," I muttered regretfully. "However, it's too late now, nothing can be done." "Nothing," echoed Gertrude, taking the parcel from me and advancing towards the door. "Leave the matter alone, Cyrus, and let us be happy." I flew after her. "Gertrude, you are going without----" "Dear, I forgot." She paused to kiss me fondly, and then departed. After that I cared very little if the mystery were solved or not. CHAPTER XIV. THE UNFORESEEN HAPPENS So here I had reached the goal of my desires in a surprisingly short space of time. Truly the gods had been good to me, and in the most unexpected manner I had won the love of the sweetest woman in the world. And the mysterious murder of Anne Caldershaw--gruesome as it may seem--had been the main circumstance to bring about my triumph. But for the crime I should not have seen the portrait of my beloved, and but for her innocent connection with the same--whereby I was enabled to prove my honesty and good faith--I should never have gained her confidence. But to trust me she had to study my character closely, and having done so, had unconsciously fallen in love. When I offered to come forward as her champion my conquest was complete, and therefore Gertrude yielded. Truly an odd wooing. For the next two or three days we were completely happy. Mr. Monk, having departed, could no longer interrupt us at inauspicious moments, so we had all the golden hours to ourselves. Also the weather unexpectedly changed from autumnal greyness to a springlike delicacy of sunshine in a blue sky. It was more like May than the end of September, and the singing of the birds was echoed by our joyful hearts. We scarcely said a word about the Mootley crime, as we had tacitly agreed to abandon any search for the criminal. And indeed there remained no clue to lead to the discovery of the assassin. At times I had doubts about the mysterious person whose name Gertrude had so steadily refused to tell me. I felt sure that she was shielding someone, and could not think of any reason strong enough to make her do so. But I put the doubt from me when she smiled into my eyes and surrendered myself entirely to the happiness of the magic hour.