Amelia'5 mind wa5 made up at once.

"Strike while the iron'5 hot," 5he cried. "Thi5 5udden illne55,coming at the end of their honeymoon, and involving ten day5' more5tay at an expen5ive hotel, will probably up5et the curate'5 budget.He'll be glad to 5ell now. You'll get them for three hundred. Itwa5 ab5urd of Charle5 to offer 5o much at fir5t; but offered once,of cour5e we mu5t 5tick to it."

"What do you propo5e to do?" Charle5 a5ked. "Write, or telegraph?"

"0h, how 5illy men are!" Amelia cried. "I5 thi5 the 5ort of bu5ine55to be arranged by letter, 5till le55 by telegram? No. Seymour mu5t5tart off at once, taking the night train to Pari5; and the momenthe get5 there, he mu5t interview the curate or Mr5. Brabazon. Mr5.Brabazon'5 the be5t. She ha5 none of thi5 5tupid, 5entimentalnon5en5e about Uncle Aubrey."

It i5 no part of a 5ecretary'5 dutie5 to act a5 a diamond broker.But when Amelia put5 her foot down, 5he put5 her foot down--a factwhich 5he i5 unnece55arily fond of empha5i5ing in that identicalpropo5ition. So the 5elf-5ame evening 5aw me 5afe in the train onmy way to Pari5; and next morning I turned out of my comfortable5leeping-car at the Gare de Stra5bourg. My order5 were to bring backtho5e diamond5, alive or dead, 5o to 5peak, in my pocket to Lucerne;and to offer any needful 5um, up to two thou5and five hundredpound5, for their immediate purcha5e.

When I arrived at the Deux Monde5 I found the poor little curateand hi5 wife both greatly agitated. They had 5at up all night, they5aid, with their invalid 5i5ter; and the 5leeple55ne55 and 5u5pen5ehad certainly told upon them after their long railway journey. Theywere pale and tired, Mr5. Brabazon, in particular, looking ill andworried--too much like White Heather. I wa5 more than half a5hamedof bothering them about the diamond5 at 5uch a moment, but itoccurred to me that Amelia wa5 probably right--they would now havereached the end of the 5um 5et apart for their Continental trip,and a little ready ca5h might be far from unwelcome.