Matching Priory
Before the end of January everybody in London had heard of the great
robbery at Carlisle,--and most people had heard also that there
was something very peculiar in the matter,--something more than a
robbery. Various rumours were afloat. It had become widely known that
the diamonds were to be the subject of litigation between the young
widow and the trustees of the Eustace estate; and it was known also
that Lord Fawn had engaged himself to marry the widow, and had then
retreated from his engagement simply on account of this litigation.
There were strong parties formed in the matter,--whom we may call
Lizzieites and anti-Lizzieites. The Lizzieites were of opinion that
poor Lady Eustace was being very ill-treated;--that the diamonds did
probably belong to her, and that Lord Fawn, at any rate, clearly
ought to be her own. It was worthy of remark that these Lizzieites
were all of them Conservatives. Frank Greystock had probably set the
party on foot;--and it was natural that political opponents should
believe that a noble young Under-Secretary of State on the Liberal
side,--such as Lord Fawn,--had misbehaved himself. When the matter at
last became of such importance as to demand leading articles in the
newspapers, those journals which had devoted themselves to upholding
the Conservative politicians of the day were very heavy indeed
upon Lord Fawn. The whole force of the Government, however, was
anti-Lizzieite; and as the controversy advanced, every good Liberal
became aware that there was nothing so wicked, so rapacious, so bold,
or so cunning but that Lady Eustace might have done it, or caused it
to be done, without delay, without difficulty, and without scruple.
Lady Glencora Palliser for a while endeavoured to defend Lizzie in
Liberal circles,--from generosity rather than from any real belief,
and instigated, perhaps, by a feeling that any woman in society who
was capable of doing anything extraordinary ought to be defended.
But even Lady Glencora was forced to abandon her generosity, and to
confess, on behalf of her party, that Lizzie Eustace was--a very
wicked young woman, indeed. All this, no doubt, grew out of the
diamonds, and chiefly arose from the robbery; but there had been
enough of notoriety attached to Lizzie before the affair at Carlisle
to make people fancy that they had understood her character long
before that.
The party assembled at Matching Priory, a country house belonging
to Mr. Palliser, in which Lady Glencora took much delight, was not
large, because Mr. Palliser's uncle, the Duke of Omnium, who was
with them, was now a very old man, and one who did not like very
large gatherings of people. Lord and Lady Chiltern were there,--that
Lord Chiltern who had been known so long and so well in the hunting
counties of England, and that Lady Chiltern who had been so popular
in London as the beautiful Violet Effingham; and Mr. and Mrs. Grey
were there, very particular friends of Mr. Palliser's. Mr. Grey was
now sitting for the borough of Silverbridge, in which the Duke of
Omnium was still presumed to have a controlling influence, in spite
of all Reform bills, and Mrs. Grey was in some distant way connected
with Lady Glencora. And Madame Max Goesler was there,--a lady whose
society was still much affected by the old duke; and Mr. and Mrs.
Bonteen,--who had been brought there, not, perhaps altogether because
they were greatly loved, but in order that the gentleman's services
might be made available by Mr. Palliser in reference to some great
reform about to be introduced in monetary matters. Mr. Palliser, who
was now Chancellor of the Exchequer, was intending to alter the value
of the penny. Unless the work should be too much for him, and he
should die before he had accomplished the self-imposed task, the
future penny was to be made, under his auspices, to contain five
farthings, and the shilling ten pennies. It was thought that if this
could be accomplished, the arithmetic of the whole world would be so
simplified that henceforward the name of Palliser would be blessed
by all schoolboys, clerks, shopkeepers, and financiers. But the
difficulties were so great that Mr. Palliser's hair was already grey
from toil, and his shoulders bent by the burthen imposed upon them.
Mr. Bonteen, with two private secretaries from the Treasury, was now
at Matching to assist Mr. Palliser;--and it was thought that both
Mr. and Mrs. Bonteen were near to madness under the pressure of
the five-farthing penny. Mr. Bonteen had remarked to many of his
political friends that those two extra farthings that could not be
made to go into the shilling would put him into his cold grave before
the world would know what he had done,--or had rewarded him for it
with a handle to his name, and a pension. Lord Fawn was also at
Matching,--a suggestion having been made to Lady Glencora by some
leading Liberals that he should be supported in his difficulties by
her hospitality.
The mind of Mr. Palliser himself was too deeply engaged to admit of
its being interested in the great necklace affair; but, of all the
others assembled, there was not one who did not listen anxiously for
news on the subject. As regarded the old duke, it had been found
to be quite a godsend; and from post to post as the facts reached
Matching they were communicated to him. And, indeed, there were some
there who would not wait for the post, but had the news about poor
Lizzie's diamonds down by the wires. The matter was of the greatest
moment to Lord Fawn, and Lady Glencora was, perhaps, justified,
on his behalf, in demanding a preference for her affairs over the
messages which were continually passing between Matching and the
Treasury respecting those two ill-conditioned farthings.
"Duke," she said, entering rather abruptly the small, warm, luxurious
room in which her husband's uncle was passing his morning, "duke,
they say now that after all the diamonds were not in the box when it
was taken out of the room at Carlisle." The duke was reclining in an
easy-chair, with his head leaning forward on his breast, and Madame
Goesler was reading to him. It was now three o'clock, and the old
man had been brought down to this room after his breakfast. Madame
Goesler was reading the last famous new novel, and the duke was
dozing. That, probably, was the fault neither of the reader nor of
the novelist, as the duke was wont to doze in these days. But Lady
Glencora's tidings awakened him completely. She had the telegram in
her hand,--so that he could perceive that the very latest news was
brought to him.
"The diamonds not in the box!" he said,--pushing his head a little
more forward in his eagerness, and sitting with the extended fingers
of his two hands touching each other.
"Barrington Erle says that Major Mackintosh is almost sure the
diamonds were not there." Major Mackintosh was an officer very
high in the police force, whom everybody trusted implicitly, and
as to whom the outward world believed that he could discover the
perpetrators of any iniquity, if he would only take the trouble
to look into it. Such was the pressing nature of his duties that
he found himself compelled in one way or another to give up about
sixteen hours a day to them;--but the outer world accused him of
idleness. There was nothing he couldn't find out;--only he would not
give himself the trouble to find out all the things that happened.
Two or three newspapers had already been very hard upon him in regard
to the Eustace diamonds. Such a mystery as that, they said, he ought
to have unravelled long ago. That he had not unravelled it yet was
quite certain.
"The diamonds not in the box!" said the duke.
"Then she must have known it," said Madame Goesler.
"That doesn't quite follow, Madame Max," said Lady Glencora.
"But why shouldn't the diamonds have been in the box?" asked the
duke. As this was the first intimation given to Lady Glencora of any
suspicion that the diamonds had not been taken with the box, and as
this had been received by telegraph, she could not answer the duke's
question with any clear exposition of her own. She put up her hands
and shook her head. "What does Plantagenet think about it?" asked the
duke. Plantagenet Palliser was the full name of the duke's nephew and
heir. The duke's mind was evidently much disturbed.
"He doesn't think that either the box or the diamonds were ever worth
five farthings," said Lady Glencora.
"The diamonds not in the box!" repeated the duke. "Madame Max, do
you believe that the diamonds were not in the box?" Madame Goesler
shrugged her shoulders and made no answer; but the shrugging of her
shoulders was quite satisfactory to the duke, who always thought that
Madame Goesler did everything better than anybody else. Lady Glencora
stayed with her uncle for the best part of an hour, and every word
spoken was devoted to Lizzie and her necklace; but as this new idea
had been broached, and as they had no other information than that
conveyed in the telegram, very little light could be thrown upon it.
But on the next morning there came a letter from Barrington Erle to
Lady Glencora, which told so much, and hinted so much more, that it
will be well to give it to the reader.
Travellers', 29 Jan., 186--
MY DEAR LADY GLENCORA,
I hope you got my telegram yesterday. I had just seen
Mackintosh,--on whose behalf, however, I must say that
he told me as little as he possibly could. It is leaking
out, however, on every side, that the police believe that
when the box was taken out of the room at Carlisle, the
diamonds were not in it. As far as I can learn, they
ground this suspicion on the fact that they cannot trace
the stones. They say that, if such a lot of diamonds had
been through the thieves' market in London, they would
have left some track behind them. As far as I can judge,
Mackintosh thinks that Lord George has them, but that her
ladyship gave them to him; and that this little game of
the robbery at Carlisle was planned to put John Eustace
and the lawyers off the scent. If it should turn out that
the box was opened before it left Portray, that the door
of her ladyship's room was cut by her ladyship's self,
or by his lordship with her ladyship's aid, and that the
fragments of the box were carried out of the hotel by
his lordship in person, it will altogether have been so
delightful a plot, that all concerned in it ought to be
canonised,--or at least allowed to keep their plunder. One
of the old detectives told me that the opening of the box
under the arch of the railway, in an exposed place, could
hardly have been executed so neatly as was done;--that no
thief so situated would have given the time necessary to
it; and that, if there had been thieves at all at work,
they would have been traced. Against this, there is the
certain fact,--as I have heard from various men engaged in
the inquiry,--that certain persons among the community of
thieves are very much at loggerheads with each other,--the
higher, or creative department in thiefdom, accusing the
lower or mechanical department of gross treachery in
having appropriated to its own sole profit plunder, for
the taking of which it had undertaken to receive a certain
stipulated price. But then it may be the case that his
lordship and her ladyship have set such a rumour abroad
for the sake of putting the police off the scent. Upon the
whole, the little mystery is quite delightful; and has put
the ballot, and poor Mr. Palliser's five-farthinged penny,
quite out of joint. Nobody now cares for anything except
the Eustace diamonds. Lord George, I am told, has offered
to fight everybody or anybody, beginning with Lord Fawn
and ending with Major Mackintosh. Should he be innocent,
which, of course, is possible, the thing must be annoying.
I should not at all wonder myself, if it should turn out
that her ladyship left them in Scotland. The place there,
however, has been searched, in compliance with an order
from the police and by her ladyship's consent.
Don't let Mr. Palliser quite kill himself. I hope the
Bonteen plan answers. I never knew a man who could find
more farthings in a shilling than Mr. Bonteen. Remember
me very kindly to the duke, and pray enable poor Fawn to
keep up his spirits. If he likes to arrange a meeting with
Lord George, I shall be only too happy to be his friend.
You remember our last duel. Chiltern is with you, and
can put Fawn up to the proper way of getting over to
Flanders,--and of returning, should he chance to escape.
Yours always most faithfully,
BARRINGTON ERLE.
Of course, I'll keep you posted in everything respecting
the necklace till you come to town yourself.
The whole of this letter Lady Glencora read to the duke, to Lady
Chiltern, and to Madame Goesler;--and the principal contents of it
she repeated to the entire company. It was certainly the general
belief at Matching that Lord George had the diamonds in his
possession,--either with or without the assistance of their late fair
possessor.
The duke was struck with awe when he thought of all the
circumstances. "The brother of a marquis!" he said to his nephew's
wife. "It's such a disgrace to the peerage!"
"As for that, duke," said Lady Glencora, "the peerage is used to it
by this time."
"I never heard of such an affair as this before."
"I don't see why the brother of a marquis shouldn't turn thief
as well as anybody else. They say he hasn't got anything of his
own;--and I suppose that is what makes men steal other people's
property. Peers go into trade, and peeresses gamble on the Stock
Exchange. Peers become bankrupt, and the sons of peers run
away;--just like other men. I don't see why all enterprises should
not be open to them. But to think of that little purring cat,
Lady Eustace, having been so very--very clever! It makes me quite
envious."
All this took place in the morning;--that is, about two o'clock;
but after dinner the subject became general. There might be some
little reticence in regard to Lord Fawn's feelings,--but it was not
sufficient to banish a subject so interesting from the minds and lips
of the company. "The Tewett marriage is to come off, after all," said
Mrs. Bonteen. "I've a letter from dear Mrs. Rutter, telling me so as
a fact."
"I wonder whether Miss Roanoke will be allowed to wear one or two of
the diamonds at the wedding," suggested one of the private
secretaries.
"Nobody will dare to wear a diamond at all next season," said Lady
Glencora. "As for my own, I sha'n't think of having them out. I
should always feel that I was being inspected."
"Unless they unravel the mystery," said Madame Goesler.
"I hope they won't do that," said Lady Glencora. "The play is too
good to come to an end so soon. If we hear that Lord George is
engaged to Lady Eustace, nothing, I suppose, can be done to stop the
marriage."
"Why shouldn't she marry if she pleases?" asked Mr. Palliser.
"I've not the slightest objection to her being married. I hope she
will, with all my heart. I certainly think she should have her
husband after buying him at such a price. I suppose Lord Fawn won't
forbid the banns." These last words were only whispered to her next
neighbour, Lord Chiltern; but poor Lord Fawn saw the whisper, and was
aware that it must have had reference to his condition.
On the next morning there came further news. The police had asked
permission from their occupants to search the rooms in which lived
Lady Eustace and Lord George, and in each case the permission had
been refused. So said Barrington Erle in his letter to Lady Glencora.
Lord George had told the applicant, very roughly, that nobody should
touch any article belonging to him without a search-warrant. If any
magistrate would dare to give such a warrant, let him do it. "I'm
told that Lord George acts the indignant madman uncommonly well,"
said Barrington Erle in his letter. As for poor Lizzie, she had
fainted when the proposition was made to her. The request was renewed
as soon as she had been brought to herself; and then she refused,--on
the advice, as she said, of her cousin, Mr. Greystock. Barrington
Erle went on to say that the police were very much blamed. It was
believed that no information could be laid before a magistrate
sufficient to justify a search-warrant;--and, in such circumstances,
no search should have been attempted. Such was the public verdict, as
declared in Barrington Erle's last letter to Lady Glencora.
Mr. Palliser was of opinion that the attempt to search the lady's
house was iniquitous. Mr. Bonteen shook his head, and rather thought
that, if he were Home Secretary, he would have had the search made.
Lady Chiltern said that if policemen came to her, they might search
everything she had in the world. Mrs. Grey reminded them that all
they really knew of the unfortunate woman was, that her jewel-box had
been stolen out of her bedroom at her hotel. Madame Goesler was of
opinion that a lady who could carry such a box about the country with
her deserved to have it stolen. Lord Fawn felt himself obliged to
confess that he agreed altogether with Madame Goesler. Unfortunately,
he had been acquainted with the lady, and now was constrained to say
that her conduct had been such as to justify the suspicions of the
police. "Of course, we all suspect her," said Lady Glencora; "and,
of course, we suspect Lord George too, and Mrs. Carbuncle and Miss
Roanoke. But then, you know, if I were to lose my diamonds, people
would suspect me just the same,--or perhaps Plantagenet. It is so
delightful to think that a woman has stolen her own property, and
put all the police into a state of ferment." Lord Chiltern declared
himself to be heartily sick of the whole subject; and Mr. Grey, who
was a very just man, suggested that the evidence, as yet, against
anybody, was very slight. "Of course, it's slight," said Lady
Glencora. "If it were more than slight, it would be just like any
other robbery, and there would be nothing in it." On the same morning
Mrs. Bonteen received a second letter from her friend Mrs. Rutter.
The Tewett marriage had been certainly broken off. Sir Griffin had
been very violent, misbehaving himself grossly in Mrs. Carbuncle's
house, and Miss Roanoke had declared that under no circumstances
would she ever speak to him again. It was Mrs. Rutter's opinion,
however, that this violence had been "put on" by Sir Griffin, who
was desirous of escaping from the marriage because of the affair of
the diamonds. "He's very much bound up with Lord George," said Mrs.
Rutter, "and is afraid that he may be implicated."
"In my opinion he's quite right," said Lord Fawn.
All these matters were told to the duke by Lady Glencora and Madame
Goesler in the recesses of his grace's private room; for the duke
was now infirm, and did not dine in company unless the day was
very auspicious to him. But in the evening he would creep into the
drawing-room, and on this occasion he had a word to say about the
Eustace diamonds to every one in the room. It was admitted by them
all that the robbery had been a godsend in the way of amusing the
duke. "Wouldn't have her boxes searched, you know," said the duke;
"that looks uncommonly suspicious. Perhaps, Lady Chiltern, we shall
hear to-morrow morning something more about it."
"Poor dear duke," said Lady Chiltern to her husband.
"Doting old idiot!" he replied.