"'I beg you'll not expose me,' he moaned. 'I was driven to it by
necessity.'
"'Not I,' I replied. 'As long as you play fair it will be all right. I'm
not going to keep this thing. I'm not married, and so have no use for such
a trifle; but what I do intend is simply to wait until your wife retains
me to find it, and then I'll find it and get the reward. If you keep
perfectly still, I'll have it found in such a fashion that you'll never be
suspected. If, on the other hand, you say a word about to-night's events,
I'll hand you over to the police.'
"'Humph!' he said. 'You couldn't prove a case against me.'
"'I can prove any case against anybody,' I retorted. 'If you don't believe
it, read my book,' I added, and I handed him a copy of my memoirs.
"'I've read it,' he answered, 'and I ought to have known better than to
come here. I thought you were only a literary success.' And with a
deep-drawn sigh he took the watch and went out. Ten days later I was
retained by the Duchess, and after a pretended search of ten days more I
found the tiara, restored it to the noble lady, and received the L5000
reward. The Duke kept perfectly quiet about our little encounter, and
afterwards we became stanch friends; for he was a good fellow, and was
driven to his desperate deed only by the demands of his creditors, and the
following Christmas he sent me the watch I had given him, with the best
wishes of the season.
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