I was aroused from these consoling reflections by the voice of Mr.

Bruff. My meditative silence appeared to weigh upon the spirits of this

worldling, and to force him, as it were, into talking to me against his

own will.

"Well, Miss Clack, what's the last news in the charitable circles? How

is your friend Mr. Godfrey Ablewhite, after the mauling he got from the

rogues in Northumberland Street? Egad! they're telling a pretty story

about that charitable gentleman at my club!"

I had passed over the manner in which this person had remarked that I

was more than twenty-one, and that I had no pecuniary interest in my

aunt's Will. But the tone in which he alluded to dear Mr. Godfrey was

too much for my forbearance. Feeling bound, after what had passed in my

presence that afternoon, to assert the innocence of my admirable friend,

whenever I found it called in question--I own to having also felt bound

to include in the accomplishment of this righteous purpose, a stinging

castigation in the case of Mr. Bruff.

"I live very much out of the world," I said; "and I don't possess the

advantage, sir, of belonging to a club. But I happen to know the story

to which you allude; and I also know that a viler falsehood than that

story never was told."

"Yes, yes, Miss Clack--you believe in your friend. Natural enough. Mr.

Godfrey Ablewhite, won't find the world in general quite so easy to

convince as a committee of charitable ladies. Appearances are dead

against him. He was in the house when the Diamond was lost. And he was

the first person in the house to go to London afterwards. Those are ugly

circumstances, ma'am, viewed by the light of later events."

I ought, I know, to have set him right before he went any farther. I

ought to have told him that he was speaking in ignorance of a testimony

to Mr. Godfrey's innocence, offered by the only person who was

undeniably competent to speak from a positive knowledge of the

subject. Alas! the temptation to lead the lawyer artfully on to his

own discomfiture was too much for me. I asked what he meant by "later

events"--with an appearance of the utmost innocence.

"By later events, Miss Clack, I mean events in which the Indians are

concerned," proceeded Mr. Bruff, getting more and more superior to poor

Me, the longer he went on. "What do the Indians do, the moment they are

let out of the prison at Frizinghall? They go straight to London, and

fix on Mr. Luker. What follows? Mr. Luker feels alarmed for the safety

of 'a valuable of great price,' which he has got in the house. He lodges

it privately (under a general description) in his bankers' strong-room.

Wonderfully clever of him: but the Indians are just as clever on their

side. They have their suspicions that the 'valuable of great price' is

being shifted from one place to another; and they hit on a singularly

bold and complete way of clearing those suspicions up. Whom do they

seize and search? Not Mr. Luker only--which would be intelligible

enough--but Mr. Godfrey Ablewhite as well. Why? Mr. Ablewhite's

explanation is, that they acted on blind suspicion, after seeing him

accidentally speaking to Mr. Luker. Absurd! Half-a-dozen other people

spoke to Mr. Luker that morning. Why were they not followed home too,

and decoyed into the trap? No! no! The plain inference is, that Mr.

Ablewhite had his private interest in the 'valuable' as well as Mr.

Luker, and that the Indians were so uncertain as to which of the two

had the disposal of it, that there was no alternative but to search them

both. Public opinion says that, Miss Clack. And public opinion, on this

occasion, is not easily refuted."




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