"Why didn't I stop you, when you avoided me in that cruel manner? Why
didn't I call out, 'Mr. Franklin, I have got something to say to you;
it concerns yourself, and you must, and shall, hear it?' You were at
my mercy--I had got the whip-hand of you, as they say. And better than
that, I had the means (if I could only make you trust me) of being
useful to you in the future. Of course, I never supposed that you--a
gentleman--had stolen the Diamond for the mere pleasure of stealing it.
No. Penelope had heard Miss Rachel, and I had heard Mr. Betteredge, talk
about your extravagance and your debts. It was plain enough to me that
you had taken the Diamond to sell it, or pledge it, and so to get the
money of which you stood in need. Well! I could have told you of a man
in London who would have advanced a good large sum on the jewel, and who
would have asked no awkward questions about it either.
"Why didn't I speak to you! why didn't I speak to you!
"I wonder whether the risks and difficulties of keeping the nightgown
were as much as I could manage, without having other risks and
difficulties added to them? This might have been the case with some
women--but how could it be the case with me? In the days when I was
a thief, I had run fifty times greater risks, and found my way out of
difficulties to which THIS difficulty was mere child's play.
Pages:
606
607
608
609
610
611
612
613
614
615
616
617
618
619
620
621
622
623
624
625
626
627
628
629
630