He trusts the administration of the dose, prepared in a little
phial, to Mr. Godfrey Ablewhite--who has himself confessed the share he
had in the matter, under circumstances which shall presently be related
to you. Mr. Godfrey is all the readier to enter into the conspiracy,
having himself suffered from your sharp tongue in the course of the
evening. He joins Betteredge in persuading you to drink a little brandy
and water before you go to bed. He privately drops the dose of laudanum
into your cold grog. And you drink the mixture.
Let us now shift the scene, if you please to Mr. Luker's house at
Lambeth. And allow me to remark, by way of preface, that Mr. Bruff and
I, together, have found a means of forcing the money-lender to make
a clean breast of it. We have carefully sifted the statement he has
addressed to us; and here it is at your service.
IV
Late on the evening of Friday, the twenty-third of June ('forty-eight),
Mr. Luker was surprised by a visit from Mr. Godfrey Ablewhite. He was
more than surprised, when Mr. Godfrey produced the Moonstone. No such
Diamond (according to Mr. Luker's experience) was in the possession of
any private person in Europe.
Pages:
845
846
847
848
849
850
851
852
853
854
855
856
857
858
859
860
861
862
863
864
865
866
867
868
869