A NEW DISCOVERY DEEPENS A MYSTERY.
When Mrs. Montague entered her room, an hour after Mona went up stairs,
there was a deep frown upon her brow.
She found Mona arrayed in a pretty white wrapper, and sitting before the
glowing grate reading a new book, while she waited for her.
"What are you sitting up for, and arrayed in that style?" she
ungraciously demanded.
"I thought you would need help in undressing, and I put on this loose
wrapper because it was more comfortable than any other dress," Mona
answered, as she regarded the lady with some surprise, for she had never
before quite so curtly addressed her.
Mrs. Montague did not pursue the subject, and Mona patiently assisted her
in taking off her finery, hanging the rich dress carefully over a form,
folding her dainty laces, and arranging her jewels in their cases.
"Can I do anything more for you?" she asked, when this was done.
"No."
"At what time shall I come to you in the morning?" the fair girl
inquired, without appearing to heed the uncivil monosyllable.
"Not before nine o'clock; but you can mend that rip in my traveling suit
before that, as we shall go back to New York on the eleven o'clock
express."
"Very well; good-night," Mona said, with gentle politeness, as she turned
to leave the room.
"Stop a moment, Ruth," Mrs. Montague commanded.
Mona turned back, flushing slightly at the woman's imperiousness.
"I have not been at all pleased with your deportment this evening," the
woman continued, "You have been exceedingly forward for a person in your
position."
Mona's color deepened to a vivid scarlet at this unexpected charge.
"I do not quite understand you--" she began, when her companion turned
angrily upon her, thus arresting her in the midst of her speech.
"I do not see how you can fail to do so," was her icy retort. "I refer
to your acceptance of Mr. Palmer's attentions. One would have supposed
that you regarded yourself as his equal by the way you paraded the
drawing-room with him to-night."
Mona could hardly repress a smile at this attack, and she wondered what
Ray would have thought if he could have heard it. Yet a thrill of
indignation shot through her at this unreasonable abuse.
"You witnessed my introduction to Mr. Palmer this evening," she quietly
replied; "you heard him offer to conduct me to Mr. Wellington, and so
know how I happened to accept his attentions."
"You should have rejected his offer," was the quick retort.
"I could not do so without appearing rude--you yourself know that no
young lady would have done so under the circumstances."
"No young _lady_--no, of course not," interposed Mrs. Montague, with
significant emphasis; "but you must not forget that your position will
not admit of your doing what might consistently be done by young ladies
in society. You received Mr. Palmer's attentions as a matter of
course--as if you considered yourself his equal."
"I do so consider myself," Mona returned, with quiet dignity, but with a
dangerous sparkle in her usually mild eyes. The woman's arrogance was
becoming unbearable, even to her sweet spirit.
"Really!" was the sarcastic rejoinder. "Your vanity, Ruth, would be
odious if it were not so ridiculous. But you should not allow your
complacency, over a merely pretty face, to lead you into such presumption
as you have been guilty of to-night. I blame myself somewhat for what has
occurred; if I had not accorded you permission to witness the dancing,
you would not have been thrown into such temptation; but I did not dream
that you would force yourself upon the notice of any of Mr. Wellington's
guests."
"You are accusing me very unjustly, Mrs. Montague," Mona began, with
blazing eyes, but the woman cut her short.
"I consider myself a competent judge in such matters," she insolently
asserted. "At all events, however, you are to receive no more attentions
from Mr. Palmer. He--is the son of the gentleman whom I expect to marry,
and I have no intention of allowing my seamstress to angle for my future
step-son."
"Madame--" began Mona, indignantly.
"We will not discuss the matter further," Mrs. Montague interposed,
imperiously; "you can go now, but be sure to have my traveling dress
ready by nine o'clock in the morning."
Mona went out, and forced herself to shut the door after her without
making the slightest sound, although every nerve in her body was tingling
with indignation and resentment, to which she longed to give some outward
expression.
But for one thing, she would have faced the coarse, rude woman, and
proclaimed that she was already the promised wife of Raymond Palmer, and
had a perfect right to receive his attentions whenever and wherever she
chose.
That secret of the desertion of her mother haunted her, however, and she
was bound to curb herself and bear everything for three months longer,
while she would diligently apply herself to the task before her.
She retired immediately, but she could not go to sleep until she had
relieved her overcharged heart of its bitterness and passion in a burst
of weeping.
The next morning early Ray and his father were on their way to New York,
and ten o'clock found them seated in the private court-room, where Mrs.
Vanderheck was to answer the charges against her.
Money will accomplish a great deal, and in this case it had secured the
privilege of a private examination, before a police justice, who would
decide whether the suspected culprit should be held for the grand jury.
Immediately upon the arrival of the Palmers, Detective Rider came to
them, accompanied by a gentleman whom he introduced as Justin Cutler,
Esq., of Chicago.
They all took seats together, and presently a door opened to admit Mrs.
Vanderheck, who was attended by her husband and counsel, and who was
richly attired in a close-fitting black velvet robe, and wore magnificent
solitaires in her ears, besides a cluster of blazing stones at her
throat.
If she was the adventuress whom the officials were searching for, she was
certainly bringing a bold front to the contest in thus parading her booty
before their very eyes.
Her husband was an elderly gentleman, who appeared to be in feeble
health, but who conducted himself with dignity and self-possession.
The case was opened by Mr. Cutler's counsel, who told the story of the
purchase of the spurious crescents in Chicago, and affirmed that they had
been found upon the person of the party under arrest.
Mrs. Vanderheck listened with intense interest throughout the recital,
while a look of astonishment overspread her face as the narrative
proceeded.
The crescents were produced and Mr. Cutler brought forth the bogus ones,
which he still had in his possession, and the two pairs appeared to be
exact counterparts of each other.
The magistrate examined them with interest and care, after which he
placed them on the desk before him.
Mrs. Vanderheck's counsel then said that his client would like to relate
how the contested jewels came in her possession.
Permission being given for her to do so, the lady took the stand and
began:
"Three years ago the coming month, which, according to the dates just
given by the prosecuting counsel, was about three months after the
gentleman in Chicago was defrauded, I was boarding at the Revere House,
in Boston. While there I became acquainted with a lady--a widow who
called herself Mrs. Bent, and her appearance corresponds with the
description given of Mrs. Bently. I was very much pleased with her, for
she seemed to be a lady of very amiable character, and we became quite
intimate. She appeared to have abundant means, spent her money very
freely, and wore several diamonds of great beauty and value--among
them the crescents which were taken from me last Friday evening. About
two months after becoming acquainted with her, she came to me one day
in great distress and said that the bank, in which she was a large
stockholder, had suspended payment, and all her available funds were
locked up in it. She said she had considerable money invested in Western
land, which she might be able to turn into cash later, but until she
could do so she would be absolutely penniless--she had not even enough
ready money to defray her hotel bill, which had been presented that day.
Then with apparent reluctance and confusion she remarked that she had
often heard me admire her diamond crescents, and so she had ventured to
come and ask me if I would purchase them and thus relieve her in her
present extremity, while she offered them at a price which I considered
a great bargain. I said I would consult my husband.
"I have a weakness for diamonds--I confess that I am extravagantly fond
of them," Mrs. Vanderheck here interposed, a slight smile curling her
lips, "and my husband has generously gratified my whims in this respect.
He approved of the purchase of the crescents, provided some reliable
jeweler would warrant that they were all right. I reported this decision
to Mrs. Bent, and we went together to an expert to submit the stones to
his verdict.
"He pronounced them exceedingly fine, and valued them far above the price
which my friend had put upon them, and I told her I would take them. We
returned to our hotel and went directly to my rooms, where my husband
drew up a check for a hundred dollars more than the stipulated price,
Mrs. Bent giving a receipt for the amount, while she was profuse in
her expressions of gratitude for our kindness in relieving her from
pecuniary embarrassment. 'I shall go immediately to pay my bill,' she
said, looking greatly pleased that she was able to do so, as she handed
me the case containing the diamonds, and then she immediately left the
room. Half an hour later she came to me again, her eyes red and swollen
from weeping, an open telegram in her hand. Her mother was dying, and had
sent for her, and she was going immediately to her. She took an
affectionate leave of me and soon after left the hotel. This, your honor,
is how I came to have the crescents and"--taking a folded paper from her
elegant purse--"here is the receipt for the money paid for them."
The lady took her seat after giving this testimony, while the receipt was
examined by the police justice and Mr. Cutler's counsel.
"I hope the lady has not been a victim to the same cunning scheme that
served to defraud the gentleman from Chicago," he gravely observed.
"You do not mean to imply that my stones are not genuine!" exclaimed Mrs.
Vanderheck, with sudden dismay.
"I am not able to say, madame," his honor courteously replied, "but I
should like to have them examined by an expert and proved."
Mr. Palmer here stated that he could settle the question if he were
allowed to examine them.
Both cases were passed to him, and after closely inspecting the crescents
for a moment or two, he returned them, with the remark:
"The stones are _all_ paste, but a remarkably good imitation. I should
judge that they had been submitted to a certain solution or varnish,
which has recently been discovered, and is used to simulate the
brilliancy of diamonds, but which, if the stones are dropped in alcohol,
will dissolve and vanish."
"Impossible!" Mrs. Vanderheck protested, with some warmth. "It _cannot_
be that I have worn paste ornaments for more than three years, and never
discovered the fact."
"It is not strange that you were deceived," the gentleman replied,
glancing at the glittering gems, "for I think that only an expert could
detect the fact, they are such a clever imitation of genuine gems."
"I cannot believe it," the lady persisted, "for Mrs. Bent was not out
of my sight a moment, from the time the expert in Boston pronounced his
verdict, until they were delivered to roe in my room at the hotel."
"Nevertheless," Mr. Palmer positively affirmed, "the woman must have
adroitly managed to change the crescents on the way back, substituting
the bogus for the real ones, for these are certainly paste."
Mr. Cutler's counsel here stated that his client had an important
statement to make, whereupon that gentleman related that Mr. Arnold, the
Chicago expert to whom the real crescents had been submitted, had made a
private mark upon the setting, with a steel-pointed instrument, and if
such a mark could be discovered upon Mrs. Vanderheck's ornaments they
were doubtless real.
He produced the card which Mr. Arnold had given him, and the crescents
were carefully examined, but no mark of any kind could be found upon
them, and the general conclusion was that they were but a skillful
imitation of genuine diamonds, and that Mrs. Vanderheck had only been
another victim of the clever adventuress, whose identity was still as
much of a mystery as ever.
Mr. Palmer and Ray now began to feel quite uncomfortable regarding the
cross which Mr. Rider had also taken in charge. They consulted a few
moments with Mrs. Vanderheck's counsel, and then the cross was quietly
submitted to Mr. Palmer's examination.
He at once said it did not belong to him, although it was very like the
one that had been stolen, for he also was in the habit of putting a
private mark upon his most expensive jewelry; and he further remarked
that he very much regretted that Mrs. Vanderheck should have been
subjected to so much unpleasantness in connection with the unfounded
suspicion.
The case was then dismissed without further discussion, and the lady
behaved in the most generous and amiable manner toward both Mr. Cutler
and Mr. Palmer.
She said it was not at all strange that she should have been suspected,
under the circumstances, and she bore them no ill-will on account of the
arrest. She was only annoyed that any publicity had been given to the
matter. She even laughingly accused Ray of having suspected her on the
evening of Mr. Merrill's reception, and then she explained the cause of
her own strange behavior on that occasion. She had read of the Palmer
robbery and the circumstances of his being kidnapped, and she realized at
once, upon being introduced to him when he had mispronounced her name,
that his suspicions had fastened upon her.
She shook hands cordially with Mr. Cutler, and remarked that, while she
experienced some vexation and mortification over the discovery that the
crescents were spurious, the imposition had taught her a lesson, and
she should henceforth purchase her diamonds of a reliable dealer in such
articles.
"But," she added, gayly, "I shall never see a diamond crescent after this
without asking the owner to allow me to examine it. I believe I shall
turn detective myself and try to ferret out the original ones if they are
still in existence."
She bowed smilingly to the three gentlemen, and passed out of the room,
leaning upon the arm of her husband.
"Well, Ray," Mr. Palmer remarked, as they wended their way to the store,
"we may as well give up our diamonds once for all; I have not the
slightest hope that we shall ever see them again. If we ever do find
them," he added, with an arch glance, "I'll present them to your wife
on her wedding day--that is, if they come to light before that event
occurs."
"Then my wife is to have no diamonds unless the stolen ones are found?"
Ray responded, in a tone of laughing inquiry.
"I did not mean to imply that, my boy," Mr. Palmer responded. "I will
present your wife with diamonds, and fine ones, too, when I am introduced
to her."
"Then I will give you three months in which to make your selection," Ray
retorted, with animation.
"Whew! you are hopeful, my son, or else you have had good news of your
lady-love," the elder gentleman exclaimed, with surprise. "You are a sly
dog, and I thought you seemed happier than usual, when you came to
Hazeldean. You must tell me more about it when you have time. But three
days will be time enough for my selections for your wife, and she shall
have the stolen ones also, if they are ever recovered."
Mr. Rider was the most disappointed one of the whole party, for he had
been so sure of his game; while he had been doggedly persistent for over
three years in trying to hunt down the tricky woman, who had imposed upon
Justin Cutler, and it was a bitter pill for him to swallow, to discover,
just as he believed himself to be on the verge of success, that he was
only getting deeper into the mire.
"She is the keenest-witted thief I ever heard of," he muttered, moodily,
when the case was dismissed, "but if I could only get track of some of
the Palmer diamonds there might be some hope for me even now, for I
firmly believe that the same woman is at the bottom of all three thefts."
He would not take anything from Mr. Cutler for what he had done or tried
to do, although the gentleman offered to remunerate him handsomely for
his labor.
"I've earned nothing, for I've accomplished nothing," he said,
dejectedly. "I feel, rather, as if I ought to pay your expenses on
from the West, for it's been only a wild-goose chase."
"I had other business, aside from this, which called me to New York, so
don't feel down at the mouth about the trip," Mr. Cutler kindly replied.
"I am going to remain in the city for a few weeks, then I go to Havana to
meet my sister, who has been spending the winter in Cuba for her health."
The same week Mrs. Vanderheck appeared at a select ball, wearing more
diamonds than any one had ever before seen upon her at once; but after
that one brilliant appearance it was remarked that she was becoming more
subdued in her tastes, for she was never again seen in New York with such
an expensive display of gems.